is a Japanese table tennis player.
Personal life Miwa Harimoto was born Zhang Meihe in Sendai, to parents of Chinese descent. Her father, Yu Harimoto (born Zhang Yu), and mother, Rin Harimoto (born Zhang Ling) are both former professional table tennis players from Sichuan, China. Rin Harimoto, at the peak of her career, represented the Chinese national team at the 1995 World Table Tennis Championships in Tianjin. Miwa's parents moved from China to Japan in 1998. She and her older brother Tomokazu (born Zhang Zhihe) were both taught to play table tennis by their parents from a young age with the intention of pursuing professional careers.
In 2014, at the age of five, she became a Japanese citizen alongside her father and brother, and changed her name from Zhang Meihe to Miwa Harimoto. Her mother was later naturalized in 2021.
Career She won the 2021 Youth Championships in U-15 singles, women's doubles, mixed doubles, and team events. She remained undefeated throughout.
At the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, she won two medals. She was the third player on the Japanese team, losing in the final against China. With Miyuu Kihara, they notably eliminated the Chinese pair Wang Manyu/Sun Yingsha in the quarter-final. They finally brought home a bronze medal.
In 2024, Harimoto was picked for the Japanese national team as the third women's team event member at the Summer Olympics. She won bronze in women's singles at the 2024 ITTF World Cup. In October, Harimoto defeated Wang Yidi and Sun Yingsha in the women's team final at the 2024 Asian Championships, helping the Japanese team clinch the women's team title.
Singles titles Year Tournament Final opponent ScoreRef2023WTT Feeder Antalya Minami Ando3–2WTT Contender Tunis Shin Yu-bin4–22024WTT Contender Tunis Satsuki Odo4–02025WTT Star Contender Chennai Honoka Hashimoto4–2WTT Contender Tunis Hina Hayata4–1WTT Contender Buenos Aires Cheng I-ching4–2WTT Star Contender Foz do Iguaçu Miyu Nagasaki4–2WTT Star Contender London Hina Hayata4–32026WTT Champions Chongqing Kuai Man4–3WTT Contender Zagreb Zhu Yuling4–3WTT Champions Yokohama Chen Xingtong4–2WTT Champions Macao Chen Yi4–3
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