Japan Ice Hockey League

The Japan Ice Hockey League was an annual ice hockey league, for Japanese teams, which began in 1966 and ended in 2004, when it was replaced by the Asia League Ice Hockey.
Even when baseball and soccer, have ruled the Japanese sporting scene for decades, there are spectator sports happening in Japan during the winter months, that's the case of ice hockey, sport who has a surprisingly long tradition there; dating back to the 1920s.
Teams have been competing in the All-Japan Championships since 1930, making the tournament one of the oldest sporting competitions in the country.
Pro hockey arrived in 1966 with the start of the Japan Ice Hockey League. Originally a five-team league, the JIHL expanded to six teams in 1974 and stayed that way until tough economic times led to budget cutbacks and eventually the demise of the league early in the new millennium.
Organizers decided the sport could only prosper in Asia if teams in Japan, China and South Korea formed a multinational league, and in 2004 the plug was pulled on the 38-year-old JIHL to make way for the Asia League Ice Hockey.
==Japan Ice Hockey League Champions==
Season 	Winner
1966-67	Iwakura Tomakomai
1967-68	Iwakura Tomakomai
1968-69	Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1969-70	Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1970-71	Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1971-72	Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1972-73	Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1973-74	Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1974-75	Kokudo Keikaku Tokyo
1975-76	Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1976-77	Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1977-78	Kokudo Keikaku Tokyo
1978-79	Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1979-80	Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1980-81	Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1981-82	Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1982-83	Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1983-84	Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1984-85	Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1985-86	Kokudo Keikaku Tokyo
1986-87	Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1987-88	Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1988-89	Kokudo Keikaku Tokyo
1989-90	Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1990-91	Oji Seishi Tomakomai
1991-92	Kokudo Keikaku Tokyo
1992-93	Kokudo Tokyo
1993-94	Shin Oji Tomakomai
1994-95	Kokudo Tokyo
1995-96	Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1996-97	Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
1997-98	Kokudo Tokyo
1998-99	Kokudo Tokyo
1999-00	Seibu Tetsudo Tokyo
2000-01	Kokudo Tokyo
2001-02	Kokudo Tokyo
2002-03	Kokudo Tokyo
2003-04	Kokudo Tokyo
==References==
* Greenaway, Chris tokyoessentials.com.
* Japan Ice Hockey League archives
* Japan Ice Hockey archives
==External links==
*Japan Ice Hockey Federation
==See also==
*Asia League Ice Hockey
*List of Japan Ice Hockey League seasons
Category:Ice hockey in Japan
Category:Defunct ice hockey leagues
Category:Established in 1966
Category:Disestablished in 2004