The Nippon Paper Cranes are an Asia League team based in Kushiro City in Hokkaidō, Japan. The club were founded as Jūjō Papaer Kushiro Ice Hockey Club in 1949. They adopted the new name Nippon Paper Cranes in 1994 when Jūjō Paper and Sanyō Kokusaku Pulp merged to form Nippon Paper. They won the inaugural Asia League Ice Hockey championship in the 2003-04 season. They also won the 2006 (73rd) All Japan Ice Hockey Championship for the first time in their history.