In recent international competitions, Japan has maintained their position among the most competitive women's hockey nations in the world. Unfortunately for Team Japan, those tides took a major turn at the 2022 World Championships, and without change in how Japan develops players, further slide can be expected.
In 2022, Japan went 0-4 in preliminary play being outscored 5-18. They were then beaten 5-1 by Switzerland in the quarterfinals, and 1-0 by Sweden to drop the Japanese into Group B competition for next season.
To reverse their fortunes, Japan will need to not only see, but encourage an international exodus of their top players to European and North American leagues to find better competition.
The majority of Japan's roster at the 2023 World's played domestically in Japan, where the calibre of play remains low.
Only three players from their roster competed outside of Japan, with Ayaka Hitosato and Haruka Toko playing for Linkoping in the SDHL and Chihiro Suzuki playing USports hockey for the University of Guelph.
Toko responded by leading Japan in scoring at the tournament with four points in six games after scoring 27 in 29 games for Linkoping, a marked improvement over her performance a year prior with the club.
Looking at Japan's younger players, there are several who could move to European leagues, or could choose to travel to Canada or USA to play college hockey. Defender Kohane Sato, 17, is one of those players who would benefit from more international exposure. Similarly, sisters Akane Shiga and Aoi Shiga could jump to play in Europe with success. Teenagers Makoto Ito and Riko Kawaguchi could also boost Japan's international success by finding tougher competition.
With the rise of professional hockey in North America and the continued development of the SDHL, as well as the IIHF's focus on building cross border competition among Europe's club teams, the development of stronger European competition is coming. Sweden is making major strides, Czechia has usurped Finland as the third best nation in the world, and continues to develop, and other nations are beginning to build grassroots development programs that are accelerating skill development. In Asia, China's investment in women's hockey is now starting to pay dividends, and without a similar, rapid change in direction, Japan could be the country left behind.
Whether it be the NCAA, USports, SDHL, PHF or elsewhere, an international exodus of Japanese players will be needed to keep the team competitive on the world stage. Until Japan makes a change in their development strategy, they will continue to lose ground while other nations emerge in women's hockey.