Japan's Naoki Tsukahara moved into the semifinals of the men's 100 meters on the opening day of the world athletics championships Saturday.
Tsukahara placed third in his heat in 10.15 seconds, while Asafa Powell clocked the fastest qualifying time of the quarterfinals with a run of 9.95. Reigning world champion Tyson Gay ran 9.98 while Olympic champion Usain Bolt also cruised into Sunday's semis in 10.03.
"I was a bit stiff in the first half of the race but I stuck at it," said Tsukahara. "My time was better than I expected."
Masashi Eriguchi and Shintaro Kimura failed to advance.
In the men's 20-kilometer race walk, Koichiro Morioka had the best showing for Japan, coming 11th in 1:21:48.
Olympic champion Valeriy Borchin of Russia became the first gold winner of the 2009 worlds, winning the event in 1:18:41.
Kazuaki Yoshida clocked 49.45 to progress to the 400-meter hurdles semifinals but Kenji Narisako was eliminated.
In women's action, Yurika Nakamura produced the best finish by a Japanese runner in the 10,000 meters, finishing seventh in 31:14.39. Kayoko Fukushi (31:23.49) was ninth and Yukari Sahaku (33:41.17) was 20th.
"I was able to clock a personal best time on this big stage so I am pleased," said Nakamura. "I fell back during the race but kept on going."
Linet Masai of Kenya smashed Ethiopia's long-held dominance of the event, winning the gold medal in 30:51.24.
Japan has set a modest goal of winning one medal of any color and having six top-eight finishes in the nine-day meet.