The bj-league's 13th team will be known as the Kyoto Hannaries, the league announced on Tuesday.
In Japanese, the word "hannari," is used to describe the elegant character of Kyoto natives.
The Kyoto franchise will begin play in the 2009-10 season.
In other league news, a league spokesman confirmed that 236-cm Chinese center Sun Ming Ming of the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix didn't play last weekend due to a left knee injury. Sun will practice this week and is expected to play in his team's games on Friday and Saturday against the Takamatsu Five Arrows.