# Akane Shiga

Akane Shiga (Japanese: 志賀 紅音, しが あかね, Hepburn: Shiga Akane, born 3 March 2001) is a Japanese ice hockey player for Luleå HF/MSSK of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) and member of the Japanese national team. She played for Ottawa in the inaugural season of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).

## Playing career

Shiga began participating in elite-level ice hockey during the 2010s, playing in both the Women's Japan Ice Hockey League (WJIHL) and All-Japan Women's Ice Hockey Championship. She began her career with the Obihiro Ladies and later played with Toyota Cygnus.
On 22 December 2023, Shiga signed a one-year contract with PWHL Ottawa in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). Shiga was both the league's youngest player and the only player from Japan during the PWHL's inaugural season. In 24 games with Ottawa, Shiga recorded two goals.
In July 2024, Shiga signed a one-year contract with Luleå HF/MSSK of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL). Early in the season, in a 13–1 blowout victory over HV71 on September 20, 2024, that The Hockey News described as a "first-class drubbing," she recorded a goal and four assists for five points.

## International play

As a junior player with the Japanese national under-18 team, she participated in the IIHF U18 Women's World Championship Top Division tournaments in 2017 and 2019, and the Division I tournaments in 2016 and 2018.
Shiga made her national senior team debut at the 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship, at which she notched her first senior-level point – a goal assisted by Ayaka Toko and Hanae Kubo against Sweden in the preliminary round. She has subsequently represented Japan at the IIHF Women's World Championship tournaments in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. She was Japan's leading scorer at the tournaments in 2021, 2022, and 2024, and was selected by the coaches as one of the top-three players for Japan by the coaches in the same years.
Shiga represented Japan in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
With the Japanese national under-25 team, she won a silver medal in the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2023 Winter World University Games in Lake Placid, New York. She was Japan's leading scorer, earning 6 points on 4 goals and 2 assists.

## Personal life

Her older sister, Aoi Shiga, is also an ice hockey player, a defenseman, with the Japanese national team.

## Career statistics
### Regular season and playoffs

| | | | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2018–19 | Tokachi Obihiro Ladies | WJIHL | 9 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2023–24 | Ottawa | PWHL | 24 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — |
| PWHL totals | PWHL totals | PWHL totals | 24 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — |

### International

| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2016 | Japan | U18 (Div I) | | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 2017 | Japan | U18 | 8th | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2018 | Japan | U18 (Div IA) | | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| 2019 | Japan | U18 | 8th | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2019 | Japan | WC | 8th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 2021 | Japan | WC | 6th | 7 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 2022 | Japan | OG | 6th | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 2022 | Japan | WC | 5th | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| 2023 | Japan | WC | 7th | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 2024 | Japan | WC | 8th | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Junior totals | Junior totals | Junior totals | Junior totals | 21 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 2 |
| Senior totals | Senior totals | Senior totals | Senior totals | 35 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 28 |