J1 League

Before the inception of the J.League, the highest level of club football was the Japan Soccer League (JSL), which was formed in 1965 and consisted of amateur clubs.[9][10] Despite being well-attended during the boom of the late 1960s and early 1970s (when Japan's national team won the bronze Olympic medal at the 1968 games in Mexico), the JSL went into decline in the 1980s, in general line with the deteriorating situation worldwide. Fans were few, the grounds were not of the highest quality, and the Japanese national team was not on a par with the Asian powerhouses. To raise the level of play domestically, to attempt to garner more fans, and to strengthen the national team, the Japan Football Association (JFA) decided to form a professional league.

The professional association football league, J.League was formed in 1992, with eight clubs drawn from the JSL First Division, one from the Second Division, and the newly formed Shimizu S-Pulse. At the same time, JSL changed its name and became the former Japan Football League, a semi-professional league. Although the J.League did not officially launch until 1993, the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup competition was held between the ten clubs in 1992 to prepare for the inaugural season in the next years.

J.League officially kicked off its first ever season with ten clubs in early 1993 (15 May 1993).

The first ever J.League match brought together Verdy Kawasaki and Yokohama Marinos at Tokyo National Stadium with a total of 59,626 attendance.

Ten clubs participated in J.League during 1993 season:

• Kashima Antlers
• Urawa Red Diamonds
• JEF United Ichihara
• Verdy Kawasaki
• Yokohama Marinos
• Yokohama Flügels
• Shimizu S-Pulse
• Nagoya Grampus Eight
• Gamba Osaka
• Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Despite the success in the first three years, in early 1996 the league attendance declined rapidly. In 1997 the average attendance was 10,131, compared to more than 19,000 in 1994. Notably, Arsène Wenger managed Nagoya Grampus Eight during this period.

The league's management finally realized that they were heading in the wrong direction. In order to solve the problem, the management came out with two solutions.

First, they announced the J.League Hundred Year Vision, in which they aim to make 100 professional association football clubs in the nation of Japan by 2092, the hundredth season. The league also encouraged the clubs to promote football or non-football related sports and health activities, to acquire local sponsorships, and to build good relationship with their hometowns at the grass-root level. The league believed that this will allow the clubs to bond with their respective cities and towns and get support from local government, companies, and citizens. In other words, clubs will be able to rely on the locals, rather than major national sponsors.

Second, the infrastructure of the league was heavily changed in 1999. The league acquired nine clubs from the semi-professional JFL and one club from J.League to create a two division system. The top flight became the J.League Division 1 (J1) with 16 clubs while J.League Division 2 (J2) was launched with ten clubs in 1999. The former second-tier Japan Football League now became the third-tier Japan Football League.

Also, until 2004 (with the exception of 1996 season), the J1 season was divided into two. At the end of each full season, the champions from each half played a two-legged series to determine the overall season winners and runners-up. Júbilo Iwata in 2002, and Yokohama F. Marinos in 2003, won both "halves" of the respective seasons, thus eliminating the need for the playoff series. This was the part of the reason the league abolished the split-season system starting from 2005.

Since the 2005 season, J.League Division 1 consisted of 18 clubs (from 16 in 2004) and the season format became more similar to European club football. The number of relegated clubs also increased from 2 to 2.5, with the 3rd-to-last club going into a promotion/relegation playoff with the third-placed J2 club. Since then, other than minor adjustments, the top flight has stayed consistent.

Japanese teams did not treat the AFC Champions League seriously in the early years, in part due to the distances travelled and teams involved. However, in the 2008 Champions League, three Japanese sides made the quarter-finals.[11]

However, in recent years, with the inclusion of the A-League in Eastern Asia, introduction to the Club World Cup, and increased marketability in the Asian continent, both the league and the clubs paid more attention to Asian competition. For example, Kawasaki Frontale built up a notable fan base in Hong Kong, owing to their participation in the Asian Champions League during the 2007 season.[12] Continuous effort led to the success of Urawa Red Diamonds in 2007 and Gamba Osaka in 2008. Thanks to excellent league management and competitiveness in Asian competition, the AFC awarded J.League the highest league ranking and a total of four slots starting from the 2009 season. The league took this as an opportunity to sell TV broadcasting rights to foreign countries, especially in Asia.

Also starting from the 2008 season, the Emperor's Cup Winner was allowed to participate in the upcoming Champions League season, rather than waiting a whole year (i.e. 2005 Emperor's Cup winner, Tokyo Verdy, participated in the 2007 ACL season, instead of the 2006 season). In order to fix this one-year lag issue, the 2007 Emperor's Cup winner, Kashima Antlers' turn was waived. Nonetheless, Kashima Antlers ended up participating in the 2009 ACL season by winning the J.League title in the 2008 season.

Three major changes were seen starting in the 2009 season. First, starting that season, four clubs entered the AFC Champions League. Secondly, the number of relegation slots increased to three. Finally, the AFC Player slot was implemented starting this season. Each club will be allowed to have a total of four foreign players; however, one slot is reserved for a player that derives from an AFC country other than Japan. Also, as a requirement of being a member of the Asian Football Confederation, in 2012 the J.League Club Licence became one criterion of whether a club was permitted to be promoted to a higher tier in professional level leagues. No major changes happened to J.League Division 1 as the number of clubs stayed at 18.

In 2015 the J.League Division 1 was renamed J1 League. Also, the tournament format was changed to a three-stage system. The season was split into first and second stages, followed by a third and final championship stage. The third stage was composed of three to five teams. The top point accumulator in each stage and the top three point accumulators for the overall season qualified. If both of the stage winners finished in the top three teams for the season, then only three teams qualified for the championship stage. These teams then took part in a championship playoff stage to decide the winner of the league trophy.

Despite the new multi-stage format being initially reported as locked in for five seasons, due to negative reaction from hardcore fans and failure to appeal to casual fans, after 2016 it was abandoned in favour of a return to a single-stage system.[13] From 2017, the team which accumulates the most points will be named champion, with no championship stage taking place at the season's end, and from 2018, the bottom two clubs are relegated and the 16th-placed club enters a playoff with the J2 club that wins a promotion playoff series.[14] If the J2 playoff winner prevails, the club is promoted, with the J1 club being relegated, otherwise the J1 club can retain its position in J1 League with the promotion failure of the J2 club.

In November 2017, Urawa Red Diamonds played the AFC Champions League final against Al Hilal. After a draw in the first leg, Urawa Red Diamonds won the second leg 1-0 and were crowned Asian Champions. In the past 10–15 years, Japanese clubs have risen not only continentally, but also internationally. Clubs Gamba Osaka and Urawa Red Diamonds have been crowned Asian champions and participated in the Club World Cup, always targeting at least the semi-finals. Kashima Antlers were finalists of the 2016 edition and eventually lost to Real Madrid.

Eighteen clubs play in double round-robin (home and away) format, a total of 34 games each. A club receives 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The clubs are ranked by points, and tiebreakers are, in the following order:

• Goal differential
• Goals scored
• Head-to-head results
• Disciplinary points

A draw would be conducted, if necessary. However, if two clubs are tied for first place, both clubs will be declared as co-champions. The top two clubs will qualify to the following season's AFC Champions League Elite, the third-placers qualify to the following season's AFC Champions League 2, while the bottom two clubs will be relegated to J2. The third-bottom club will play a playoff against the J2 playoffs winning team.

Prize money (2020 figures)[15]

• Champions: 300,000,000 yen
• Second place: 120,000,000 yen
• Third place: 60,000,000 yen

In addition to the prize, the top 4 clubs are awarded with the following funds.

J league funds distributed to top 4 clubs (from 2017)

• Champions: 1,550,000,000 yen
• Second place: 700,000,000 yen
• Third place: 350,000,000 yen
• Fourth place: 180,000,000 yen

Source for teams participating:[16]

• Pink background denotes club was most recently promoted from J2 League.
• "Year joined" is the year the club joined the J.League (Division 1 unless otherwise indicated).
• "First season in top flight", "Seasons in top flight", "Current spell in top flight", and "Last title" include seasons in the old Japan Soccer League First Division.

Primary venues used in the J1 League:

Urawa Red Diamonds	Kashima Antlers	Albirex Niigata	Gamba Osaka	Yokohama F. Marinos	Kawasaki Frontale
Saitama Stadium 2002	Kashima Soccer Stadium	Denka Big Swan Stadium	Panasonic Stadium Suita	Nissan Stadium	Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium
Capacity: 63,700	Capacity: 40,728	Capacity: 42,300	Capacity: 40,000	Capacity: 72,370	Capacity: 26,000
Vissel Kobe	Nagoya Grampus		Cerezo Osaka		Kashiwa Reysol
Noevir Stadium Kobe	Paloma Mizuho Stadium	Toyota Stadium	Yanmar Stadium Nagai	Yodoko Sakura Stadium	Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium
Capacity: 30,132	Capacity: 27,000	Capacity: 45,000	Capacity: 47,816	Capacity: 19,904	Capacity: 15,349
Shonan Bellmare	Consadole Sapporo		Sagan Tosu	FC Tokyo	Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Lemon Gas Stadium Hiratsuka	Sapporo Dome	Sapporo Atsubetsu Stadium	Ekimae Real Estate Stadium	Ajinomoto Stadium	Edion Stadium Hiroshima
Capacity: 15,200	Capacity: 41,484	Capacity: 20,861	Capacity: 24,490	Capacity: 50,100	Capacity: 36,906
Avispa Fukuoka	Yokohama FC	Kyoto Sanga FC
Best Denki Stadium	NHK Spring Mitsuzawa Football Stadium	Sanga Stadium by Kyocera
Capacity: 21,562	Capacity: 15,454	Capacity: 21,600

• Grey background denotes club was most recently relegated to J2 League.
• "Year joined" is the year the club joined the J.League (Division 1 unless otherwise indicated).
• "First season in top flight", "Seasons in top flight", "Last spell in top flight", and "Last title" includes seasons in the old Japan Soccer League First Division.

The all-time J1 League table is a cumulative record of all match results, points, and goals of every team that has played in the J1 League. The table that follows is accurate as of the end of the 2022 season. Teams in bold are part of the 2023 J1 League.

Note: For statistical purposes, the traditional 3–1–0 points system is used for all matches. As in the season, 1993–1994 did not use the point system. In seasons 1995–1996 were using 3 pts for any win, 1 pt for PK loss, and 0 pts for regulation or extra time loss. In seasons 1997-1998 were using 3 pts for a regulation win, 2 pts for extra-time win, 1 pt for PK win, and 0 pts for any loss. And from seasons 1999–2002 were using 3 pts for a regulation win, 2 pts for an extra time win, and 1 pt for a tie.

League or status at 2022:

Clubs in bold compete in top flight for the 2023 season.

Only four clubs have never been relegated from J1. Among those, only two clubs – Kashima Antlers and Yokohama F. Marinos – have participated in every league season since its establishment in 1993. Sagan Tosu were promoted to the first division in 2012 and remain there ever since. The former J.League club Yokohama Flügels never experienced relegation before their merger with Yokohama Marinos in 1999.

JEF United Chiba holds the record for the longest top flight participation streak of 44 consecutive seasons in the first divisions of JSL and J.League that lasted from the establishment of JFL in 1965 and ended with their relegation in 2009. The longest ongoing top flight streak belongs to Yokohama F. Marinos who have played in the top flight since 1982 (42 seasons as of 2022).

The 1998 season

When the league introduced the two-division system in 1999, they also reduced number of Division 1 clubs from 18 to 16. At the end of 1998 season, they ran the J.League Promotion Tournament to determine the two relegated clubs.

Split-season era (1999–2004, 2015–2016)

Throughout 1999 to 2003 seasons, the two bottom clubs were relegated to Division 2. To accommodate the split-season format, combined overall standings were used to determine the relegated clubs. This created a confusing situation, where for the championship race stage standings were used, while overall standing was used for relegation survival.

At end of the 2004 season, Division 1 again expanded from 16 to 18 clubs. No clubs were relegated; however, the last-placed (16th) club had to play the Promotion/Relegation Series against the 3rd placed club from J2. Again, to determine the 16th placed club, the overall standing was used instead of stage standings.

For two seasons starting in 2015, the three bottom clubs were relegated based on overall standings.

Single season era (2005–2014, 2017–2019, 2022–present)

For the next four seasons, 2005 to 2008, the number of relegating clubs was increased to 2.5, with two clubs from each division being promoted and relegated directly, and two more (15th in J1 and 3rd in J2) competing in the Promotion/Relegation Series.

In 2009, the promotion/relegation series was abandoned and three teams were directly exchanged between divisions. In 2012, promotion playoffs were introduced in J2, allowing teams that finished from 3rd to 6th to compete for the last J1 promotion place. For the 2018, 2019 and 2022 seasons, the bottom two teams are relegated and the entry playoff has the 16th team play the J2 playoff winner. From 2023 onwards, the entry J1-J2 playoff was abandoned again since 2009 and three teams were directly exchanged between divisions.

Single season era only COVID-19 (2021)

No teams descended to J2 after the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan and its effects.[17] Instead, four relegations were in place for the 2021 season to bring back the number of teams from 20 to 18.[18]

Summary

* Bold designates relegated clubs;
† Won the Pro/rele Series or entry playoff;
‡ Lost the Pro/rele Series or entry playoff and relegated

• List of J1 League players
• List of foreign J1 League players

• List of J.League managers

All J1 matches are streamed live through DAZN and OneFootball until 2033 season, with selected matches also televised live plus highlights of other matches also available on public broadcaster NHK[lower-alpha 1] and private broadcaster Tokyo MX[lower-alpha 2].

The league is currently covered internationally (excluding China) by NHK World Premium (Japanese audio only)[19], Bushiroad[lower-alpha 3], and Dentsu.[20] Four matches per week available on J.League official Youtube channel (for countries without broadcasting rights agreement only) and several broadcasters around the world.

Country/region	Broadcaster
Australia	Optus Sport[21]
Austria	Sportdigital [lower-alpha 4]
Germany
Ghana
Switzerland
China	K-Ball CHN FTA and pay (regional television) GZTV TJTV IPTV Wasu Streaming Weibo[22]
Indian Subcontinent	FanCode[23]
Macau	TDM
Nigeria	Sporty TV
Thailand	Siam Sport
Southeast Asia[lower-alpha 5], Middle East and North Africa (except Israel),  Brazil,  Mexico,  Italy, and  South Africa.	OneFootball

^CHN – as main distributor, including J2 matches.