is a Japanese retired

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

player and former

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the Japanese national team. She most recently played in the 2020–21 season of the

Swedish Women's Hockey League The Swedish Women's Hockey League ( sv, Svenska damhockeyligan), abbreviated SDHL, is the elite league for women's ice hockey in Sweden. It was established in 2007 as the by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association and was renamed prior to the 2016� ...

(SDHL) with

Luleå HF/MSSK Luleå Hockey/MSSK is a professional ice hockey team in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL), the top-tier of women's ice hockey in Sweden. They play in Luleå, a port city in northern Sweden, at the Coop Norrbotten Arena. The team is the ...

. Osawa represented Japan at three

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...

, eight

IIHF Women's World Championships The IIHF World Women's Championship (WW or WWC), officially the IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship, is the premier international tournament in women's ice hockey. It is governed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The of ...

, two

Asian Winter Games The Asian Winter Games (AWG) is an international multi-sport event held every four years for members of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) which features winter events. The Japanese Olympic Committee first suggested the idea of holding a winter ...

, and at the

2012 IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia The 2012 IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia was the fifth IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia, an annual international ice hockey tournament held by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It took place between 17 March and 25 March 2012 in Dehradun, In ...

and the

2015 Winter Universiade The 2015 Winter Universiade, the XXVII Winter Universiade, was a multi sport winter event held in Granada, Spain and Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia. On 14 March 2009, FISU announced that the host would be Granada because they were the only bid. On 25 J ...

Playing career

Osawa's first team was the club at her primary school. She joined

Toyota Cygnus is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 m ...

of the

All-Japan Women's Ice Hockey Championship The All-Japan Women's Ice Hockey Championship ( ja, 全日本女子アイスホッケー選手権大会, Kana: ぜんにほんじょしアイスホッケーせんしゅけんたいかい, translit=Zen'Nihon Joshi Aisu Hokkē Senshuken Taikai) is ...

in 2004 while in junior high. In 2007, she began attending Tomakomai Higashi High School, which boasts one of the country's top co-ed ice hockey clubs. In her second year of high school, she transferred clubs from Toyota Cygnus to Mitsuboshi Daito Peregrine (now called

DK Peregrine DK (or variants) may refer to: In arts and entertainment Film and television * ''DK'' (film), a 2015 Indian film * Derek "DK" Kitson, a character in the television series ''Third Watch'', played by Derek Kelly * Dark Kingdom (professional wr ...

), the other All-Japan Championship team based in Tomakomai. Osawa played with Peregrine from 2008 until 2018, except for the 2015–16 season, during which she moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

in the United States and played in the Women's Senior B league of the

T1EHL The Tier 1 Elite Hockey League (T1EHL), formerly Midwest Elite Hockey League, is located primarily in the Midwest United States and is the premier amateur youth hockey league in the United States. Players from all over the country move to the are ...

with Victory Honda Sr. B. In 2018, she moved to Luleå, Sweden, and signed with Luleå HF/MSSK, one of the top teams in the SDHL. She scored 18 points in 36 games during her

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

SDHL season. She notched six playoff assists as Luleå captured the Swedish Championship title. In July 2019, she suffered a torn hamstring at a pre-season national team camp, which sidelined her for two-thirds of the 2019–20 season. With Luleå, she won the Swedish Championship again in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

International career

As a junior player with the Japanese national under-18 team, Osawa participated in the IIHF U18 Women's World Championships at the Division I tournament in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and served as team captain at the Top Division tournament in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. She was selected as the best forward by the directorate at the 2009 tournament and, in 2010, was selected as a top three player for Japan by the coaches. Osawa made her senior national team debut in November 2008 at the

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for the women's ice hockey tournament at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May Doan Nancy GreeneWayne Gr ...

, though Japan narrowly missed qualifying. Her first senior international point was recorded in the women's ice hockey tournament at the

2011 Asian Winter Games ) , Host city = Astana & Almaty, Kazakhstan , Nations participating = 26goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...

scored in an eventual overtime victory against ; Japan won silver at the tournament. The

2012 IIHF Women's Challenge Cup of Asia The 2012 IIHF Women's Challenge Cup of Asia was the third IIHF Women's Challenge Cup of Asia, an annual international ice hockey tournament held by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was held from 15 February 2012 to 19 February 2 ...

was the first tournament for which Osawa served as Japan's captain, and she led all tournament skaters in scoring, amassing 7 points (4 goals+3 assists) in four games, to lead Japan to a gold medal. Osawa has represented Japan at eight

– five at the Top Division level and three at the Division I Group A level. She made her World Championship debut at the

2009 IIHF Women's World Championship The 2009 IIHF World Women's Championships was held in Hämeenlinna, Finland, from April 4 to 12, 2009. Goaltending leaders (minimum 40% team's total ice time) ''TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against aver ...

at age 17. Named an

alternate captain In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captai ...

for the 2012 IIHF Women's World Championship Division I Group A, Osawa has served as team captain for every World Championship since 2013 – at the Division I Group A tournaments in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, and the Top Division tournaments in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

, 2016,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, and

. Osawa captained Japan to victory in the Olympic qualification tournaments in

and

, securing placement at the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games (russian: XXII Олимпийские зимние игры, XXII Olimpiyskiye zimniye igry) and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (russian: Сочи 2014), was an international ...

and

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (french: Les XXIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; ko, 제23회 동계 올림픽, Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpi ...

. At the Olympic women's ice hockey tournament in 2014, Osawa tied

Hanae Kubo is a Japanese ice hockey player and member of the Japanese national team, currently playing with the Seibu Princess Rabbits of the Women's Japan Ice Hockey League (WJIHL) and All-Japan Women's Ice Hockey Championship. Kubo made her internati ...

to top the team's scoring ranks with 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points in five games. At the Olympic women's ice hockey tournament in 2018, she recorded one assist.

Personal life

Osawa was born in

Tomakomai is a city and port in Iburi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the largest city in the Iburi Subprefecture, and the fourth largest city in Hokkaido. As of 29 February 2012, it had an estimated population of 174,216, with 83,836 households ...

, a port city in southern

Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

, Japan. A second-generation ice hockey player, her father, Hirotoshi Osawa, represented at the Group B tournaments of the

Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annu ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, and

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the ...

. A graduate of

Tomakomai Komazawa University is a private university in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of J ...

, Osawa has worked for Dynax Corporation, a Tomakomai-based automotive parts manufacturer, since 2014.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Osawa, Chiho 1992 births Living people Ice hockey people from Hokkaido Sportspeople from Tomakomai Japanese women's ice hockey forwards Japanese ice hockey right wingers Luleå HF/MSSK players Olympic ice hockey players for Japan Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Universiade medalists in ice hockey Universiade bronze medalists for Japan Competitors at the 2015 Winter Universiade Asian Games medalists in ice hockey Ice hockey players at the 2011 Asian Winter Games Ice hockey players at the 2017 Asian Winter Games Medalists at the 2011 Asian Winter Games Medalists at the 2017 Asian Winter Games Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Japanese expatriate ice hockey people Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Japanese expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate ice hockey players in the United States