Delegation head Seiko Hashimoto expressed satisfaction with the country's medal count at the Vancouver Olympics on Feb. 28, praising the efforts of the athletes for winning five medals.

Japan failed to win a gold medal, and the haul of three silver and two bronze medals was well short of the 10 it had targeted ahead of the games. But Hashimoto pointed out that it was a significant improvement on the lone gold won by figure skater Shizuka Arakawa in Turin, Italy, four years ago.

"We won four more medals than at the last Winter Olympics in Turin. That shows that the athletes tried hard. We would have liked one gold though," Hashimoto said at a news conference.

Looking ahead to the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia, Hashimoto said, "A lot rests on how seriously the country (Japan) takes sport. There has to be a better performance in Sochi."