Japanese athletes have performed well at the Summer Olympics, too. Marathon runner Yuko Arimori took silver in the women's race at the 1996 Atlanta Games; Tadahiro Nomura won the gold in the men's judo 60-kilogram category; and cyclist Takanobu Jumonji went home with a bronze medal from the men's 1-kilometer time trial event. And Ryoko Tamura, who also put up a good fight in Atlanta in the women's 48-kilogram judo event, has won the world championships four times.

Japanese athletes are also making names for themselves in the world of professional sports. Kimiko Date retired from the women's tennis circuit at the end of 1996, but not until she had finished in the top four at Wimbledon that year. Another women tennis player, Ai Sugiyama, won the US Open mixed doubles championship with her partner Mahesh Bhupathi of India in 1999. She became the first Japanese woman to win a US Open title. And Hideo Nomo began playing Major League Baseball in 1995 for the Los Angeles Dodgers; he is now pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers. More and more Japanese players, such as Hideki Irabu (now in New York Yankees) and Masato Yoshii (now in New York Mets), have been heading to North America to play baseball in the Major Leagues, so look forward to hearing more about them!