She is sponsored by All Nippon Airways. Fukuhara began playing at the age of 3 and became a professional at age The following year, she became the youngest player ever to become a member of the Japanese national team. Because of her age, she has been regarded as a "child prodigy" in table tennis. Fukuhara qualified to participate in the Summer Olympics in the Asian zone qualifying tournament. Fukuhara was directly qualified for the Summer Olympics through world ranking.
They reached the bronze medal contest but lost to South Korea. In the singles event, Fukuhara advanced to round of 16, losing to gold medalist Zhang Yining.
She also qualified directly for the London Olympic Games with her world ranking in June , but lost to Ding Ning on 31 July , 13—15, 6—11, 6—11, and 4— Fukuhara also qualified for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro , where she lost a close semi-final against Germany with her team and later won bronze together with Kasumi Ishikawa and Mima Ito on her side by defeating the team from Singapore.
The Kuwait Open would be Ai's most fruitful competition at that time. On the way to the finals, she caused numerous upsets. Later on, she played Singapore's Wang Yuegu , where Ai eventually won 4—2.
After two shocking wins, Ai went on to cause another upset to China by beating the experienced top-spin specialist, Guo Yan. In the highly lauded and suspenseful final, she nearly defeated China's top seed Liu Shiwen , but lost 3—4.
