18 February 2010
Team Aomori – Japan’s National Women’s Curling Team
Posted by Roland under: Personal .
Not going to lie, the Japanese women’s team makes curling a whole lot more watchable.
——————-
(Japanese Curling Team – L to R: Third – Anna Ohmiya, Skip – Moe Meguro, Alternate – Mayo Yamaura, Second – Mari Motohashi)
Image Source: Getty Images Sport via CNNGO
Japanese Olympics Team Bio (@ NBC Olympics)
Official Team Aomori Japanese site
Unfortunately they’re not expected to medal, so probably won’t be seeing them bring their curling abilities into the medal matches, but it’s a round robin tournament at the Olympics, so plenty of chances to catch them in action. Thanks nbcolmypics.com! (May want to do something about your spoilers on the front page though) I must say I enjoy their nickname, “Curling Musume” (カーリング娘) which loosely translates to “Daughters of Curling”.
So basically, if I find myself settled in a cold weather climate in Japan, the first thing I need to do is find the nearest curling club.
Bonus, check out their intro video from the 2006 Olympics. Only Moe Meguro and Mari Motohashi are in Vancouver although Mari apparently was the “mood maker” of the team according to the commentary. I can see why according to this video (and some of the other videos from 06 if you click around).
Unfortunately, I don’t think Mari is bringing the same level of excitement to Vancouver (she did get four years older after all). But she is apparently popular enough that they released a DVD chronicling her first trip to Okinawa (Japan’s Hawaii) in Japan.
Looks like I have something I need to buy when I go back…although Anna Ohmiya is my favorite from this year’s team.