Author

Michael Houston

28 January 2026

Milano Cortina 2026: Team Japan

With just under a week until the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games begin, we take a look at all the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) set to compete. Next is Team Japan.

Team Japan will be represented by one curling team: Team Yoshimura (women’s).

Team Yoshimura: The long road to Milano Cortina 2026

Sixteen years of perseverance have taken Japan’s skip from young hopeful to the world’s biggest stage, where she will lead her team, and her nation’s curling dreams, with confidence and determination.

It has been a long journey to get there, but Yoshimura Sayaka has finally made it.

Japan’s women’s skip turns 34 just days before the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, but her international debut came when she played as a young protege under one of Japan’s greatest curlers — fellow Kitami Prefecture native, Ogasawara Ayumi.

Together, they won the bronze medal at the 2014 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships, a stepping stone towards the 2015 World Women’s Curling Championship in Sapporo — not only on home soil, but on their home island of Hokkaido.

Team Ogasawara narrowly missed the play-offs, finishing in fifth place. Three years later, Ogasawara would announce her retirement.

Team Japan at the World Women’s Curling Championship 2015 © World Curling

A team built for the long haul

Ogasawara left the team with more than just memories — she left with intention and a plan. Yoshimura, who had played third for two years, was joined by Ogasawara’s sister Onodera Kaho and Ohmiya Anna as part of that quartet in Sapporo. All three remain part of the team heading to Milano Cortina 2026, and all separated by just two years in age.

Their longevity has been beneficial for Japan, a nation now aiming to return to the Olympic playoffs. Looking back to 11 years ago, when she debuted at the World Championship at the age of 23, she recalled the feeling of playing in front of a home crowd at such a major competition.

“It was held in Sapporo, our team’s home town, however, although I was really nervous to play in the great cheers from the audiences, looking back at the moment, I felt more about my lack of points, both physically and tactically,” said Yoshimura.

“As Third is a position just before the skip’s delivery, I have truly learned the importance of making precise shots even for the top weight shot.”

Meet the team

Team Yoshimura

Yoshimura Sayaka (SKIP)

Age: 34
Olympic Appearances: Debut
Fun fact: She previously took lessons in electronic organ, swimming, basketball and volleyball.

Onodera Kaho (THIRD)

Age: 34
Olympic Appearances: 2014 (Fifth)
Fun fact: She previously competed in heptathlon in high school and university, as well as pole vault in junior high.

Kotani Yuna (SECOND)

Age: 27
Olympic Appearances: Debut
Fun fact: She reads between 50 and 60 books per year. Practised rhythmic gymnastics for two years as a child.

Ohmiya Anna (LEAD)

Age: 36
Olympic Appearances: 2010 (Eighth)
Fun fact: Her father, Yoshiyuki Ohmiya, competed at the Nagano 1998 Olympics for Japan. She knits to remain relaxed and will likely knit something during the Olympics.

Kobayashi Mina (ALTERNATE)

Age: 23
Olympic Appearances: Debut
Fun fact: She is a certified athletic trainer issued by Japan Sport Association.

QUALIFICATION

Team Yoshimura secured their qualification for Milano Cortina 2026 at the Olympic Qualification Event 2025.

They faced Norway in the first Qualification Game and won the first ticket to the Games with a 6-5 win.

TEAM STATS

2021 Pacific-Asia Champions

A team full of experience

Although Yoshimura is making her Olympic debut this year, her team carries deep experience. Lead Ohmiya made the Olympic team back in 2010, while third Onodera returns for the first time since 2014. New to that core three is second Kotani Yuna and alternate and youngest of the rink Kobayashi Mina, who is 23. Even then, this rink has remained unchanged since 2022.

Now Yoshimura is leaning heavily on Ohmiya and Onodera’s Olympic insights.

“From their experience, we got to know that it is quite difficult to make communications among the members during the match due to the sound of cheers from spectators at the venue,” she said.

“Therefore, even in regular games, we always pay attention to the facts above and are trying to apply some kind of efficient procedures for making good communications to one another for that situation.”

Team Yoshimura at the World Women’s 2025 © World Curling / Stephen Fisher

Japan’s depth — a blessing and a challenge

But to get to Milano Cortina 2026. Japan first needed to qualify from the Olympic Qualification Event — in part because the nation may be victims of their own depth.

Over the past four World Championships, Japan has been represented by Team Kitazawa, Team Fujisawa, Team Ueno and Team Yoshimura. Having four teams capable of competing on the international stage is very encouraging, but it also meant no team was dominant, nor could any team have a streak of World Championship seasons to adjust to.

In fact, the last time the Japanese women’s team had the same skip in successive World Championships was in 2007 and 2008. There, Meguro Moe’s rink finished ninth in the first season and made the play-offs in the second, placing fourth.

At time of writing, their fifth-best team is 21st in the World Curling Team Rankings, one place behind Canada’s fifth best.

Ueno, one of Japan’s rising stars, skipped her team to 11th at the 2024 edition, before Yoshimura’s side returned to form in 2025, placing ninth. While consistently solid, it was not enough to make the automatic spots in the rankings. They faced the Olympic Qualification Event (OQE) as a result.

“As a representative of Japanese women’s curlers, I would like to do my best with my maximum efforts.”
Yoshimura Sayaka, Team Japan

A composed OQE campaign

Japan started strong. They beat one of the contenders, the United States, 8-4 in the first draw. A score for two got them an 8-6 win against Germany too — two of the hardest games out the way early. Australia took them close, but they again emerged victorious, 7-5, before defeating Czechia 10-3.

Comfortable wins over Turkiye and Estonia had confidence sky-high, but an inch of doubt would have lingered after their final game, where they lost in an extra end 10-9 to Marianne Rorvik’s Norway.

Finishing in the top two, it was an immediate replay with Norway in the first qualification game. The winner would be the first of two to earn their spot at the Games. Tied at 5-5 in the final end, Yoshimura secured the winning point with the hammer to book Japan’s ticket.

“During the game, I was just playing to concentrate on the things we could do at that moment, to believe my teammates and the good result after all,” she said.

Japan celebrate securing their spot at Milano Cortina 2026 © World Curling / Stephen Fisher

Growth through pressure

Yoshimura has grown significantly since her second World Championship appearance in 2021, when her rink finished 11th. She struggled with the pressure of claiming points for her nation ahead of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, admitting “my mental weakness disturbed me from my best performance”. In 2025, she was “more confident” compared to her two previous tournaments.

That has been apparent throughout the season. Her rink faced narrow losses to Team Fujisawa and Team Ueno in a three-way battle for the right to become the Olympic team this year, back in September. They had to win their three remaining games against the teams — and did so.

In the best-of-three series, Ueno Miyu’s rink defeated them 11-3. However, they dug deep to win both of the remaining games narrowly, each by one point.

They would then make the quarter-finals at GSOC Tahoe and narrowly missed the final of the Canadian Open after losing by one to Switzerland’s Team Tirinzoni, 5-4. Despite not qualifying for the play-offs at the Players’ Championship, her rink dominated against Canada’s second best side, skipped by Kerri Einarson.

Yoshimura Sayaka at the OQE © World Curling / Jeffrey Au

A foundation laid long ago

More than a decade after their first Worlds together, the spine of the Japanese women’s team still remains strong. Ogasawara is still involved in coaching the national team, alongside another retired teammate — three-time Olympian Funayama Yumie, who played alternate for them in 2021.

For Yoshimura, this Olympic debut represents a culmination of “16 years of continuous trials” in what is arguably one of the most competitive national qualifiers in curling. Now, she is ready to show the form they are capable of.

“I’m really proud of myself to participate in the Olympic Games as a member of the Japanese national team,” said Yoshimura.

“As a representative of Japanese women’s curlers, I would like to do my best with my maximum efforts.”