Kaori Icho's cold, tense stare never changed as she wiped out opponent after helpless opponent.
It was only when Icho sealed her third straight Olympic gold medal that she showed the world how relieved she was to have done it again.
Icho won the women's 63-kilogram freestyle division Wednesday at the London Games, becoming the first Japanese woman to capture the same event in three straights Olympics.
Icho beat Ruixue Jing of China 3-0, 2-0, extending her winning streak to 72 matches.
When it was over, a beaming Icho pumped her fist to the large contingent of Japanese fans who chanted her name during the final. Her intimidating gaze was gone, replaced by smiles, waves and the obligatory medal display to the crowd.
A 24-year-old woman was in a serious condition Friday after being stabbed by a man whom she reported to police for stalking her in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. (Japan Today )
China's television regulator has ordered a crackdown on dramas about the country's battles with Japan during and before World War Two and demanded they be more serious, state media said on Friday, following viewer complaints about ludicrous storylines. (Reuters )
Police said Friday they have found four dead bodies in an apartment in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, in what is believed to have been a family murder-suicide. (Japan Today )
Shukan Post (May 24) conveys the difficulties experienced by other parts of the adult-entertainment biz in servicing customers from the communist nation.
A deri heru (“delivery health”) call-girl tells the tabloid that she is often requested to arrive at major hotels in the Shinjuku and Ikebukuro entertainment areas of Tokyo by Chinese visitors. (Tokyo Reporter)
Six sailors were found dead after a fire on a foreign freighter docked at a port in Hokkaido, northern Japan.
The sailors are presumed to be Russians. (NHK )
Police on Friday said that a real estate company employee was stabbed by an unknown assailant in the lobby of an office building near JR Akihabara station. The man is currently in a serious condition in hospital. (Japan Today )