Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Gold medalist Mao Shimada (front) of Japan hugs compatriot and bronze medalist Mayuko Oka during the medal ceremony for the women's event at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 7, 2026.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mao Shimada (R) of Japan poses after winning gold in the women's event at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 7, 2026, alongside compatriot and bronze medalist Mayuko Oka.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mao Shimada (L) of Japan poses after winning gold in the women's event at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 7, 2026, alongside compatriot and bronze medalist Mayuko Oka.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mao Shimada (C) of Japan poses after winning gold in the women's event at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 7, 2026, alongside silver medalist Hana Bath (L) of Australia and bronze medalist Mayuko Oka of Japan.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mao Shimada (L) of Japan poses after winning gold in the women's event at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 7, 2026, alongside compatriot and bronze medalist Mayuko Oka.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan performs in the women's free program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 7, 2026. She won bronze.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan poses after winning bronze in the women's event at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 7, 2026.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan performs in the women's free program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 7, 2026. She won bronze.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan poses after winning bronze in the women's event at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 7, 2026.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan poses after winning bronze in the women's event at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 7, 2026.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan performs in the women's free program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 7, 2026. She won bronze.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan performs in the women's free program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 7, 2026. She won bronze.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan performs in the women's free program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 7, 2026. She won bronze.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan performs in the women's free program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 7, 2026. She won bronze.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mao Shimada (R) and Mayuko Oka of Japan pose for a photo after respectively finishing first and second in the women's short program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 5, 2026.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mao Shimada (R) and Mayuko Oka of Japan pose for a photo after respectively finishing first and second in the women's short program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 5, 2026.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan acknowledges the crowd after performing in the women's short program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 5, 2026.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan performs in the women's short program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 5, 2026.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan performs in the women's short program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 5, 2026.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan performs in the women's short program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 5, 2026.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan performs in the women's short program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 5, 2026.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan performs in the women's short program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 5, 2026.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan performs in the women's short program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 5, 2026.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan performs in the women's short program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 5, 2026.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan performs in the women's short program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 5, 2026.

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Figure skating: Junior world championships

Mayuko Oka of Japan performs in the women's short program at the figure skating junior world championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 5, 2026.

Japanese lawmaker to quit party over alleged abuse against staffer

Japanese lawmaker to quit party over alleged abuse against staffer

TOKYO, Japan, June 23 Kyodo - Mayuko Toyota points at her name listed at the Diet building in Tokyo on Dec. 26, 2012, on her first trip to parliament after being elected to the House of Representatives. Toyota submitted an application to leave the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on June 22, 2017, after a weekly magazine released an audio file seeming to back up allegations that she physically and verbally abused a secretary.

Sony's PlayStation 4 hits Japanese market

Sony's PlayStation 4 hits Japanese market

TOKYO, Japan - (From L to R) Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. President and CEO Andrew House, Ryo Watanabe, the first Japanese customer for the PlayStation 4, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan President Hiroshi Kawano, and actress and fashion model Mayuko Kawakita celebrate in Tokyo's Ginza district on Feb. 22, 2014, as the the gaming unit of Sony Corp. launched the successor to the PlayStation 3 console in Japan.

Competition winner Kamio gives her performance

Competition winner Kamio gives her performance

MOSCOW, Russia - Japanese violinist Mayuko Kamio, who won the first prize at the 13th International Tchaikovsky Competition, shows off her gold medal during the award ceremony in the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in Moscow on June 30.

Competition winner Kamio gives her performance

Competition winner Kamio gives her performance

MOSCOW, Russia - Japanese violinist Mayuko Kamio, who won the first prize at the 13th International Tchaikovsky Competition, performs with an orchestra conducted by Vladimir Spivakov in the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in Moscow on June 30.

Japanese violinist Kamio wins Int'l Tchaikovsky Competition

Japanese violinist Kamio wins Int'l Tchaikovsky Competition

MOSCOW, Russia - Mayuko Kamio, a 21-year-old Japanese from Osaka Prefecture, smiles after winning the violin section of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow on June 29. Kamio became the second Japanese to win the violin section, following Akiko Suwanai, who won the ninth competition in 1990 at age 18.

Japan's Hagiwara wins gold in cycling road race

Japan's Hagiwara wins gold in cycling road race

DOHA, Qatar - Japanese cyclist Mayuko Hagiwara (C) won the gold medal in the women's road race Dec. 4 at the Asian Games. China's Zhao Na (L) won the silver medal and South Korea's Han Song Hee the bronze.

2 Nagasaki teens deliver antinuclear petition to U.N.

2 Nagasaki teens deliver antinuclear petition to U.N.

GENEVA, Switzerland - Ayaka Ogawa (L) and Mayuko Tsuda (R), two Japanese high school students from Nagasaki, observe a meeting of the Conference of Disarmament in Geneva on Aug. 19. They handed a petition containing more than 30,000 signatures calling for nuclear disarmament to an official of the Conference of Disarmament.

2 Nagasaki students head to Geneva to deliver antinuke message

2 Nagasaki students head to Geneva to deliver antinuke message

NAGASAKI, Japan - Ayaka Ogawa (L), a 16-year-old sophomore, and Mayuko Tsuda, a 17-year-old senior, from two Nagasaki high schools pose for photos at the Nagasaki city office on Ag. 16 before heading to the U.N. European headquarters in Geneva to spread the message of nuclear disarmament. The banner they hold reads: ""World without war and nuclear weapons.''

Japanese teens win 3rd, 4th prizes in Polish violin contest

Japanese teens win 3rd, 4th prizes in Polish violin contest

POZNAN, Poland - Hiroko Takahashi, 17, a student at Tokyo's Toho Girls High School, wins third prize at the Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition on Oct. 27. Fellow Japanese competitor Mayuko Kamiya, 15, a student at the Juilliard School in New York, took fourth prize.

Flowers piled near site of fatal stabbing of Tokyo student

Flowers piled near site of fatal stabbing of Tokyo student

TOKYO, Japan - People living close to where a female college student was stabbed to death April 30 in Tokyo's Asakusa district came at various times May 12 to place flowers at the entrance of a park just 10 meters from the site and pray for the student's repose. Nearly 100 bouquets piled up in a wooden box placed in front of the alley where Mayuko Ogawa, a 19-year-old studying at Toita Women's College, was killed. On May 10, police arrested Makoto Yamaguchi, 29, on suspicion of stabbing Ogawa to death.

Flowers laid at murder site

Flowers laid at murder site

TOKYO, Japan - Two unidentified women lay flowers May 10 at the site in Tokyo's Taito Ward where Mayuko Ogawa, a 19-year-old college student was stabbed to death on April 30.

Mayuko's father speaks to media

Mayuko's father speaks to media

TOKYO, Japan - Tamio Ogawa, father of Mayuko, a 19-year-old student who was stabbed to death in April, speaks to the media outside his house in Tokyo's Itabashi on May 10 following the arrest of a suspect.

Suspected killer of college student arrested in Tokyo

Suspected killer of college student arrested in Tokyo

TOKYO, Japan - Makoto Yamaguchi, a 29-year-old man from Hokkaido, was arrested in Tokyo on May 10 on suspicion of killing Mayuko Ogawa, a 19-year-old student at Toita Women's College. This likeness of the suspect has brought more than 700 tips from members of the public, police said.

Friends weep at Mayuko Ogawa's funeral

Friends weep at Mayuko Ogawa's funeral

TOKYO, Japan - Friends of Mayuko Ogawa, a 19-year-old student who was stabbed to death in Tokyo's Taito Ward on April 30 by a man in his 20s or 30s, weep in sorrow at her funeral held in Itabashi Ward on May 6.

2 Nagasaki students head to Geneva to deliver antinuke message

2 Nagasaki students head to Geneva to deliver antinuke message

NAGASAKI, Japan - Ayaka Ogawa (L), a 16-year-old sophomore, and Mayuko Tsuda, a 17-year-old senior, from two Nagasaki high schools pose for photos at the Nagasaki city office on Ag. 16 before heading to the U.N. European headquarters in Geneva to spread the message of nuclear disarmament. The banner they hold reads: "World without war and nuclear weapons.'' (Kyodo)

2 Nagasaki teens deliver antinuclear petition to U.N.

2 Nagasaki teens deliver antinuclear petition to U.N.

GENEVA, Switzerland - Ayaka Ogawa (L) and Mayuko Tsuda (R), two Japanese high school students from Nagasaki, observe a meeting of the Conference of Disarmament in Geneva on Aug. 19. They handed a petition containing more than 30,000 signatures calling for nuclear disarmament to an official of the Conference of Disarmament. (Kyodo)

Suspected killer of college student arrested in Tokyo

Suspected killer of college student arrested in Tokyo

TOKYO, Japan - Makoto Yamaguchi, a 29-year-old man from Hokkaido, was arrested in Tokyo on May 10 on suspicion of killing Mayuko Ogawa, a 19-year-old student at Toita Women's College. This likeness of the suspect has brought more than 700 tips from members of the public, police said.

Flowers laid at murder site

Flowers laid at murder site

TOKYO, Japan - Two unidentified women lay flowers May 10 at the site in Tokyo's Taito Ward where Mayuko Ogawa, a 19-year-old college student was stabbed to death on April 30.

Old post office converted into cafe in western Japan

Old post office converted into cafe in western Japan

Mayuko Matsuda stands in front of her cafe built within an old post office in Uda, Nara Prefecture, western Japan, on Jan. 31, 2015. The Inasa Post Office was closed some 40 years ago but has been preserved by local people. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

LDP lawmaker to quit party over alleged abuse of secretary

LDP lawmaker to quit party over alleged abuse of secretary

Photo taken in April 2012 shows Mayuko Toyota, a lawmaker of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party. Toyota submitted an application to leave the party on June 22, 2017, following allegations she physically and verbally attacked one of her secretaries. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Competition winner Kamio gives her performance

Competition winner Kamio gives her performance

MOSCOW, Russia - Japanese violinist Mayuko Kamio, who won the first prize at the 13th International Tchaikovsky Competition, performs with an orchestra conducted by Vladimir Spivakov in the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in Moscow on June 30. (Kyodo)

Competition winner Kamio gives her performance

Competition winner Kamio gives her performance

MOSCOW, Russia - Japanese violinist Mayuko Kamio, who won the first prize at the 13th International Tchaikovsky Competition, shows off her gold medal during the award ceremony in the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in Moscow on June 30. (Kyodo)

Japanese violinist Kamio wins Int'l Tchaikovsky Competition

Japanese violinist Kamio wins Int'l Tchaikovsky Competition

MOSCOW, Russia - Mayuko Kamio, a 21-year-old Japanese from Osaka Prefecture, smiles after winning the violin section of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow on June 29. Kamio became the second Japanese to win the violin section, following Akiko Suwanai, who won the ninth competition in 1990 at age 18. (Kyodo)

Japan's Hagiwara wins gold in cycling road race

Japan's Hagiwara wins gold in cycling road race

DOHA, Qatar - Japanese cyclist Mayuko Hagiwara (C) won the gold medal in the women's road race Dec. 4 at the Asian Games. China's Zhao Na (L) won the silver medal and South Korea's Han Song Hee the bronze. (Kyodo)