[6] She competed at the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, also held in Fukuoka, and took sixth place in the long race – one of only two non-East African runners to make the top ten.

She claimed a bronze on the track at the 2006 IAAF World Cup, coming third over 5000 m and took the 10,000 m gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games – her first major championship win.

However, her pacing collapsed soon after that point and she ended up in 19th place with a time of 2:40:54 hours, over fifteen minutes adrift of the winner.

[10] Fukushi's track form deteriorated somewhat that year – she attempted to defend her Asian title at the 2010 Asian Games but came fourth over 10,000 m and fifth in the 5000 m. She anchored the Kyoto team to victory at the Inter-Prefectural Women's Ekiden in January 2011, increasing her team's lead in the final 10 km leg of the race.

[12] Her main competition that year was the 2011 Chicago Marathon, where she was among the leaders at the halfway point and went on to take third place in a new personal best time of 2:24:38 hours.

[16] This gained her selection for Japan for the 2013 World Championships in Athletics marathon, where she won her first major medal over the distance – a bronze.

[17] Her foremost race the following season was the 2014 Berlin Marathon, but her time of 2:26:24.7 hours only brought her sixth place in the high calibre contest.

She defeated the opposition by over six minutes and set a new personal best of 2:22:17 hours, moving her into the Japanese all-time top seven women.