is a Japanese

goalball Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a visual impairment, vision impairment. Participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball with bells embedded inside it into the opponents' goal. The ball is throw ...

player with a congenital visual impairment. She was part of the bronze medal-winning Japanese women's team at the

2004 Summer Paralympics The 2004 Summer Paralympics (), the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Athens, Greece, from 17 to 28 September ...

. At the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

she captained the gold medal-winning Japanese women's team. After the game she stated "The day e waited forfinally came. I was so overcome with emotion that I couldn't finish singing the '

Kimigayo is the national anthem of Japan. The lyrics are from a ' poem written by an unnamed author in the Heian period (794–1185), and the current melody was chosen in 1880, replacing an unpopular melody composed by John William Fenton in 1869. W ...

' national anthem." Her impairment was caused by

retinitis pigmentosa Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a member of a group of genetic disorders called inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) that cause loss of vision. Symptoms include trouble seeing at night and decreasing peripheral vision (side and upper or lower visua ...

, which destroyed her vision in both eyes when she was in primary school. She began playing in 2001. Her coach, Naoki Eguro, introduced her to the sport.

References

External links

* 1975 births Living people Japanese female goalball players Paralympic goalball players for Japan Paralympic gold medalists for Japan Paralympic bronze medalists for Japan Paralympic medalists in goalball Goalball players at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Goalball players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Goalball players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Goalball players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Goalball players at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2010 Asian Para Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Para Games Kyushu Sangyo University alumni Sportspeople from Fukuoka (city) {{Goalball-bio-stub