and was the flag bearer for the Japanese national team at the Opening Ceremonies. Since she has been playing table tennis in China from a very young age, Fukuhara can speak fluent Mandarin Chinese with a Northeastern accent. Therefore, she has greater popularity in China than any other table tennis players from outside of China. In an incident widely reported by the Chinese media, she wrote down "中日友好" (meaning "Sino-Japanese friendship" in both Chinese and Japanese) when meeting Wang Yi, then Chinese ambassador to Japan (now the Minister of Foreign Affairs), at the height of the 2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations. In July 2005, Fukuhara guest-starred alongside Chinese actor Jackie Chan during the opening of a photograph exhibition, in Roppongi Hills, to celebrate 60 years of peaceful coexistence between China and Japan. During Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Japan in 2008, Hu played table tennis with Fukuhara at Waseda University. Personal life Fukuhara attended Aomori Yamada Junior High School and graduated from Aomori Yamada High School in 2007. Both schools are located in the city of Aomori in Aomori Prefecture. In 2007, she enrolled in Waseda University's sports science department; she decided to drop out in 2010 to focus on her table tennis competitions. As a teenager, Fukuhara trained with the China national table tennis team and competed as a foreign recruit for Liaoning in the China Table Tennis Super League, and is very good friend with world champions such as Wang Nan and Guo Yue. She is fluent in Mandarin and speaks with a distinctly Northeastern accent, as a result of her time in Liaoning and her close relationship with personal coach Tang Yuanyuan (who was a Fushun native). She has been a well-loved sport celebrity among Chinese players and fans, who often affectionately call her "Ai-chan" (爱酱). Fukuhara married Taiwanese table tennis player Chiang Hung-chieh in 2016 following the Rio Olympics. She gave birth to their daughter on Friday 13 October 2017. Their marriage life was the subject of a Chinese reality show. In March 2021, Fukuhara and Chiang filed for divorce. The couple jointly announced their divorce in July 2021. References External links Flickr Table tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic table tennis players of Japan Japanese female table tennis players Sportspeople