Japan has lost its most famous ice hockey team, the Seibu Prince Rabbits. The team had to fold because the Prince Hotels & Resorts, its main sponsor, stopped their funding, citing the harsh eonomic climate following the financial crisis. The termination of the sponsorship was announced in December 2008. The Prince Hotels & Resorts subsequently negotiated with twenty companies to find a new owner,  but did not succeed in part due to the economic situation in Japan, and in part due to the declining popularity of ice hockey in Japan.

The Prince Rabbits was formed in 1972 as Kokudo Keikadu Ice Hockey Club--a splinter from the Seibu Tetsudo. The team, which initially was located in Nagano, won the double (Japan League and All Japan Championship). The team went on to win the Japan League 13 times and the All Japan Championship 11 times.

During its history, the Prince Rabbits was relocated multible times and had several names as its owners or sponsors changed. In 1984, the team moved to Shinagawa, Tokyo, then to Yokohama in 1991, and back to Tokyo in 2003 after it hadmerged with the Seibu Railways Ice Hockey Club. In 1991, the team's aname was changed to the Kokudo Ice Hockey Club in accordance to a change of its parent company's name. The name Seibu Prince Rabbits was adopted in 2006 when the parent company Kokuda was a acquired by the Prince Hotels & Resorts.

The Kokudo/Seibu Prince Rabbits dominance of Japanese hockey started relatively late, namely in the mid-90s.  During the last ten season of the Japan League, which ceased to exist in 2004, the Kokudo IHC won the title 7 times. The team further won the Asia Hockey League in 2005 and 2006 as well as 7 All japan Championship titles since 1995.

The Kokudo/Seibu Prince Rabbits most famous players include:

• Hiroyuki Miura, the first ever Japanese drafted into the NHL (by the Montreal Canadiens in 1992)
• Yutaka Fukufuji, drafted by the LA Kings, and the first Japanese-born player to appear in an NHL game (Fukufuji currently plays in the Dutch league)
• Takahito Suzuki, the captain of Japan's national team
and Canadian import players Joel Prpic, Chris Bright and Chris Yule
 

SEIBU PRINCE RABBITS TITLES

ASIAN HOCKEY LEAGUE: (2) 2004-05, 2005-06

JAPAN LEAGUE: (13) 1974-75, 1977-78, 1985-86, 1988-89, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1994-95, 1997-98, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04

ALL JAPAN CHAMPIONSHIP: (11) 975, 1982, 1988, 1990, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009