Japan men's national ice hockey team

Japan
Association	Japan Ice Hockey Federation
Most games	Go Tanaka (126)
Top scorer	Toshiyuki Sakai (44)
Most points	Norio Suzuki (85)
IIHF code	JPN
IIHF ranking	24
Highest IIHF ranking	15 (2003–04)
Lowest IIHF ranking	25 (2021–23)
Team colors
First international
	Czechoslovakia 12–2 Japan; (Davos, Switzerland; 24 January 1930)
Biggest win
	Japan 44–1 Kuwait; (Gangneung, South Korea; 30 January 1999)
Biggest defeat
	Czechoslovakia 25–1 Japan; (Moscow, Soviet Union; 4 March 1957)
IIHF World Championships
Appearances	47 (first in 1930)
Best result	8th (1930, 1957)
Asian Winter Games
Appearances	8 (first in 1986)
Best result	Gold (2003, 2007) Silver (1986, 1990, 1996, 1999, 2011) Bronze (2017)
Olympics
Appearances	8 (first in 1936)
International record (W–L–T)
	291–391–49

main

The Japanese national ice hockey team (Japanese: アイスホッケー男子日本代表 Aisuhokkē Danshi Nippon Daihyō) is the national men's ice hockey of Japan. They are controlled by the Japan Ice Hockey Federation and a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Japan is currently ranked 23rd in the rankings and currently compete in the IIHF World Championship Division I. They have competed in eight Olympic Games competitions.

Tournament participation

Winter Olympics

1936 – 9th place (tied)
1960 – 8th place
1964 – 11th place
1968 – 10th place
1972 – 9th place
1976 – 9th place
1980 – 12th place
1998 – 13th place

World Championship

Note: Years in Bold denote participation in the top-level tournament

1930 – Finished tied in 6th place
1957 – Finished in 8th place
1962 – Finished in 9th place (1st in "Pool B")
1967 – Finished in 17th place (1st in "Pool C")
1969 – Finished in 15th place (1st in "Pool C")
1970 – Finished in 11th place (5th in "Pool B")
1971 – Finished in 12th place (6th in "Pool B")
1972 – Finished in 11th place (5th in "Pool B")
1973 – Finished in 12th place (6th in "Pool B")
1974 – Finished in 10th place (4th in "Pool B")
1975 – Finished in 12th place (6th in "Pool B")
1976 – Finished in 10th place (2nd in "Pool B")
1977 – Finished in 11th place (3rd in "Pool B")
1978 – Finished in 10th place (2nd in "Pool B")
1979 – Finished in 14th place (6th in "Pool B")
1981 – Finished in 16th place (8th in "Pool B")
1982 – Finished in 17th place (1st in "Pool C")
1983 – Finished in 13th place (5th in "Pool B")
1985 – Finished in 13th place (5th in "Pool B")
1986 – Finished in 15th place (8th in "Pool B")
1987 – Finished in 17th place (1st in "Pool C")
1989 – Finished in 15th place (7th in "Pool B")
1990 – Finished in 15th place (7th in "Pool B")
1991 – Finished in 16th place (8th in "Pool B")
1992 – Finished in 15th place (3rd in "Pool B")
1993 – Finished in 17th place (5th in "Pool B")
1994 – Finished in 16th place (4th in "Pool B")
1995 – Finished in 18th place (6th in "Pool B")
1996 – Finished in 20th place (8th in "Pool B")
1997 – Finished in 24th place (4th in "Pool C")
1998 – Finished in 14th place
1999 – Finished in 16th place
2000 – Finished in 16th place
2001 – Finished in 16th place
2002 – Finished in 16th place
2003 – Finished in 16th place
2004 – Finished in 15th place
2005 – Finished in 25th place (5th in Division I, Group A)
2006 – Finished in 22nd place (3rd in Division I, Group A)
2007 – Finished in 22nd place (3rd in Division I, Group B)
2008 – Finished in 21st place (3rd in Division I, Group B)
2009 – Finished in 21st place (3rd in Division I, Group A)
2010 – Finished in 21st place (3rd in Division I, Group A)
2011 – Withdrew from tournament
2012 – Finished in 20th place (4th in Division I, Group A)
2013 – Finished in 20th place (4th in Division I, Group A)
2014 – Finished in 19th place (3rd in Division I, Group A)
2015 – Finished in 20th place (4th in Division I, Group A)
2016 – Finished in 22nd place (6th in Division I, Group A)
2017 – Finished in 24th place (2nd in Division I, Group B)
2018 – Finished in 24th place (2nd in Division I, Group B)
2019 – Finished in 25th place (3rd in Division I, Group B)
2020 – Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic^[1]
2021 – Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic^[2]
2022 – Finished in 22nd place (2nd in Division I, Group B)
2023 – Finished in 23rd place (1st in Division I, Group B)
2024 – Finished in 21st place (5th in Division I, Group A)

Asian Winter Games

1986 – Finished in 2nd place
1990 – Finished in 2nd place
1996 – Finished in 2nd place
1999 – Finished in 2nd place
2003 – Finished in 1st place
2007 – Finished in 1st place
2011 – Finished in 2nd place
2017 – Finished in 3rd place

Honours

IIHF World Championship Division I / Pool B
- Winners: 1962 Pool B, 2023 (B)
IIHF World Championship Division II / Pool C
- Winners: 1967 Pool C, 1969 Pool C, 1982 Pool C, 1987 Pool C

All-time record against other nations

As of 14 April 2023^[3]

Team	GP	W	T	L	GF	GA
China	31	25	2	4	221	71
Denmark	33	19	1	13	146	108
South Korea	27	20	1	6	176	54
Serbia/ Yugoslavia	32	16	2	14	131	128
Norway	36	13	7	16	123	151
Netherlands	30	17	4	9	156	90
Romania	29	17	1	11	134	105
Austria	39	13	4	22	123	151
France	29	11	1	17	98	117
North Korea	11	11	0	0	93	19
Hungary	31	15	0	16	106	87
Switzerland	31	9	3	19	93	141
Bulgaria	11	8	0	3	66	29
Italy	33	10	3	20	86	122
Australia	8	7	0	1	94	22
Poland	44	6	2	36	100	221
Great Britain	14	6	1	7	34	41
Lithuania	9	7	0	2	26	12
Canada	40	1	3	36	76	218
East Germany	16	3	1	12	45	89
Kazakhstan	17	2	2	13	34	70
Croatia	6	6	0	0	30	6
Estonia	6	5	1	0	29	15
Slovenia	18	5	1	12	35	61
Kuwait	1	1	0	0	44	1
Thailand	1	1	0	0	39	0
Belgium	1	1	0	0	24	0
Chinese Taipei	1	1	0	0	18	0
Spain	1	1	0	0	11	2
Israel	1	1	0	0	7	1
Ukraine	16	8	2	6	39	42
Belarus	7	1	1	5	14	27
Finland	7	0	1	6	15	57
Russia/ Soviet Union	10	0	0	10	24	117
Czech Republic/ Czechoslovakia	13	0	0	13	22	139
Sweden	4	0	0	4	1	44
Slovakia	6	0	0	6	12	47
Germany/ West Germany	18	2	0	16	41	102
Latvia	11	0	0	11	22	70
United States	8	0	0	8	20	77
Total	699	251	47	381	2651	2969

All-time record against other teams

As of 27 August 2016^[3]

Team	GP	W	T	L	GF	GA
Battleford Millers	2	0	0	2	2	33
Victoria Navy	1	0	0	1	1	9
Pacific Coast Amateur League All Stars	1	0	0	1	9	10
Nanaimo Labatts	1	0	0	1	5	10
Chilliwack Volvos	1	0	0	1	4	9
Powell River Regals	4	1	0	3	3	31
Kamloops Cariboos	1	0	0	1	1	6
Central Alberta Hockey League All Stars	1	0	0	1	2	17
Lethbridge Maple Leafs	1	0	1	0	4	4
Regina Caps	1	0	0	1	5	9
Brandon Wheat Kings	1	1	0	0	8	6
Winnipeg Maroons	1	0	0	1	4	11
Kenora Thistles	2	1	0	1	9	16
Thunder Bay Junior League All Stars	2	0	0	2	8	12
Minnesota Golden Gophers	1	0	0	1	3	7
New Westminster Royals	2	2	0	0	18	6
Chilliwack Steelheads	1	0	0	1	4	10
Victoria Commercial League All Stars	1	1	0	0	8	5
Nanaimo Clippers	1	0	0	1	5	7
Portland Royals	1	1	0	0	11	4
Victoria Intermediate All Stars	1	1	0	0	6	5
Lethbridge Sugar Kings	1	1	0	0	5	2
Yorkton Terriers	1	0	0	1	3	12
Saskatchewan Junior League All Stars	1	1	0	0	12	4
Manitoba South Junior All Stars	1	0	0	1	2	7
Kingston Merchants	1	1	0	0	7	6
Halifax Canadiens	1	1	0	0	7	4
Grand Falls Cataracts	1	0	0	1	3	7
Bathurst Papermakers	1	1	0	0	4	3
Manitoba North Junior All Stars	1	1	0	0	8	6
North Peace River League All Stars	1	1	0	0	7	4
Prince George Mohawks	1	1	0	0	8	7
Penticton Broncos	1	1	0	0	6	5
Finland B	4	1	0	3	1	16
Czechoslovakia B	1	0	0	1	2	9
USSR B	2	0	0	2	5	16
West Germany U20	1	1	0	0	4	3
Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs	1	0	0	1	4	5
Western Michigan Broncos	1	0	0	1	4	9
Spartak Moscow	1	0	0	1	2	13
Saskatchewan Huskies	1	0	0	1	2	7
Michigan Tech Huskies	1	0	0	1	4	6
Alaska Gold Kings	1	1	0	0	4	1
Amur Khabarovsk	15	1	1	13	13	60
Sweden B	2	0	0	2	2	17
Russia B	2	0	0	2	3	13
Canada B	1	0	1	0	4	4
Denmark B	1	0	0	1	1	4
Japan All Stars	1	0	0	1	5	6
Tappara	1	0	0	1	3	6
TPS Turku	1	0	0	1	4	5
Malmö Redhawks	1	0	0	1	2	3
Schwenninger Wild Wings	1	0	0	1	2	5
EV Zug	1	1	0	0	5	2
Krefeld Pinguine	1	0	0	1	2	7
Modo Hockey	1	0	0	1	3	4
Augsburger Panther	2	0	0	2	3	6
HC Lugano	1	1	0	0	5	2
Switzerland B	2	1	0	1	4	9
Qiqihar	2	0	0	2	5	22
Khabarovsk	1	0	0	1	3	5
HC Pardubice	1	0	0	1	2	5
Saint Georges Garaga	1	0	0	1	2	3
Île-des-Chênes North Stars	1	1	0	0	4	1
Salavat Yulaev Ufa	2	1	0	1	3	6
Mid-West Islanders	2	2	0	0	13	3
HKm Zvolen	1	0	1	0	3	3
Frankfurt Lions	1	0	1	0	2	2
Amurskie Tigry	1	1	0	0	4	3
PSK Sakhalin	1	1	0	0	4	1
Straubing Tigers	1	0	0	1	1	3
Kölner Haie	1	0	0	1	1	5
Düsseldorfer EG	1	0	0	1	1	2
Total	106	30	5	71	347	608

References

↑ "IIHF cancels Division I tournaments". iihf.com. 17 March 2019. https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2020/wmia/news/18320/iihf-cancels-division-i-tournaments.
↑ "IIHF – IIHF Council announces more cancellations". International Ice Hockey Federation. https://www.iihf.com/en/news/23178/iihf-council-announces-more-cancellations.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 "Japan-Men-All-Time-Results-1.pdf". National Teams of Ice Hockey. https://www.nationalteamsoficehockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Japan-Men-All-Time-Results-1.pdf.

External links

Men's National teams
Armenia - Australia - Austria - Belgium - Belarus - Bosnia - Bulgaria
Canada - China - Chinese Taipei - Croatia - Czech Republic - Denmark
Estonia - Finland - France - Germany - Georgia - Greece - Great Britain
Hong Kong - Hungary - Ireland - Iceland - Indonesia - Iran - Israel - Italy
Japan - Kazakhstan - Kuwait - Kyrgyzstan - Latvia - Lithuania - Luxembourg
Macau - Malaysia - Mexico - Mongolia - North Korea - Norway
New Zealand - The Netherlands - Philippines - Poland - Romania - Russia - Serbia
Singapore - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - South Africa - South Korea
Sweden - Switzerland - Thailand - Turkey - Turkmenistan - Ukraine - UAE
United States
Defunct teams: Bohemia - - Bohemia and Moravia - CIS - Czechoslovakia
East Germany - Serbia and Montenegro - U.S.S.R. - West Germany - Yugoslavia
Teams that do not participate in IIHF competitions:
Algeria - Andorra - Argentina - Azerbaijan - Brazil - Chile - Colombia - Egypt
India - Jamaica - Lebanon - Liechtenstein - Morocco - North Macedonia
Oman - Portugal - Puerto Rico - Tunisia - - Qatar - Uzbekistan
Non IIHF members: Bahrain - Costa Rica - Haiti - Falkland Islands - Saudi Arabia - Venezuela
Other teams: Basque Country - Catalonia - - England - Northern Ireland - - Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Scotland - Team Europe - Team North America