Ryoko Tamura, one of the favorites for the gold medal in the women's judo competition, led the main contingent of Japan's Olympic delegation into the host city Saturday, six days before the Sydney Games open.
Japanese Olympic Committee President Yushiro Yagi said he hopes the athletes will bring home at least eight gold medals as he arrived at Sydney Airport with 87 athletes and officials.
"I started getting nervous the moment I stepped off the plane. Hopefully, we'll get off to a good start just like we did in Nagano," Yagi said, referring to Japan's five gold medals, its best-ever showing in the Winter Games, at the 1998 Nagano Olympics.
Yagi and other JOC officials hope that Japan's athletes will rebound from their dismal showing at the 1996 Atlanta Games, where they won just three golds -- all in judo.