Sports Project Takamatsu's decision meant the team left the low-budget BJ-League after just one season, finishing last in the seven-team Western Conference.

Japan Airlines Corp. said in March it was disbanding its women's professional basketball team at the end of the 2010-11 season after the carrier also filed for bankruptcy.

Japanese sport has been hit hard by the global economic downturn, particularly motor sports, with Honda and then Toyota pulling out of Formula One to cut costs.