Japan at the 2014 Winter Olympics Japan at the 2014 Winter Olympics Japan competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia from 7 to 23 February 2014. Japan's team consisted of 136 athletes in all 15 sports. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the opening ceremony, wanting to show the Russians how important the relationship between the two countries is. According to the quota allocation released on January 27, 2014, Japan has achieved two quota spots in alpine skiing. No one of the several female skiers regularly competing in the World Cup managed to achieve qualification. Based on their performance at the 2012 and 2013
Shinzō Abe Communist and Social Democratic parties walked out of the vote in protest at what they said was the government's move to force the bills through without sufficient debate and ignore "responsible opposition parties". Abe countered by arguing that the bills had been debated for "as many as 113 hours" before the vote. While common practice in many other parliamentary democracies, a government using its majority to "railroad" controversial bills though the Diet in the face of political and public opposition is a subject of criticism in Japan. As a result of these moves, Abe faced a public backlash, and opinion