2 Basketball Leagues in Japan

There are two different leagues here in Japan one called the JBL and the other one is the BJ League. I have had the honor to play in both of these leagues over the past 3 years and I must say they are a bit different. I played for the Hitachi Sunrockers in the JBL my first two years here in Japan. In this particular league you can only have two import players (Americans) On each team and there is a rule that you can only have one import on the floor at a time. This league is really good and what I like about it is that it makes you play harder because you have to share time with the other american so really you are only playing about 20 minutes a game. The JBL has only 8 teams in the league and 3 of those teams are in Tokyo so there is not a lot of traveling involved. This league usually starts in September early october, but the teams require you to report to your team in Late July. The other league which I am currently in as of now, is ran a little differently. In the BJ League you can have up to 5 import players on a team but can only have 3 on the court at a time. In the 2nd quarter you are only allowed to have 2 imports on the floor, but in the 3rd and 4th it goes back to normal. The BJ League is split up in east and west divisions kind of like the NBA and there are over 20 teams in this league spread out all over Japan so you do a lot of traveling. This league starts a little later than the JBL and runs all the way until may playing 52 games!! Players usually report in late August and the season kicks off a month and a half later.