2016 in Japanese football

2016 season

← 2015 2017 →

Japanese football in 2016.

Promotion and relegation

Teams relegated from J1 League

• Matsumoto Yamaga
• Shimizu S-Pulse
• Montedio Yamagata

Teams promoted to J1 League

• Omiya Ardija
• Júbilo Iwata
• Avispa Fukuoka

Teams relegated from J2 League

• Oita Trinita
• Tochigi SC

Teams promoted to J2 League

• FC Machida Zelvia
• Renofa Yamaguchi FC

Teams relegated from J3 League

No relegation to the Japan Football League

Teams promoted to J3 League

• Kagoshima United

J1 League

Main article: 2016 J1 League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Kawasaki Frontale	14	9	4	1	27	13	+14	31	Champions League group stage and J.League Championship Final
2	Kashima Antlers	14	9	3	2	23	9	+14	30	Champions League group stage and J.League Championship 1st Round
3	Urawa Red Diamonds	12	8	3	1	18	6	+12	27
4	Omiya Ardija	14	7	4	3	16	14	+2	25
5	Kashiwa Reysol	14	6	4	4	18	17	+1	22
6	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	13	6	3	4	23	14	+9	21
7	Yokohama F. Marinos	14	6	3	5	20	15	+5	21
8	Gamba Osaka	13	6	1	6	14	12	+2	19
9	Júbilo Iwata	14	5	4	5	18	22	−4	19
10	Vissel Kobe	13	5	3	5	20	19	+1	18
11	F.C. Tokyo	12	5	2	5	11	13	−2	17
12	Vegalta Sendai	14	5	2	7	16	21	−5	17
13	Nagoya Grampus	13	4	2	7	20	24	−4	14
14	Ventforet Kofu	14	2	6	6	16	26	−10	12
15	Albirex Niigata	14	2	5	7	16	24	−8	11
16	Shonan Bellmare	14	3	2	9	13	23	−10	11	Relegation to 2017 J2 League
17	Sagan Tosu	13	2	4	7	7	13	−6	10
18	Avispa Fukuoka	13	2	3	8	9	20	−11	9

J2 League

Main article: 2016 J2 League

Meiji Yasuda J2 League

Season	2016
← 2015 2017 →

The 2016 Meiji Yasuda J2 League season is the 45th season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 18th season since the establishment of J2 League.

Clubs

Omiya Ardija have stayed in the second division for just a year, winning promotion as the champions. Júbilo Iwata have spent only 2 seasons in J2 after their first relegation from the J1 League in 2013 after 20 seasons. Third-placed Avispa Fukuoka won the promotion playoffs and will return to the first division after playing in the J2 for four years. Matsumoto Yamaga were relegated from the J1 immediately after their inaugural promotion. Shimizu S-Pulse also suffered their first relegation to the J2 after 23 seasons in the J1, while Montedio Yamagata returned after one season.

On the other end of the table, Renofa Yamaguchi have been promoted from the 2015 J3 League as the champions of the second season of the J3 League, replacing Tochigi SC and becoming the first club based in Yamaguchi Prefecture to play in the second tier since Eidai SC back in 1973. J3 runners-up Machida Zelvia were also promoted by beating Oita Trinita in the promotion-relegation playoffs.

Sapporo

Ehime

Okayama

Gifu

Kitakyushu

Sanuki

Kanazawa

Kyoto

Mito

Yamaguchi

Kumamoto

Gunma

Shimizu

Tokushima

Nagasaki

Matsumoto

Yamagata

Greater Tokyo Area
Chiba, Machida, Tokyo, Yokohama

Osaka

Locations of the 2016 J2 League teams

The participating clubs are listed in the following table:

Club Name	Home Town(s)	Note(s)
Cerezo Osaka	Osaka, Osaka	2015 Play-off finalist
Consadole Sapporo	Sapporo, Hokkaidō
Ehime FC	All cities/towns in Ehime	2015 Play-off contestant
Fagiano Okayama	All cities/towns in Okayama
FC Gifu	All cities/towns in Gifu
Giravanz Kitakyushu	Kitakyushu, Fukuoka	Not eligible for J1 promotion in 2015
Mito HollyHock	Mito, Ibaraki	Not eligible for J1 promotion in 2015
JEF United Chiba	Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba
Kamatamare Sanuki	Takamatsu Kagawa	Not eligible for J1 promotion in 2015
Montedio Yamagata	All cities/towns in Yamagata	Relegated from J1 League in 2015
Renofa Yamaguchi	Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi	Promoted from J3 League in 2015
Roasso Kumamoto	Kumamoto, Kumamoto
Kyoto Sanga	Southwestern cities/towns in Kyoto
Thespakusatsu Gunma	All cities/towns in Gunma	Not eligible for J1 promotion in 2015
Shimizu S-Pulse	Shizuoka, Shizuoka	Relegated from J1 League in 2015
V-Varen Nagasaki	All cities/towns in Nagasaki	2015 J2 League Play-off contestant
Tokyo Verdy	All cities/towns in Tokyo
Tokushima Vortis	All cities/towns in Tokushima
Matsumoto Yamaga	Matsumoto, Nagano	Relegated from J1 League in 2015
Yokohama FC	Yokohama, Kanagawa
Machida Zelvia	Machida, Tokyo	Promoted from J3 League in 2015
Zweigen Kanazawa	Kanazawa, Ishikawa

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Date of separation	Manner of departure	Incoming manager	Date of announcement
Shimizu S-Pulse	Kazuaki Tasaka	25 November 2015	Resigned	Shinji Kobayashi	25 November 2015
Tokushima Vortis	Shinji Kobayashi	26 November 2015	Contract expired	Hiroaki Nagashima	26 November 2015
Yokohama FC	Hitoshi Nakata	1 December 2015	Retired from coaching	Miloš Rus	1 December 2015
Roasso Kumamoto	Takeshi Ono	25 November 2015	Contract expired	Hiroyuki Kiyokawa	28 December 2015

Foreign players

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Asian Player	Non-Visa Foreign	Type-C Contract
Cerezo Osaka	Bruno Meneghel	Ricardo Santos	Souza	Kim Jin-hyeon
Consadole Sapporo	Julinho	Macedo	Reis	Gu Sung-yun	Irfan Bachdim
Ehime FC	Park Kwang-il			Park Chan-yong		Park Seong-su
Fagiano Okayama
FC Gifu	Evandro	Leo Mineiro	Leonardo Rocha	Wellington Rocha
Giravanz Kitakyushu
Mito HollyHock	Romero Frank	Song Ju-hun		Nguyễn Công Phượng
JEF United Chiba	Élton	Eduardo Aranda		Lee Joo-young
Kamatamare Sanuki	Allan	Evson	Miguel	Han Chang-joo
Montedio Yamagata	Alceu	Diego	Diego Rosa	Lee Je-seung
Renofa Yamaguchi	Yoon Sin-young
Roasso Kumamoto	Anderson			Kim Tae-yeon
Kyoto Sanga	Andrei Girotto	Daniel Lovinho		Lee Yong-jae
Shimizu S-Pulse	Dejan Jaković	Byeon Jun-byum		Mitchell Duke	Jong Tae-se
Thespakusatsu Gunma	Boka	Matheus	Thiago	Lim Jung-bin	Park Seung-ri
Tokyo Verdy	Alan Pinheiro	Douglas	Weslley
V-Varen Nagasaki	Rodrigo	Park Hyung-jin		Cho Min-woo	Ri Yong-jik
Tokushima Vortis	Alex	Carlinhos	Son Se-hwan	Kim Kyung-jung
Matsumoto Yamaga	Obina	Willians		Han Seung-hyeon
Yokohama FC	Ibba Laajab	Denis Halilović	Rok Štraus	Na Sung-soo	An Yong-hak Nguyễn Tuấn Anh
Zweigen Kanazawa	Mendes	Romarinho		Kim Young-heon	An Byong-jun	Kim Tea-sung
Machida Zelvia	Calvin Jong-a-Pin			Kim Song-Gi	Ri Han-jae

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Consadole Sapporo	14	10	2	2	20	7	+13	32	Promotion to 2017 J1 League
2	Machida Zelvia	15	8	4	3	17	9	+8	28
3	Cerezo Osaka	15	8	4	3	17	13	+4	28	Qualification to promotion playoffs
4	Matsumoto Yamaga	15	7	5	3	18	8	+10	26
5	Kyoto Sanga	14	7	5	2	18	13	+5	26
6	Fagiano Okayama	15	7	4	4	22	15	+7	25
7	Renofa Yamaguchi	15	7	3	5	22	22	0	24
8	JEF United Chiba	15	6	5	4	18	16	+2	23
9	Shimizu S-Pulse	15	6	4	5	25	14	+11	22
10	FC Gifu	15	6	2	7	18	23	−5	20
11	Yokohama FC	14	5	3	6	17	14	+3	18
12	Kamatamare Sanuki	15	4	6	5	16	17	−1	18
13	Tokushima Vortis	15	5	3	7	12	17	−5	18
14	Montedio Yamagata	14	4	5	5	13	13	0	17
15	Mito HollyHock	14	4	4	6	12	12	0	16
16	Ehime FC	14	3	7	4	9	12	−3	16
17	Tokyo Verdy	15	3	6	6	10	18	−8	15
18	Roasso Kumamoto	10	4	1	5	7	10	−3	13
19	V-Varen Nagasaki	14	2	7	5	13	20	−7	13
20	Thespakusatsu Gunma	15	3	3	9	15	26	−11	12
21	Giravanz Kitakyushu	15	2	5	8	11	21	−10	11	Qualification to relegation playoffs
22	Zweigen Kanazawa	15	2	4	9	12	22	−10	10	Relegation to 2017 J3 League

Positions by round

Team \ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	17	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Consadole Sapporo	17	8	8	6	4	7	3	4	3	2	1	3	1	1	1	1
Machida Zelvia	17	16	9	7	5	2	2	2	1	1	3	1	2	3	2
Cerezo Osaka	4	3	1	1	2	1	1	1	2	3	2	2	4	4	3
Matsumoto Yamaga	17	9	10	14	12	16	14	8	4	6	7	6	6	6	4
Kyoto Sanga	9	14	13	13	15	12	12	13	14	14	8	9	7	7	5
Fagiano Okayama	9	6	7	5	3	4	7	3	5	7	5	4	5	2	6
Renofa Yamaguchi	9	7	11	16	13	10	10	10	7	5	4	5	3	5	7
JEF United Chiba	2	10	5	4	7	9	5	6	10	12	11	12	10	8	8
Shimizu S-Pulse	13	5	6	11	9	6	9	9	6	4	6	7	9	10	9
FC Gifu	22	22	17	10	8	5	8	11	8	9	10	10	8	9	10
Yokohama FC	17	21	22	17	17	13	11	12	13	10	12	8	11	11	11
Kamatamare Sanuki	4	2	3	2	6	8	4	5	9	8	9	11	12	12	12
Tokushima Vortis	15	20	21	21	15	19	19	19	17	18	16	17	14	15	13
Montedio Yamagata	17	16	18	19	21	22	22	21	20	20	18	16	16	16	14
Mito HollyHock	9	16	19	19	21	18	18	18	16	15	15	15	17	13	15
Ehime FC	13	15	14	18	18	15	13	14	12	11	13	13	13	14	16
Tokyo Verdy	4	11	15	9	11	13	15	15	15	16	17	18	20	17	17
Roasso Kumamoto	4	3	1	3	1	3	5	7	11	13	14	14	15	18	18
V-Varen Nagasaki	2	13	12	12	14	17	17	17	19	19	20	21	21	20	19
Thespakusatsu Gunma	1	1	4	8	10	11	16	16	18	17	19	19	18	19	20
Giravanz Kitakyushu	4	12	16	15	18	20	20	20	21	21	21	20	19	21	21
Zweigen Kanazawa	15	19	20	21	20	21	21	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22

Last updated: 29 May 2016
Source: J. League Data Site
Note 1: Two games for Matchday 8 (V. Varen Nagasaki vs. Mito HollyHock; Kyoto Sanga FC vs. Roasso Kumamoto) scheduled on 17 April 2016 are affected by the series of earthquakes in Kumamoto prefecture.

• Matchday 8 game between Kyoto Sanga FC and Roasso Kumamoto is rescheduled on 29 June 2016. Result of this match will be included on Matchday 21 ranking.
• Matchday 8 game between V. Varen Nagasaki and Mito HollyHock is rescheduled on 7 September 2016. Result of this match will be included on Matchday 31 ranking.

Note 2: Matchday 8 schedule for Zweigen Kanazawa vs. Ehime FC, scheduled on 17 April 2016, is postponed due to severe storms in the area. The match is rescheduled on May 18 and results are included on Matchday 14 Ranking.
Note 3: Fixtures of Roasso Kumamoto for Matchdays 9 (Roasso Kumamoto vs. Yokohama FC), 10 (Montedio Yamagata vs. Roasso Kumamoto), 11 (Roasso Kumamoto vs. Ehime FC) and 12 (Consadole Sapporo vs. Roasso Kumamoto) are postponed by the J. League due to series of earthquakes in Kumamoto prefecture.

• Matchday 10 game between Montedio Yamagata and Roasso Kumamoto is rescheduled on 6 July 2016. Result of this match will be included on Matchday 22 ranking.
• Matchday 12 game between Consadole Sapporo and Roasso Kumamoto is rescheduled on 25 August 2016. Result of this match will be included on Matchday 31 ranking.

Other Rescheduled matches will be announced at a later date.

	Leader and qualification to 2017 J1 League
	Qualification to 2017 J1 League
	Qualification to promotion play-offs
	Qualification to relegation play-offs
	Relegation to 2017 J3 League

Results

Home ╲ Away

CER

CON

EHI

FAG

GIF

GIR

HOL

JEF

KAM

MON

REN

ROS

SAN

SSP

SPA

VVN

VER

VOR

YAM

YFC

ZEL

ZWE

Cerezo Osaka

2–1

1–1

2–1

2–4

0–2

1–0

2–2

Consadole Sapporo

1–0

1–1

1–0

3–1

3–1

1–0

Ehime FC

0–0

0–3

2–1

1–0

1–1

0–1

0–0

0–0

Fagiano Okayama

2–1

0–1

2–0

2–1

0–1

2–2

1–1

2–2

FC Gifu

0–4

1–0

1–0

0–1

1–2

1–1

0–2

Giravanz Kitakyushu

1–0

0–1

1–1

1–2

1–2

2–2

0–4

Mito HollyHock

0–1

0–1

1–2

2–3

1–1

1–0

1–0

JEF United Chiba

3–2

1–1

2–0

0–0

2–1

1–0

1–1

1–0

Kamatamare Sanuki

0–1

3–2

1–1

1–1

2–2

2–1

1–2

0–1

Montedio Yamagata

0–1

1–1

0–1

3–1

0–1

0–0

Renofa Yamaguchi

1–1

4–2

1–0

2–0

0–3

0–2

0–1

Roasso Kumamoto

0–1

1–2

0–2

1–0

1–0

0–2

Kyoto Sanga

1–1

1–1

3–2

2–1

0–0

0–1

1–0

Shimizu S-Pulse

0–2

0–2

0–0

2–2

8–0

0–1

0–0

4–1

Thespakusatsu Gunma

0–1

4–0

1–2

0–1

2–2

3–1

2–1

V-Varen Nagasaki

0–3

1–1

1–1

0–2

0–3

1–1

1–3

Tokyo Verdy

1–0

0–3

0–1

2–1

0–0

1–0

0–4

0–1

Tokushima Vortis

1–3

1–0

1–0

2–2

1–1

0–1

1–1

0–3

Matsumoto Yamaga

0–1

0–1

0–0

3–3

2–1

1–0

1–0

Yokohama FC

1–1

0–0

0–2

0–1

2–0

1–1

0–2

Machida Zelvia

0–1

2–0

1–1

0–1

1–1

1–0

2–1

Zweigen Kanazawa

0–1

2–1

1–2

0–0

1–2

1–1

0–2

1–2

Updated to games played on 29 May 2016.
Source: J.League Data
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Genki Omae	Shimizu S-Pulse	11
2	Ken Tokura	Consadole Sapporo	7
	Yuki Nakashima	Machida Zelvia
4	Koji Suzuki	Machida Zelvia	6
	Yuki Oshitani	Fagiano Okayama
6	Yoshihiro Uchimura	Consadole Sapporo	5
	Kohei Mishima	Mito HollyHock
	Jong Tae-se	Shimizu S-Pulse
	Masato Nakayama	Renofa Yamaguchi
	Kazuki Hara	Giravanz Kitakyushu
	Ryo Nagai	V-Varen Nagasaki

Updated to games played on 29 May 2016
Source: J.League Data

J3 League

Main article: 2016 J3 League

Meiji Yasuda J3 League

Season	2016
← 2015 2017 →

The 2016 Meiji Yasuda J3 League is the 20th season of the third tier in Japanese football, and the 3rd season of the professional J3 League.

Clubs

Morioka

Akita

Fukushima

Nagano

Toyama

Fujieda

Tottori

Kagoshima

Keihanshin Area‡

Ryukyu

Tochigi

Oita

Greater Tokyo Area
FC Tokyo U-23, Sagamihara, YSCC

‡ Keihanshin teams C-Osaka U-23 G-Osaka U-23

‡ Keihanshin teams

C-Osaka U-23
G-Osaka U-23

Locations of the 2016 J3 League teams

To participate, a club must have held an associate membership, or have submitted an application before 30 June 2015, and then passed an inspection to obtain a participation license issued by the J.League Council. The J.League has confirmed the following clubs participating in the 2016 J3 season:

Club Name	Home Town	Notes
Blaublitz Akita	All cities/towns in Akita
Cerezo Osaka U-23	Osaka, Osaka	Ineligible for J2 promotion
Fukushima United	Fukushima, Fukushima
Gainare Tottori	All cities/towns in Tottori
Gamba Osaka U-23	Suita, Osaka	Ineligible for J2 promotion
Grulla Morioka	Morioka, Iwate
Kagoshima United	Kagoshima, Kagoshima	Promoted from 2015 JFL
Kataller Toyama	All cities/towns in Toyama	Eligible for J2 promotion
Fujieda MYFC	Fujieda, Shizuoka
Nagano Parceiro	Nagano, Nagano	Eligible for J2 promotion
FC Ryukyu	All cities/towns in Okinawa
SC Sagamihara	Sagamihara, Kanagawa
Tochigi SC	Tochigi, Tochigi	Relegated from 2015 J2, eligible for J2 promotion
F.C. Tokyo U-23	Tokyo	Ineligible for J2 promotion
Oita Trinita	Ōita, Ōita	Relegated from 2015 J2, eligible for J2 promotion
YSCC Yokohama	Yokohama, Kanagawa

Competition rules

For this season, the league is played in two rounds (home-and-away), each team playing a total of 30 matches.

Each team must have at least 3 players holding professional contracts. Also for this season, three foreign players are allowed per team, plus 1 more from the ASEAN partner country of J.League or from other AFC countries. The matchday roster will consist of 18 players, and up to 3 substitutes will be allowed in a game. The three under-23 clubs can have up to three overage players and one of them must be a goalkeeper.

Promotion and relegation

Rules for promotion to J2 are largely similar to those of the Japan Football League in recent seasons: to be promoted, a club must hold a J2 license and finish in top 2 of the league. The champions will be promoted directly, in exchange with the 22nd placed J2 club, and the runners-up will participate in the playoffs with the 21st placed J2 club. If either or both top 2 finishers are ineligible for promotion, the playoffs and/or direct exchange will not be held in accordance with the exact positions of promotion-eligible clubs. Also, if an under-23 squad finishes in either one of the top 2 or both positions, the next-placed, promotion-eligible club takes automatic promotion to J2. Another next-placed eligible club will contest the playoff if any under-23 club occupies third to fourth place or both and the J3 champion is eligible for promotion.

No relegation to the JFL is planned. Up to 2 clubs may be promoted if they are licensed by the J.League for J3 participation and finish within the top 4 of the JFL.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Date of separation	Manner of departure	Incoming manager	Date of announcement
Grulla Morioka	Naoki Naruo	18 November 2015	Retired	Akihiko Kamikawa	18 November 2015
Tochigi SC	Yasuharu Kurata	11 December 2015	Contract expired	Yuji Yokoyama	11 December 2015
Gainare Tottori	Masanobu Matsunami	22 November 2015	Contract expired	Tetsuji Hashiratani	13 December 2015
Nagano Parceiro	Hajime Eto	1 December 2015	Contract expired	Fumitake Miura	14 December 2015
FC Ryukyu	Norihiro Satsukawa	31 October 2015	Contract expired	Kim Jong-song	14 December 2015
SC Sagamihara	Yoshika Matsubara	3 December 2015	End of caretaker spell	Norihiro Satsukawa	26 December 2015
Kataller Toyama	Shigeo Sawairi (GM)	–	End of caretaker spell	Yasutoshi Miura	26 December 2015
Oita Trinita	Nobuaki Yanagida	7 December 2015	Resigned	Tomohiro Katanosaka	4 January 2016

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Blaublitz Akita	10	5	5	0	13	8	+5	20	Promotion to 2017 J2 League
2	SC Sagamihara	9	5	3	1	11	6	+5	18	Qualification to J2 promotion playoffs
3	FC Ryukyu	10	5	3	2	15	12	+3	18
4	Nagano Parceiro	10	5	3	2	9	6	+3	18
5	Kagoshima United	9	5	2	2	9	5	+4	17
6	Kataller Toyama	9	4	3	2	11	6	+5	15
7	Tochigi SC	10	4	3	3	10	8	+2	15
8	Oita Trinita	9	4	1	4	11	9	+2	13
9	Fujieda MYFC	10	4	1	5	13	12	+1	13
10	Gamba Osaka U-23	10	3	3	4	12	10	+2	12
11	Cerezo Osaka U-23	10	3	3	4	12	14	−2	12
12	Gainare Tottori	9	2	3	4	5	8	−3	9
13	Fukushima United	9	1	5	3	9	11	−2	8
14	YSCC Yokohama	10	2	2	6	4	14	−10	8
15	Grulla Morioka	10	1	3	6	12	18	−6	6
16	F.C. Tokyo U-23	10	1	3	6	5	14	−9	6

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Keita Tanaka	FC Ryukyu	6
2	Kenzo Taniguchi	Grulla Morioka	4
	Tsugutoshi Oishi	Tochigi SC
	Keisuke Endo	Fujieda MYFC
	Noriaki Fujimoto	Kagoshima United FC
	Ritsu Doan	Gamba Osaka U-23

Updated to games played on 29 May 2016
Source: J.League Data

Japan Football League

Main article: 2016 Japan Football League

Japan Football League

Season	2016
← 2015 2017 →

The 2016 Japan Football League is the third season of the nationwide fourth tier of the Japanese football, and the 18th season since the establishment of Japan Football League.

Clubs

Sixteen clubs will participate in this season of Japan Football League. The list was announced on 9 December 2015. A place for 2016 Emperor's Cup will be given to the winners of the first stage of the 2016 JFL.

Club Name	Home Town	Notes
Azul Claro Numazu	Numazu, Shizuoka	J.League 100 Year Plan club status holders, J3 license holders
Briobecca Urayasu	Urayasu, Chiba	Promoted from Kantō League Div. 1 after 2nd place in 39th Regional Promotion Series
Fagiano Okayama Next	Okayama, Okayama
Honda FC	Hamamatsu, Shizuoka
Honda Lock	Miyazaki, Miyazaki
Maruyasu Okazaki	Okazaki, Aichi
MIO Biwako Shiga	Kusatsu, Shiga
Nara Club	Nara, Nara	J.League 100 Year Plan club status and J3 license holders
FC Osaka	Osaka, Osaka
ReinMeer Aomori	Aomori, Aomori	Promoted from Tohoku League Div. 1 after 1st place in 39th Regional Promotion Series
Ryutsu Keizai Dragons	Ryūgasaki, Ibaraki
Sony Sendai	Tagajō, Miyagi	Defending champions of 2015
Tokyo Musashino City	Musashino, Tokyo	Formerly Yokogawa Musashino FC, J.League 100 Year Plan club status holders
Tochigi Uva	Tochigi, Tochigi	J.League 100 Year Plan club status holders
Vanraure Hachinohe	Hachinohe, Aomori	J.League 100 Year Plan club status holders
Verspah Oita	Ōita, Ōita

Change in rules

The tournament will continue with the system introduced in 2014: Two single round-robin stages will be held, and winners of each stage will determine the champion in the post-season home and away championship playoffs. If the same team manages to win both stages, no playoffs will be held, and they will be automatically declared champions.

Two worst performing teams by aggregated results of both stages will be relegated to Regional Leagues and replaced by top two performers of Regional Promotion Series. However, if one or two teams will be admitted to J3 or withdrawn at the end of the season, the number of relegated clubs will be reduced accordingly.

According to updated J.League Terms, the clubs must comply the following requirements to be promoted to J3 League:

• Play in JFL for at least one season before promotion
• Hold a J.League 100 Year Plan club status
• Finish in top 4 of the combined JFL table and finish either 1st or 2nd among associate members.
• Have an average home attendance of at least 2,000; with significant effort recognized toward reaching 3,000 spectators
• Have an annual operating revenue of 150 million yen
• Pass the J3 licensing examination conducted by J.League

First stage

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	FC Osaka	5	5	0	0	12	1	+11	15	Qualification to championship play-offs
2	Azul Claro Numazu	5	4	1	0	11	4	+7	13
3	Vanraure Hachinohe	5	3	2	0	9	2	+7	11
4	Ryutsu Keizai Dragons	5	3	1	1	10	8	+2	10
5	MIO Biwako Shiga	5	3	1	1	5	3	+2	10
6	Sony Sendai	5	3	0	2	9	6	+3	9
7	ReinMeer Aomori	5	2	2	1	7	5	+2	8
8	Honda Lock	5	2	2	1	5	3	+2	8
9	Honda FC	5	2	1	2	8	7	+1	7
10	Verspah Oita	5	0	5	0	3	3	0	5
11	Maruyasu Okazaki	5	1	1	3	2	7	−5	4
12	Briobecca Urayasu	5	1	0	4	2	7	−5	3
13	Tochigi Uva	5	1	0	4	8	16	−8	3
14	Nara Club	5	0	2	3	1	7	−6	2
15	Tokyo Musashino City	5	0	2	3	1	7	−6	2
16	Fagiano Okayama Next	5	0	0	5	3	10	−7	0

Championship play-offs

The championship play-offs will be held after the season between two winners of each stage.

Overall table

This table is used to determine J3 promotion candidates. To qualify for promotion, a club must hold a 100 Year Plan status, obtain J3 license (marked in bold in the table), and finish both in the top 4 of the JFL, and either 1st or 2nd among the promotion-eligible clubs.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	FC Osaka	12	9	2	1	25	10	+15	29
2	Ryutsu Keizai Dragons	12	9	1	2	27	13	+14	28
3	Azul Claro Numazu	12	8	1	3	18	8	+10	25	Promotion to 2017 J3 League
4	Sony Sendai	12	5	4	3	20	11	+9	19
5	Honda Lock	12	5	4	3	12	9	+3	19
6	Briobecca Urayasu	12	6	1	5	16	15	+1	19
7	Vanraure Hachinohe	12	5	3	4	13	7	+6	18
8	Honda FC	12	5	3	4	17	14	+3	18
9	MIO Biwako Shiga	12	5	1	6	14	21	−7	16
10	ReinMeer Aomori	12	4	3	5	11	12	−1	15
11	Tokyo Musashino City	12	4	3	5	7	11	−4	15
12	Nara Club	12	3	4	5	13	17	−4	13
13	Maruyasu Okazaki	12	3	2	7	6	14	−8	11
14	Verspah Oita	12	1	7	4	8	14	−6	10
15	Tochigi Uva	12	3	1	8	16	31	−15	10	Relegation to 2017 Japanese Regional Leagues
16	Fagiano Okayama Next	12	1	0	11	7	23	−16	3

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Koki Takenaka	Briobecca Urayasu	11
2	Makoto Kawanishi	FC Osaka	10
3	Jun Arima	Sony Sendai	8
4	Seiya Murakami	Vanraure Hachinohe	6
	Kazuki Sakamoto	MIO Biwako Shiga
	Toshihiko Uchiyama	Tochigi UVA
	Syota Miyazu	Ryutsu Keizai University FC

Updated to games played on 29 May 2016.
Source: JFL Stats & Data - Ranking:Goals (Japanese)

Attendances

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Vanraure Hachinohe	4,361	3,066	1,295	2,181	1.2392197125257+123.9%†
2	Nara Club	3,538	2,073	1,465	1,769	-0.97358282883875−2.6%†
3	Azul Claro Numazu	4,437	1,826	848	1,479	-0.67288444040036−32.7%†
4	Tokyo Musashino City	2,070	1,179	891	1,035	0.26682986536108+26.6%†
5	FC Osaka	2,608	1,068	688	869	0.25578034682081+25.5%†
6	Honda FC	1,443	860	583	722	-0.67413632119514−32.5%†
7	MIO Biwako Shiga	1,895	1,003	431	632	-0.70693512304251−29.3%†
8	Sony Sendai	535	535	535	535	0.0018726591760299+0.1%†
9	Verspah Oita	1,493	807	273	498	0.020491803278688+2.0%†
10	Ryutsu Keizai Dragons	1,334	616	335	445	0.21917808219178+21.9%†
11	Briobecca Urayasu	1,273	493	305	424	n/a†
12	Maruyasu Okazaki	799	556	243	400	0.15606936416185+15.6%†
13	Honda Lock	1,125	438	316	375	0.053370786516854+5.3%†
14	Tochigi Uva	1,481	508	288	370	-0.81140350877193−18.8%†
15	Fagiano Okayama Next	1,193	355	234	298	-0.96440129449838−3.5%†
	League total	29,585	3,066	234	740	−17.2%†

Updated to games played on 3 April
Source: Japan Football League (1st stage, 2nd stage) (Japanese)
Notes:
^† Team played previous season in Regional Leagues.

External links

• Official website

National team (Men)

Results

Japan v Afghanistan

24 March 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) Round 2	Japan	5 – 0	Afghanistan	Saitama, Japan
19:34 JST	Okazaki  43' Kiyotake  58' Mukhammad  63' (o.g.) Yoshida  74' Kanazaki  78'	JFA Report		Stadium: Saitama Stadium 2002 Attendance: 48,967 Referee: Mohanad Qasim Sarray (Iraq)

Japan v Syria

29 March 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) Round 2	Japan	5 – 0	Syria	Saitama, Japan
19:34 JST	Al Masri  17' (o.g.) Kagawa  66', 90' Honda  86' Haraguchi  90+3'	AFC Report		Stadium: Saitama Stadium 2002 Attendance: 57,475 Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran)

Japan v Bulgaria

3 June Friendly (Kirin Cup Soccer 2016)	Japan	7 – 2	Bulgaria	Toyota, Japan
19:42 JST	Okazaki  4' Kagawa  27', 35' Yoshida  38', 53' Usami  57' Asano  87' (pen.)	JFA Report	Aleksandrov  59' Chochev  82'	Stadium: Toyota Stadium Attendance: 41,940 Referee: Bartosz Frankowski (Poland)

Japan v Bosnia and Herzegovina

7 June Friendly (Kirin Cup Soccer 2016)	Japan	1 – 2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Suita, Japan
19:34 JST	Kiyotake  28'	JFA Report	Đurić  29', 66'	Stadium: Suita City Football Stadium Attendance: 35,589 Referee: Jarred Gillett (Australia)

Japan v United Arab Emirates

1 September 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) Round 3	Japan	1 – 2	United Arab Emirates	Saitama, Japan
19:35 JST	Honda  11'	JFA Report	Khalil  20', 54' (pen.)	Stadium: Saitama Stadium 2002 Attendance: 58,895 Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)

Thailand v Japan

6 September 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) Round 3	Thailand	0 – 2	Japan	Bangkok, Thailand
19:15 UTC+7		AFC Report	Haraguchi  19' Asano  75'	Stadium: Rajamangala Stadium Attendance: 44,500 Referee: Mohsen Torky (Iran)

Japan v Iraq

6 October 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) Round 3	Japan	2 – 1	Iraq	Saitama, Japan
19:35 JST	Haraguchi  26' Yamaguchi  90+5'	JFA Report	Abdul-Amir  60'	Stadium: Saitama Stadium 2002 Attendance: 57,768 Referee: Kim Dong-jin (South Korea)

Australia v Japan

11 October 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) Round 3	Australia	1 – 1	Japan	Melbourne, Australia
20:00 UTC+11	Jedinak  52' (pen.)	AFC Report	Haraguchi  5'	Stadium: Docklands Stadium Attendance: 48,460 Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

Japan v Oman

11 November Friendly (Kirin Challenge Cup 2016)	Japan	4 – 0	Oman	Kashima, Japan
19:23 JST	Osako  32', 42' Kiyotake  64' (pen.) Kobayashi  90+4'	JFA Report		Stadium: Kashima Soccer Stadium Attendance: 33,709 Referee: Liu Kwok Man (Hong Kong)

Japan v Saudi Arabia

15 November 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) Round 3	Japan	2 – 1	Saudi Arabia	Saitama, Japan
19:35 JST	Kiyotake  45' (pen.) Haraguchi  80'	JFA Report	Om. Hawsawi  90'	Stadium: Saitama Stadium 2002 Attendance: 58,420 Referee: Muhammad Taqi Aljaafari Bin Jahari (Singapore)

      Win
      Draw
      Loss

Players statistics

Player	-2015	03.24	03.29	06.03	06.07	09.01	09.06	10.06	10.11	11.11	11.15	2016	Total
Shinji Okazaki	98(47)	O(1)	O	O(1)	O	O	-	O	-	O	O	8(2)	106(49)
Makoto Hasebe	95(2)	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	-	O	9(0)	104(2)
Yuto Nagatomo	86(3)	O	O	O	O	-	-	-	-	-	O	5(0)	91(3)
Keisuke Honda	79(34)	-	O(1)	-	-	O(1)	O	O	O	O	O	7(2)	86(36)
Shinji Kagawa	77(23)	O	O(2)	O(2)	-	O	O	-	O	-	O	7(4)	84(27)
Eiji Kawashima	71(0)	-	-	O	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1(0)	72(0)
Maya Yoshida	61(6)	O(1)	O	O(2)	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	10(3)	71(9)
Hiroshi Kiyotake	33(1)	O(1)	O	O	O(1)	O	-	O	O	O(1)	O(1)	9(4)	42(5)
Masato Morishige	29(2)	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	10(0)	39(2)
Hiroki Sakai	25(0)	O	-	O	-	O	O	O	-	O	O	7(0)	32(0)
Gotoku Sakai	25(0)	-	O	-	O	O	O	O	O	O	-	7(0)	32(0)
Hotaru Yamaguchi	24(1)	-	O	-	-	-	O	O(1)	O	O	O	6(1)	30(2)
Shusaku Nishikawa	23(0)	-	O	-	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	8(0)	31(0)
Tomoaki Makino	22(2)	-	-	-	O	-	-	-	O	-	-	2(0)	24(2)
Yoshinori Muto	18(2)	-	-	-	-	-	O	-	-	-	-	1(0)	19(2)
Mike Havenaar	17(4)	O	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1(0)	18(4)
Yuya Osako	15(3)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	O(2)	O	2(2)	17(5)
Takashi Usami	13(2)	-	O	O(1)	O	O	O	-	-	-	-	5(1)	18(3)
Genki Haraguchi	11(1)	O	O(1)	O	-	O	O(1)	O(1)	O(1)	O	O(1)	9(5)	20(6)
Yosuke Kashiwagi	7(0)	O	-	O	O	-	-	O	-	-	-	4(0)	11(0)
Mu Kanazaki	6(1)	O(1)	O	O	O	-	-	-	-	-	-	4(1)	10(2)
Manabu Saito	5(1)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	O	-	1(0)	6(1)
Wataru Endo	5(0)	-	-	O	O	-	-	-	-	-	-	2(0)	7(0)
Takuma Asano	3(0)	-	-	O(1)	O	O	O(1)	O	O	O	-	7(2)	10(2)
Yu Kobayashi	2(0)	O	-	O	O	-	O	O	O	-	-	6(0)	8(0)
Masaaki Higashiguchi	1(0)	O	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1(0)	2(0)
Gen Shoji	1(0)	-	-	O	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1(0)	2(0)
Yuki Kobayashi	0(0)	-	-	-	O	-	-	-	-	O(1)	-	2(1)	2(1)
Yuichi Maruyama	0(0)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	O	O	-	2(0)	2(0)
Yuya Kubo	0(0)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	O	O	2(0)	2(0)
Ryota Oshima	0(0)	-	-	-	-	O	-	-	-	-	-	1(0)	1(0)
Ryota Nagaki	0(0)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	O	-	1(0)	1(0)

National team (Women)

Results

Japan v Australia

2016.02.29	Japan	1-3	Australia	Osaka, Japan
	Ogimi  ?'		?  ?' ?  ?' ?  ?'	Stadium: Nagai Football Stadium

Japan v South Korea

2016.03.02	Japan	1-1	South Korea	Osaka, Japan
	Iwabuchi  ?'		?  ?'	Stadium: Nagai Football Stadium

Japan v China

2016.03.04	Japan	1-2	China	Osaka, Japan
	Yokoyama  ?'		?  ?' ?  ?'	Stadium: Nagai Football Stadium

Japan v Vietnam

2016.03.07	Japan	6-1	Vietnam	Osaka, Japan
	Iwabuchi  ?' Ono  ?' Kawasumi  ?' Nakajima  ?' Yokoyama  ?' Ogimi  ?'		?  ?'	Stadium: Nagai Football Stadium

Japan v North Korea

2016.03.09	Japan	1-0	North Korea	Osaka, Japan
	Iwabuchi  ?'			Stadium: Nagai Football Stadium

Japan v United States

2016.06.02	Japan	3-3	United States	United States
	Iwabuchi  ?' Ogimi  ?' Yokoyama  ?'		?  ?' ?  ?' ?  ?'

Japan v United States

2016.06.05	Japan	0-2	United States	United States
			?  ?' ?  ?'

Japan v Sweden

2016.07.21	Japan	0-3	Sweden	Sweden
			?  ?' ?  ?' ?  ?'

Players statistics

Player	-2015	02.29	03.02	03.04	03.07	03.09	06.02	06.05	07.21	2016	Total
Aya Miyama	157(38)	O	O	O	O	O	-	-	-	5(0)	162(38)
Shinobu Ono	137(39)	O	-	-	O(1)	-	-	-	-	2(1)	139(40)
Yuki Nagasato	125(55)	O(1)	O	O	O(1)	O	O(1)	-	O	7(3)	132(58)
Azusa Iwashimizu	119(11)	O	-	-	O	O	-	-	-	3(0)	122(11)
Mizuho Sakaguchi	97(28)	O	-	O	-	O	O	O	O	6(0)	103(28)
Yukari Kinga	97(5)	-	O	O	-	O	-	-	-	3(0)	100(5)
Rumi Utsugi	87(5)	-	-	-	-	-	O	O	O	3(0)	90(5)
Miho Fukumoto	79(0)	-	O	O	-	-	-	-	-	2(0)	81(0)
Nahomi Kawasumi	78(19)	O	O	O	O(1)	-	-	-	-	4(1)	82(20)
Saki Kumagai	74(0)	O	O	O	-	O	O	O	O	7(0)	81(0)
Aya Sameshima	69(4)	O	-	O	-	O	-	-	-	3(0)	72(4)
Megumi Takase	58(9)	-	-	O	O	O	-	-	-	3(0)	61(9)
Saori Ariyoshi	42(1)	O	O	-	O	O	O	O	O	7(0)	49(1)
Yuika Sugasawa	38(10)	-	-	-	-	-	-	O	-	1(0)	39(10)
Asuna Tanaka	36(3)	-	O	O	O	-	-	-	-	3(0)	39(3)
Megumi Kamionobe	32(2)	-	O	-	O	-	-	-	-	2(0)	34(2)
Mana Iwabuchi	30(4)	O	O(1)	O	O(1)	O(1)	O(1)	O	-	7(4)	37(8)
Emi Nakajima	24(6)	O	O	O	O(1)	O	O	O	-	7(1)	31(7)
Yuri Kawamura	21(2)	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	8(0)	29(2)
Erina Yamane	18(0)	O	-	-	-	O	-	O	-	3(0)	21(0)
Rika Masuya	10(3)	-	-	-	-	-	O	O	O	3(0)	13(3)
Kumi Yokoyama	5(2)	O	O	O(1)	O(1)	O	O(1)	O	O	8(3)	13(5)
Saori Arimachi	5(0)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	O	1(0)	6(0)
Ami Sugita	4(2)	-	-	-	-	-	-	O	-	1(0)	5(2)
Ayaka Yamashita	3(0)	-	-	-	O	-	O	-	O	3(0)	6(0)
Tomoko Muramatsu	2(0)	-	-	-	-	-	O	-	O	2(0)	4(0)
Mayu Sasaki	0(0)	-	-	-	-	-	O	O	O	3(0)	3(0)
Sonoko Chiba	0(0)	-	-	-	-	-	O	O	O	3(0)	3(0)
Yu Nakasato	0(0)	-	-	-	-	-	O	O	O	3(0)	3(0)
Hikari Takagi	0(0)	-	-	-	-	-	-	O	-	1(0)	1(0)