Akihisa Mizuno is the new President of the Japan Ice Hockey Federation ©JIHF

Akihisa Mizuno has been named as the new President of the Japan Ice Hockey Federation (JIHF).

The change was approved last weekend at the JIHF General Council meetings.

He succeeds Kenichi Chizuka in the role.

The 64-year-old has served as a consultant for the World Bank.

During his ice hockey career, Mizuno represented the University of Tokyo as both a player and a coach.

"I would like to think about what to do for Japanese ice hockey and create a swell that will take action," said Mizuno.

Japan's women lost all three of their group matches at Sochi 2014 ©Getty Images
Japan's women lost all three of their group matches at Sochi 2014 ©Getty Images

In addition to Mizuno, Tsutomu Hanzawa was appointed as the new JIHF secretary general.

He is a former player for the national team, who represented Japan in the Olympics in 1972, 1976 and 1980. 

The changes come less than five months before the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics.

Japan will not be represented in the men's tournament but the women's team will be hoping to improve on their performance at Sochi 2014, where they lost all three of their pool matches.

They have been drawn in Group B in South Korea and will play Sweden, with Switzerland the hosts.