Junko Nishimuro

Junko Nishimuro
Curler
Born	Junko Sonobe (1980-12-21) December 21, 1980 (age 44) Karuizawa, Nagano
Team
Curling club	Karuizawa CC, Karuizawa
Skip	Miyu Ueno
Third	Asuka Kanai
Second	Junko Nishimuro
Lead	Yui Ueno
Mixed doubles partner	Saturo Tsukamoto
Curling career
Member Association	Japan
World Championship appearances	2 (2006, 2024)
Pacific-Asia Championship appearances	1 (2005)
Pan Continental Championship appearances	1 (2024)
Medal record Women's Curling Representing  Japan Asian Winter Games 2007 Changchun Pacific-Asia Championships 2005 Taipei Representing Nagano Japan Curling Championships 2005 Tokoro 2024 Sapporo 2003 Karuizawa 2006 Aomori 2007 Moseushi 2008 Karuizawa 2023 Tokoro 1998 Tokoro Representing Yamanashi Japan Curling Championships 2018 Nayoro 2016 Aomori 2015 Tokoro 2017 Karuizawa

Junko Nishimuro (西室淳子, Nishimuro Junko, born December 21, 1980 as Junko Sonobe) is a Japanese curler from Otsuki, Yamanashi.^[1] She is the second on the SC Karuizawa Club curling team, which is skipped by Asuka Kanai. At the international level, she represented Japan at the 2005 Pacific Curling Championships and the 2006 World Women's Curling Championship as a result of winning the 2005 Japan Curling Championships.^[2]

Nishimuro won her first Japan Curling Championships title in 2005 with teammates Yukako Tsuchiya, Tomoko Sonobe, Chiemi Kameyama and Mitsuki Sato.^[3] She had previously won silver in 2003 and bronze in 1998. This qualified the team to represent Japan at the 2005 Pacific Curling Championships in Taipei, Chinese Taipei. Through the round robin, the team placed second with a 4–1 record. They then beat New Zealand in the semifinal and China's Wang Bingyu in the final to win the gold medal.^[4] With the win, they qualified for the 2006 World Women's Curling Championship in Grande Prairie, Alberta. At the Worlds, the team struggled, finishing eleventh out of twelve teams with a 3–8 record.^[5]

In 2007, the Tsuchiya rink represented Japan at the 2007 Asian Winter Games. After the double round robin, they finished first with a 5–1 record. This earned them a bye to the championship final where they were defeated by South Korea, earning the silver medal.^[6]

Nishimuro would not win another national title until 2018, where as the alternate for the Tori Koana team, they defeated the Ayumi Ogasawara rink in the championship final.^[7] Nishimuro previously threw fourth stones on the Fujikyu team from 2015 to 2017, earning two bronze medals and one silver at the Japanese championship. Despite winning the Japanese championship, Nishimuro did not participate in the 2018 World Women's Curling Championship with the team and was instead replaced by Kaho Onodera of Team Ogasawara.

During the 2018–19 season, Team Koana were named as the Japanese representatives at the third leg of the 2018–19 Curling World Cup.^[8] At the event, they finished with a 2–4 record.^[9]

Nishimuro was previously employed at Fujikyu during her time with Team Koana. She was previously a speed skater before switching to curling in junior high school.^[2] She is currently self employed at a curling supplies store.^[1]

• Junko Nishimuro at World Curling
• Junko Nishimuro at Olympics.com