is a retired Japanese table tennis player and Olympic medalist, winning silver at the 2012 Summer Olympics and bronze at the 2016 Summer Olympics with the Japanese women's team. She is sponsored by All Nippon Airways. Table tennis career Fukuhara began playing at the age of 3 and became a professional at age 10. The following year, she became the youngest player ever to become a member of the Japanese national team. Because of her age, she has been regarded as a "child prodigy" in table tennis. At age 13, in 2002, she became the youngest-ever Japanese representative for the Asian Games. In 2003, she reached the quarter-final, losing to top-seeded Zhang Yining, in her World Championships debut in Paris. In 2004, she took part in the World Team Championships and helped Team Japan finish third. Olympic participation Fukuhara qualified to participate in the 2004 Summer Olympics in the Asian zone qualifying tournament. The qualification entitled Fukuhara to compete in Athens, at the age of 15 years and 287 days, as the youngest-ever female table tennis player to debut in the Olympic Games. She reached the round of 16 in her first Olympic Games, losing to bronze medalist Kim Kyung-Ah. In April 2005, Fukuhara replaced compatriot Aya Umemura and became the highest-ranked Japanese female on the ITTF World Ranking list. She advanced to the semifinals at the 2005 Women's World Cup, losing to Guo Yan in the semifinals but beating Tie Ya Na in the third place match. Fukuhara was directly qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics through world ranking. She was chosen as the national flag bearer for Japan at the Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Fukuhara teamed up with Sayaka Hirano and Haruna Fukuoka at the women's team event. They reached the bronze medal contest but lost to South Korea. In the singles event, Fukuhara advanced to round of 16, losing to gold medalist Zhang Yining. She also qualified directly for the London 2012 Olympic Games with her world ranking in June 2011, but lost to Ding Ning on 31 July 2012, (13–15, 6–11, 6–11, and 4–11). At the Women's Team Event semi-finals, she defeated Feng Tianwei (11–9, 11–6, 5–11 and 11–9) in the first match which eventually helped Japan reach their first table tennis finals in the Olympics over Singapore. However, Japan failed to defeat China in the finals but Fukuhara got her first silver medal ever