Yukifumi Murakami became the first Japanese athlete to reach the men's javelin final in more than two decades at the IAAF World Athletics Championships on Friday.
The 29-year-old launched a personal best effort of 83.10 meters on his second throw to top qualifying in Group A and place second overall behind Latvian Vadims Vasilevskis, who threw 86.69.
"I feel like I have finally made the throw I was looking for," said Murakami. "I didn't get too stiff and was able to throw comfortably (but) I didn't think I would throw that far."
The last Japanese to reach the men's javelin final was Kazuhiro Mizoguchi, who went on to finish sixth at the 1987 worlds.
"I am happy I was able to leave my name in javelin throwing history. I am at my best this season. It's an impressive field in the final (Sunday) and I'm looking forward to it," said Murakami.
Japan's men's 4x100 meters relay team, the winner of the bronze medal at last year's Beijing Games, progressed into Saturday's final.
Masashi Eriguchi, Naoki Tsukahara, Shinji Takahira and Kenji Fujimitsu combined to clock 38.53 seconds to place second in Heat 1 behind Trinidad and Tobago.
In women's long jump qualifying, Tachiko Masumi was eliminated after finishing 15th with a jump of 6.23 meters.