is a Japanese curler, born April 5, 1978, in

Tokoro is a small town, once was an independent administrative division located in Tokoro District, Abashiri Subprefecture (now Okhotsk Subprefecture), Hokkaido, Japan. On March 5, 2006, the division, along with the towns of Rubeshibe and Tanno (all f ...

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

as . She is currently the coach of

Sayaka Yoshimura is a Japanese curler from Sapporo, Hokkaido. She is the skip of the FORTIUS curling team, which won the Japan Curling Championships in both 2015 and 2021. At the international level, she has represented Japan twice at the World Women's Curling ...

's team from

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

Career

At age 12, Funayama began curling in her hometown

, joining Akiko Katoh's junior team together with Ayumi Ogasawara (then Onodera). Funayama mainly played third for the Katoh team. The team represented Japan at four

World Junior Curling Championships The World Junior Curling Championships are an annual curling bonspiel featuring the world's best curlers who are 21 years old or younger. The competitions for both men and women occur at the same venue. The men's tournament has occurred since 1 ...

(1996, 1997, 1998 & 1999), winning a silver medal in 1998 and another silver in 1999. The team later represented Japan at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

, finishing in 8th place with a 2–7 record. After the 2001-2002 season, Funayama moved from

Aomori is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 278,964 in 136,457 households, and a population density of 340 people per square kilometer spread over the city's total area of ...

and formed a new team with her then-teammate Ayumi Ogasawara (then Onodera), who became the skip of the new team. The team represented Japan at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

, where Funayama played third and Japan finished 7th with a 4–5 record, including a surprise win over one of the usual curling powerhouses, Canada. After the 2005-2006 season, Funayama and Ogasawara announced their temporary retirement. Funayama got married and had a child before returning to the sport in the 2011-12 season. In 2011, Funayama and Ogasawara formed a new team in

. The team qualified for the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

through the Olympic Qualification Event 2013. At the Olympic Games, Funayama threw third stones under skip Ogasawara, and Japan finished in 5th place with a 4–5 record, winning against two former World Championship teams, Switzerland's Mirjam Ott and China's

Wang Bingyu Wang Bingyu (; ; born October 7, 1984 in Harbin, Heilongjiang; usually referred to in the media as Bingyu "Betty" Wang) is a Chinese curler. In 2009, she became the first non Northern American or European skip to win a World Championship. Cu ...

Personal life

Funayama is married and has two children. She lives in

Teammates

2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games * Akiko Katoh, ''Skip'' * Ayumi Onodera, ''Second'' *

Mika Konaka Mika Konaka (; born February 24, 1977, in Tokoro, Hokkaido, Japan as Mika Hori) is a Japanese curler, a and a two-time Japan women's champion (1999, 2001). She played for Japan at the 2002 Winter Olympics, where the Japanese team finished i ...

, ''Lead'' * Kotomi Ishizaki, ''Alternate'' 2006 Turin Olympic Games * Ayumi Onodera, ''Skip'' * Mari Motohashi, ''Second'' * Moe Meguro, ''Lead'' *

Sakurako Terada is a Japanese curler, born May 17, 1984, in Sorachi District, Hokkaidō. History Terada is a member of Team Aomori which was selected to represent Japan at the 2006 Winter Olympicsbr> At the Games she was the alternate under skip Ayumi Onoder ...

, ''Alternate'' 2014 Sochi Olympic Games * Ayumi Ogasawara, ''Skip'' * Kaho Onodera, ''Second'' *

Michiko Tomabechi Michiko Tomabechi (born 29 January 1980) is a Japanese curler. Career Tomabechi competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, with the Japanese team. In 2013, she was part of the bronze-winning team at the Pacific-Asia Championship in Shangha ...

, ''Lead'' *

Chinami Yoshida is a Japanese Curling, curler. She currently plays Third (curling), third for Team Loco Solare, which is skipped by Satsuki Fujisawa. The team won the bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics and the silver medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Ca ...

, ''Alternate''

References

External links

* Japanese female curlers Living people 1978 births People from Kitami Curlers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Curlers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Curlers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic curlers for Japan Pacific-Asian curling champions Japanese curling champions Sportspeople from Sapporo Curlers from Hokkaido 20th-century Japanese women 21st-century Japanese women {{Japan-curling-bio-stub