Red Eagles. Source.
Tohoku Free Blades host Red Eagles Hokkaido, who are the rebranded Oji Eagles. They still play at Hackucho Arena in Tomakomai, but they are no longer a branch of Oji Paper Company. You can see all the Oji Eagles statistics here.
Now that the Eagles and Cranes have both rebranded, Nikkō Ice Bucks (created 1999) are the old man of the Japanese professional teams.
Red Eagles enter this game in first place, and Tohoku are second.
[Free Blades 2 - 5 Eagles]
Hokkaido zangi courtesy East Hokkaido Cranes and 7-11. Source.
Tohoku Free Blades visit East Hokkaido Cranes at Kushiro Ice Arena.
The Cranes are a continuation of Jūjō Paper Kushiro Ice Hockey Club, which was founded in 1949. In 1993 Jūjō Paper merged with Sanyō Kokusaku Pulp to form Nippon Paper, and the team was renamed Nippon Paper Cranes, accidentally creating the only origami hockey team in the world. In 2019 Nippon Paper got out of the hockey business and the team was renamed East Hokkaido Cranes, with the same rink and players as before.
[Cranes 3 - 4 Free Blades]
Seasons of East Hokkaido Cranes:
(As Jūjō IHC)
G W T L F A GD P Pos
1974-75 10 1 0 9 20 76 -56 2 5th, JIHL
1975-76 15 3 0 12 34 106 -72 6 5th, JIHL
1976-77 15 2 0 13 40 105 -65 4 6th, JIHL
1977-78 15 1 1 13 28 101 -73 3 6th, JIHL
1978-79 20 2 1 17 46 115 -69 5 6th, JIHL
1979-80 15 6 3 6 55 66 -11 15 4th, JIHL
1980-81 20 7 0 13 68 100 -32 14 4th, JIHL
1981-82 30 8 4 18 134 169 -35 20 5th, JIHL
1982-83 30 6 6 18 113 169 -56 18 5th, JIHL
1983-84 30 7 3 20 108 146 -38 17 5th, JIHL
1984-85 30 7 3 20 88 165 -77 17 5th, JIHL
1985-86 30 10 3 17 101 128 -27 23 5th, JIHL
1986-87 30 4 5 21 68 146 -78 13 6th, JIHL
1987-88 30 6 3 21 77 127 -50 15 5th, JIHL
1988-89 30 8 3 18 86 136 -50 19 5th, JIHL
1989-90 30 12 5 13 93 105 -12 29 3rd, JIHL
1990-91 30 16 1 13 106 102 +4 33 3rd, JIHL
1991-92 30 10 1 19 102 128 -26 21 5th, JIHL
1992-93 30 10 2 18 79 117 -38 22 4th, JIHL
(As Nippon Paper Cranes)
1993-94 30 12 1 17 95 121 -26 25 4th, JIHL
1994-95 30 14 1 15 103 109 -6 29 4th, JIHL
1995-96 40 9 2 29 140 171 -31 18 5th, JIHL (deducted?)
1996-97 30 8 3 19 83 125 -42 19 5th, JIHL
1997-98 40 11 2 27 120 167 -47 24 6th, JIHL
1998-99 40 18 4 18 138 147 -9 40 4th, JIHL
1999-00 30 14 3 13 94 88 +6 31 3rd, JIHL
2000-01 40 20 3 17 126 115 +11 43 4th, JIHL
G W a b c d L F A GD P Pos
2001-02 40 25 2 1 3 1 8 162 105 +57 59.5 1st, JIHL
2002-03 32 14 1 1 3 13 104 100 +4 34.5 3rd, JIHL
2003-04 12 3 1 1 7 37 37 0 8.5 3rd, R1, JIHL
12 6 1 1 4 56 51 +5 14.5 3rd, R2, JIHL
G W OW T OL L F A GD P Pos
2003-04 16 13 0 0 0 3 80 49 +31 39 1st, ALIH X
2004-05 40 31 0 5 0 6 216 85 +121 98 1st, ALIH
2005-06 38 30 2 1 0 5 240 66 +174 95 1st, ALIH
2006-07 34 27 1 1 2 3 198 79 +119 86 1st, ALIH XO
2007-08 30 15 1 2 1 11 97 85 +12 50 4th, ALIH O
G W a b c d L F A GD P Pos
2008-09 36 18 3 2 2 3 8 129 95 +25 69 4th, ALIH X
2009-10 36 18 3 3 2 0 10 128 101 +27 68 3rd, ALIH
2010-11 36 21 2 1 3 2 7 141 95 +46 74 2nd, ALIH O
2011-12 36 16 1 3 1 1 14 128 110 +18 58 4th, ALIH O
2012-13 42 17 4 6 3 3 9 176 130 +46 77 3rd, ALIH O
2013-14 42 22 2 2 1 0 15 168 126 +42 75 3rd, ALIH XO
2014-15 48 15 3 6 4 2 18 160 157 +3 69 6th, ALIH
2015-16 48 25 2 2 3 2 14 166 125 +41 88 3rd, ALIH O
2016-17 48 23 1 1 3 3 17 169 153 +16 79 5th, ALIH
2017-18 28 9 1 1 3 1 13 79 91 -12 35 7th, ALIH
2018-19 34 13 3 3 4 1 10 93 77 +16 56 4th, ALIH
(As East Hokkaido Cranes)
2019-20 36 12 2 2 17 73 104 -31 46 5th, ALIH
2020-21 22 11 0 5 6 62 50 +12 38 3rd, JCup O
a b c d = various loser points
ALIH = Asia League Ice Hockey
JCup = Japan Cup
JIHL = Japan Ice Hockey League
X = ALIH Champion
O = All Japan Champion
(Sources: English, German and Japanese Wikipedia; flashscores for 2020-21)
Aichi has the most Buddhist temples. Source.
Charles Wirgman published A Sketch Book of Japan in about 1884. Source.
Though she wrote them during the 14th century, Lady Nijō's confessions did not emerge from an imperial storage room until 1940, so there's no body of noh, ukiyo-e or kabuki to go with them. But Caryl Churchill put Lady Nijō in her play Top Girls in 1982. Source.
Yamada Nagamasa was a Japanese privateer of the early 17th century who headed a Japanese colony in the Ayutthaya Kingdom, now Thailand. This card is from a set of educational karuta about Japanese historical figures published in 1970. Source.
For a second consecutive year Asia League Ice Hockey is unable to perform as an international league due to Covid travel restrictions, so, like last year, the five Japanese clubs are playing a local tournament called the Japan Cup. The schedule is here.
Let's follow Tohoku Free Blades, who today visit Yokohama Grits.
[Grits 3 - 10 Free Blades.]
Seasons of Tohoku Free Blades:
G W a b c d L F A GD Pts Pos
2009-10 36 13 0 4 1 0 18 132 142 -10 48 5th
2010-11 36 18 1 3 2 4 8 160 112 +48 68 3rd
2011-12 36 13 3 1 4 1 13 106 111 -5 52 6th
2012-13 42 24 1 2 0 2 13 162 117 +45 80 2nd
2013-14 42 18 2 1 2 2 17 134 110 +24 64 5th
2014-15 48 27 1 2 2 2 14 188 131 +57 91 3rd
2015-16 48 20 4 1 2 1 20 138 141 -3 73 5th
2016-17 48 26 1 1 0 3 17 185 135 +50 85 4th
2017-18 28 13 1 0 1 2 11 78 75 +3 44 3rd
2018-19 34 9 3 0 2 1 19 73 106 -33 36 8th
2019-20 36 4 2 2 28 67 148 -81 16 7th
2020-21 22 6 3 2 11 65 91 -26 26 4th, Japan Cup
a b c d = an assortment of loser points
(Sources: Hockey Archives; Wikipedia for 2019-20; flashscore.ca for 2020-21.)
