The or WJIHL is the premier women's ice hockey league in Japan. Officially nicknamed the Smile Japan League, it is also known as the Smile League (). The league was founded in 2012 by the Japan Ice Hockey Federation and is contested in addition to the All-Japan Women's Ice Hockey Championship tournament. Twelve teams participated in the 2023–24 season, of which eight were based in the northern island-province of Hokkaido, two in the Tokyo Metropolis, and two were junior teams comprising youth players from across Japan.
The league’s most successful team, the Seibu Princess Rabbits, won the first eight league titles and have been WJIHL Champions a total of nine times. DK Peregrine claimed second place in seven of the first eight league finals and won the league championship in 2021. Daishin IHC are the only other team to have played in the finals, finishing second in 2014 and winning their first league title in 2023.
History
2012–13 season The first season of the JWIHL, 2012–13, was played in two stages: a placement tournament and a final tournament. In the first stage, held during 5 to 8 October 2012, the ten participating teams were divided into two groups of five and each group played a single round-robin of ten games. The top two teams from each group and the third ranked team with the higher point total from the first stage qualified for the top league and the remaining five teams competed in the lower league of the second stage tournament. The second stage was also played as a single round-robin and was held during 22 to 25 November 2012. The first champions of the WJIHL were the Seibu Princess Rabbits.
Teams
2023–24 season Team Location Est. Head coach Captain Kushiro1997 Tomakomai1977 Jr. High School Selects– Kushiro1979 Sapporo2012 Seibu Princess Rabbits Nishitōkyō1974 Showa University Blue Winds Kanagawa Shimizu1997 Obihiro2003 Tomakomai2001 U18 National Selects– Sapporo2012 Sources: JIHF
Team name history Bears → 1979–1993: Kushiro Bears → 1993–2007: Rokkatei Bears → 2007–2012: Kamori Kanko Bears → 2012–present: Kushiro Bears Mikage Gretz → 1987–2008: Mikage Gretz → 2008–2018: Full-time System Mikage Gretz (FTS Mikage Gretz) → 2018–present: Takasu Clinic Mikage Gretz (TC Mikage Gretz) Obihiro Ladies → 2003–2019: Obihiro Ladies → 2019–2023: Obihiro Cranes Ladies → 2023–present: Tokachi Obihiro Ladies Peregrine → 1977–1991: Tomakomai Peregrine → 1991–2010: Iwakura Peregrine → 2010–2015: Mitsuboshi Daito Peregrine (MD Peregrine) → 2015–present: Douro Kensetsu Peregrine (DK Peregrine) Princess Rabbits → 1974–1992: Kokudo Keikaku WIHC → 1992–2006: Kokudo Ladies → 2006–present: SEIBU Princess Rabbits
Past participants Daishin B (Kushiro, Hokkaido) Daito Kaihatsu Nexus/Tomakomai Nexus (Tomakomai, Hokkaido) Ganba X Maria Jaspers (Hachinohe, Aomori) Makomanai Ladies Ice Hockey Club (Sapporo, Hokkaido) Queen Bears (Nishitokyo, Tokyo)
Champions Season Champion Runner-up Third PlaceFourth Place 1st 2012–13 Seibu Princess Rabbits MD Peregrine Daishin FTS Mikage Gretz 2nd 2013–14 Seibu Princess Rabbits MD Peregrine Daishin FTS Mikage Gretz 3rd 2014–15 Seibu Princess Rabbits MD Peregrine FTS Mikage Gretz Toyota Cygnus 4th 2015–16 Seibu Princess Rabbits Daishin DK Peregrine FTS Mikage Gretz 5th 2016–17 Seibu Princess Rabbits DK Peregrine Toyota Cygnus Kushiro Bears 6th 2017–18 Seibu Princess Rabbits DK Peregrine FTS Mikage Gretz Toyota Cygnus 7th 2018–19 Seibu Princess Rabbits DK Peregrine Toyota Cygnus Obihiro Ladies 8th2019–20 Seibu Princess Rabbits DK Peregrine Daishin Kushiro Bears 9th2020–21 DK Peregrine Seibu Princess Rabbits Daishin Toyota Cygnus 10th 2021–22Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 11th 2022–23 Daishin DK Peregrine Seibu Princess Rabbits Toyota Cygnus 12th 2023–24 Seibu Princess Rabbits DK Peregrine Daishin Toyota Cygnus13th2024-25DaishinSeibu Princess RabbitsToyota CygnusDK Peregrine
All-time medal count +Team Princess Rabbits 9 2 1 Peregrine 1 9 1 Daishin 2 1 5 Mikage Gretz 0 0 2 Cygnus 0 0 3
References
External links Official website of the Japan Ice Hockey Federation League information and statistics from EliteProspects.com