Judo star Tamura Ryoko (28) married baseball player Tani Yoshitomo (30) yesterday. They are scheduled to have a Christian wedding ceremony at the American Church in Paris on December 11 and host a ¥300-million reception in Tokyo on December 20. “Yawara-chan” said she had wanted to get married at the church, located by the Seine River and near the famed Eiffel Tower, since training in the area in recent years. She will miss the major tournament in her hometown of Fukuoka for the first time, because it clashes with her wedding plans. The current Olympic gold medallist, Tamura has won the World Championships in her 48kg class for a record six straight times. Tani, an outfielder with the Pacific League Orix BlueWave, also helped the Japanese Olympic team in its recent qualifying tournament.
• Headed in the other direction is TV personality Hinagata Akiko (25), who announced her divorce from her director husband today (see story below).