Ski jumper Taku Takeuchi missed out on a place on the medals podium Friday, tying for fourth with Germany's Markus Eisenbichler at the Sapporo Olympic Memorial.
Takeuchi, a member of Japan's bronze medal-winning team at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, had jumps of 89 and 95.5 meters amid steady snowfall at Miyanomori Ski Jump Stadium, scoring 237 points in the event won by Tomas Vancura of the Czech Republic.
"The event still went ahead (despite the unfavorable conditions) and I have to be challenging up at the top," said Takeuchi, a regular on the Japan team at World Cup events overseas.
"This kind of performance is not going to cut it on the World Cup circuit," he added.
Vancura had leaps of 95 and 94 meters to win the meet that doubles up as a lower-tier FIS Continental Cup event with 246 points. Austria's Markus Schiffner was second with 243 and Jaka Hvala of Slovenia was third with 240.5.