2025 J1 League

The 2025 J1 League, also known as the 2025 Meiji Yasuda J1 League (Japanese: 2025 明治安田J1リーグ, Hepburn: 2025 Meiji Yasuda J1 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, is the 33rd season of J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. This is the 11th season of the league since its rebrand from J.League Division 1.

J1 League

Season	2025
Dates	14 February – 6 December
Matches played	250
Goals scored	589 (2.36 per match)
Top goalscorer	Léo Ceará (14 goals)
Biggest home win	Kawasaki Frontale 4–0 Nagoya Grampus (15 February 2025) Kashima Antlers 4–0 Tokyo Verdy (22 February 2025) Gamba Osaka 4–0 Shonan Bellmare (3 May 2025) Vissel Kobe 4–0 Shonan Bellmare (5 July 2025)
Biggest away win	Yokohama FC 0–4 Sanfrecce Hiroshima (22 June 2025) Albirex Niigata 0–4 Machida Zelvia (29 June 2025)
Highest scoring	Gamba Osaka 2–5 Cerezo Osaka (14 February 2025) Kashima Antlers 3–4 Kyoto Sanga (6 April 2025) Kawasaki Frontale 2–5 Avispa Fukuoka (9 August 2025)
Longest winning run	7 matches Kashima Antlers
Longest unbeaten run	10 matches Kashiwa Reysol
Longest winless run	11 matches Yokohama F. Marinos
Longest losing run	7 matches Yokohama FC Yokohama F. Marinos
Highest attendance	59,574 Kashima Antlers 2–1 Kawasaki Frontale (11 May 2025)[1]
Lowest attendance	6,157 Avispa Fukuoka 1–1 Fagiano Okayama (25 April 2025)[1]
Total attendance	5,150,571[1]
Average attendance	20,602[1]
← 2024 2026–27 → All statistics correct as of 11 August 2025.

Vissel Kobe are the defending champions, having won their second league title in a row on the last matchday of the 2024 season.^[2]

Overview

This is the last J.League season played in a whole calendar year from late winter to early winter, with the following season onwards played from summer to spring.^[3]

The tournament format and match format was announced on 25 November 2024, with the season starting on 14 February 2025 and concluding on 6 December 2025.^[4]

This season is also the last with an annual format; starting with the 2026–27 season, the league will adopt the European calendar of September to May, with a special tournament held during the first half of 2026.^[5]

Changes from the previous season

There were three teams relegated to the 2025 J2 League. Júbilo Iwata, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, and Sagan Tosu, were relegated as they finished 18th, 19th, and 20th respectively in the previous season, ending their one, eight, and 13-year stays in the top flight respectively.

Three teams were promoted from the 2024 J2 League: Shimizu S-Pulse, who won the title and returned to J1 after a two-year absence, Yokohama FC, who finished second, returning to the J1 after just a season playing in the J2 League, and Fagiano Okayama, who finished fifth and won the play-offs; they are playing in the top flight for the first time in their history.

Clubs

Albirex Niigata

Avispa Fukuoka

Greater Tokyo Area†

Shimizu S-Pulse

Keihanshin‡

Fagiano Okayama

Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Nagoya Grampus

‡ Keihanshin teams
Cerezo Osaka
Gamba Osaka
Kyoto Sanga
Vissel Kobe

† Greater Tokyo teams
Machida Zelvia
FC Tokyo
Tokyo Verdy
Kawasaki Frontale
Urawa Red Diamonds
Shonan Bellmare
Yokohama FC
Yokohama F. Marinos
Kashima Antlers
Kashiwa Reysol

Locations of the 2025 J1 League teams

Cerezo Osaka

Gamba Osaka

Kyoto Sanga

Vissel Kobe

2025 J1 League teams in Keihanshin

Kashima Antlers

Kashiwa Reysol

Urawa Red Diamonds

FC Tokyo

Tokyo Verdy

Machida Zelvia

Kawasaki Frontale

Shonan Bellmare

Yokohama FC

Yokohama F. Marinos

2025 J1 League teams in Greater Tokyo Area

Club	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Kashima Antlers	Ibaraki Prefecture	Kashima Soccer Stadium	39,095
Urawa Red Diamonds	Saitama Prefecture	Saitama Stadium 2002	62,040
Kashiwa Reysol	Chiba Prefecture	Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium	15,109
FC Tokyo	Tokyo	Ajinomoto Stadium	47,851
Tokyo Verdy
Machida Zelvia		Machida GION Stadium	15,489
Kawasaki Frontale	Kanagawa Prefecture	Uvance Todoroki Stadium by Fujitsu	26,827
Yokohama F. Marinos		Nissan Stadium	71,624
Yokohama FC		NHK Spring Mitsuzawa Football Stadium	15,442
Shonan Bellmare		Lemon Gas Stadium Hiratsuka	15,380
Albirex Niigata	Niigata Prefecture	Denka Big Swan Stadium	41,684
Shimizu S-Pulse	Shizuoka Prefecture	IAI Stadium Nihondaira	19,594
Nagoya Grampus	Aichi Prefecture	Toyota Stadium	42,753
Kyoto Sanga	Kyoto Prefecture	Sanga Stadium by Kyocera	21,623
Gamba Osaka	Osaka Prefecture	Panasonic Stadium Suita	39,694
Cerezo Osaka		Yodoko Sakura Stadium	24,481
Vissel Kobe	Hyōgo Prefecture	Noevir Stadium Kobe	29,643
Fagiano Okayama	Okayama Prefecture	JFE Harenokuni Stadium	15,479
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Hiroshima Prefecture	Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima	28,347
Avispa Fukuoka	Fukuoka Prefecture	Best Denki Stadium	21,562

Personnel and kits

Club	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Main shirt sponsor
Albirex Niigata	Toru Irie (interim)	Yuto Horigome	Adidas	Kameda Seika
Avispa Fukuoka	Kim Myung-hwi	Tatsuki Nara	Yonex	Shin Nihon Seiyaku
Cerezo Osaka	Arthur Papas	Shunta Tanaka	Mizuno	Yanmar
Fagiano Okayama	Takashi Kiyama	Ryo Takeuchi	Penalty	GROP
FC Tokyo	Rikizo Matsuhashi	Kei Koizumi	New Balance	Tokyo Gas
Gamba Osaka	Dani Poyatos	Takashi Usami	Hummel	Panasonic
Kashima Antlers	Toru Oniki	Gaku Shibasaki	Nike	LIXIL
Kashiwa Reysol	Ricardo Rodríguez	Tomoya Inukai	Yonex	Hitachi
Kawasaki Frontale	Shigetoshi Hasebe	Yasuto Wakizaka	Puma	Fujitsu
Kyoto Sanga	Cho Kwi-jae	Sota Kawasaki	Puma	Kyocera
Machida Zelvia	Go Kuroda	Gen Shoji	Adidas	CyberAgent
Nagoya Grampus	Kenta Hasegawa	Ryuji Izumi	Mizuno	Toyota GR Yaris
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Michael Skibbe	Sho Sasaki	Nike	EDION
Shimizu S-Pulse	Tadahiro Akiba	Koya Kitagawa	Puma	Suzuyo
Shonan Bellmare	Satoshi Yamaguchi	Akito Suzuki	Penalty	Meldia
Tokyo Verdy	Hiroshi Jofuku	Koki Morita	Athleta	Nicigas
Urawa Red Diamonds	Maciej Skorża	Takahiro Sekine	Nike	Polus
Vissel Kobe	Takayuki Yoshida	Tetsushi Yamakawa	Asics	Rakuten Mobile
Yokohama FC	Fumitake Miura	Yoshiaki Komai	Puma	Onodera Group
Yokohama F. Marinos	Hideo Ōshima	Takuya Kida	Adidas	Nissan

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in the table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Kashiwa Reysol	Masami Ihara[6][7]	End of contract	9 December 2024	Pre-season	Ricardo Rodríguez[8]	11 December 2024
FC Tokyo	Peter Cklamovski[9]				Rikizo Matsuhashi[10]	21 December 2024
Cerezo Osaka	Akio Kogiku[11]				Arthur Papas[12]	17 December 2024
Avispa Fukuoka	Shigetoshi Hasebe[13]				Kim Myung-hwi[14]	13 December 2024
Kawasaki Frontale	Toru Oniki[15]				Shigetoshi Hasebe[16]	12 December 2024
Kashima Antlers	Masaki Chugo	End of interim spell			Toru Oniki[17]	12 December 2024
Yokohama F. Marinos	John Hutchinson				Steve Holland[18]	17 December 2024
Albirex Niigata	Rikizo Matsuhashi[19]	Resigned	13 December 2024		Daisuke Kimori[20]	19 December 2024
Yokohama F. Marinos	Steve Holland[21]	Sacked	18 April 2025	19th	Patrick Kisnorbo[22][a]	18 April 2025
	Patrick Kisnorbo[24]	Resigned	19 June 2025	20th	Hideo Ōshima[24][b]	19 June 2025
Albirex Niigata	Daisuke Kimori[26]	Sacked	23 June 2025	18th	Toru Irie (interim)[26]	23 June 2025
Yokohama FC	Shuhei Yomoda[27]	Sacked	23 July 2025	19th	Fumitake Miura[28]	23 July 2025

1. Kisnorbo was initially appointed as interim manager, but he was made permanent on 5 May 2025.^[23]
2. Ōshima was initially appointed as interim manager, but he was made permanent on 24 June 2025.^[25]

Foreign players

From the 2019 season, there are no limitations on signing foreign players, but clubs can only register up to five of them for a single matchday squad.^[29] Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Morocco, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia) were exempted from these restrictions.

• Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
• Player's name in italics indicates the player has Japanese nationality in addition to their FIFA nationality, holds the nationality of a J.League partner nation, or is exempt from being treated as a foreign player due to having been born in Japan and being enrolled in, or having graduated from an approved type of school in the country.^[30]

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 5	Player 6	Player 7	Player 8	Former player (s)
Albirex Niigata	Jason Geria	Danilo Gomes	Matheus Moraes	Miguel Silveira	Michael Fitzgerald	Abdelrahman Boudah
Avispa Fukuoka	Wellington	Shahab Zahedi	Kim Moon-hyeon	Nassim Ben Khalifa
Cerezo Osaka	Lucas Fernandes	Rafael Ratão	Thiago Andrade	Vitor Bueno	Dion Cools	Kim Jin-hyeon			Jaroensak Wonggorn
Fagiano Okayama	Lucão	Werik Popó	Svend Brodersen						Gleyson
FC Tokyo	Everton Galdino	Henrique Trevisan	Marcelo Ryan	Alexander Scholz	Kim Seung-gyu				Baek In-hwan
Gamba Osaka	Juan Alano	Welton	Zhang Aolin	Issam Jebali	Deniz Hümmet				Neta Lavi
Kashima Antlers	Élber	Léo Ceará	Talles	Aleksandar Čavrić	Kim Tae-hyeon	Park Eui-jeong
Kashiwa Reysol	Diego
Kawasaki Frontale	Erison	Jesiel	Marcinho	Filip Uremović	Lazar Romanić	Jung Sung-ryong	Lee Geun-hyeong		Patrick Verhon César Haydar
Kyoto Sanga	Barreto	João Pedro	Léo Gomes	Marco Túlio	Patrick William	Rafael Elias	Yoon Sung-jun	Marc Vito	Murilo Costa Gu Sung-yun
Machida Zelvia	Mitch Duke	Byron Vásquez	Neta Lavi	Ibrahim Drešević	Kaung Zan Mara	Cha Je-hoon	Na Sang-ho	Oh Se-hun	Erik
Nagoya Grampus	Mateus	Kasper Junker							Lelê Yves Avelete
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Marcos Júnior	Valère Germain	Tolgay Arslan	Jeong Min-ki	Kim Ju-sung
Shimizu S-Pulse	Capixaba	Mateus Brunetti	Matheus Bueno	Ahmed Ahmedov	Alfredo Stephens	Kim Min-tae	Jelani Reshaun Sumiyoshi		Douglas Tanque
Shonan Bellmare	Luiz Phellype	Zé Ricardo							Lukian Kim Min-tae
Tokyo Verdy	Matheus Vidotto
Urawa Red Diamonds	Danilo Boza	Matheus Sávio	Thiago Santana	Marius Høibråten	Samuel Gustafson
Vissel Kobe	Caetano	Erik	Gustavo Klismahn	Jean Patric	Matheus Thuler	Richard Monday Ubong
Yokohama FC	Adaílton	João Paulo	Léo Bahia	Lukian	Phelipe	Yuri Lara	Jakub Słowik		Michel
Yokohama F. Marinos	Thomas Deng	Yan Matheus	Yuri Araujo	Jeison Quiñones	Dean David	Park Il-gyu	Kodjo Aziangbe		Anderson Lopes Élber Sandy Walsh

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Kashima Antlers	25	15	2	8	37	24	+13	47	Qualification for the AFC Champions League Elite league stage
2	Kashiwa Reysol	25	13	8	4	35	23	+12	47
3	Vissel Kobe	25	14	4	7	34	24	+10	46
4	Kyoto Sanga	25	13	6	6	42	30	+12	45
5	Machida Zelvia	25	13	4	8	36	25	+11	43
6	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	25	13	4	8	29	18	+11	43
7	Urawa Red Diamonds	25	11	8	6	34	25	+9	41
8	Kawasaki Frontale	25	10	8	7	40	31	+9	38
9	Cerezo Osaka	25	10	7	8	40	34	+6	37
10	Avispa Fukuoka	25	9	8	8	26	25	+1	35
11	Gamba Osaka	25	10	4	11	29	34	−5	34
12	Shimizu S-Pulse	25	8	7	10	29	32	−3	31
13	Tokyo Verdy	25	8	7	10	16	24	−8	31
14	Fagiano Okayama	25	9	6	10	23	22	+1	33
15	FC Tokyo	25	8	5	12	27	35	−8	29
16	Nagoya Grampus	25	7	7	11	29	35	−6	28
17	Shonan Bellmare	25	6	6	13	20	39	−19	24
18	Yokohama F. Marinos	25	5	6	14	23	33	−10	21	Relegation to the J2 League
19	Yokohama FC	25	5	4	16	15	32	−17	19
20	Albirex Niigata	25	4	7	14	25	44	−19	19

Updated to match(es) played on 11 August 2025. Source: J1 League, J.League Data Site
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goals scored; 7) Fewer disciplinary points.

Results

Home \ Away	ANI	AFU	COS	FOK	GOS	KSA	KSR	KWF	KYS	MCZ	NGR	SHI	SHB	SSP	TOK	TOV	URD	VKO	YOK	YFM
Albirex Niigata	—	0–1	2–2	1–1	3–3				1–2	0–4		0–2	2–1		2–3	2–2	1–1		0–0	1–0
Avispa Fukuoka	3–2	—				0–1	0–1	1–2	2–2	2–2	1–1				1–0	0–0	1–0	0–0		2–1
Cerezo Osaka	3–1	2–0	—	2–1	0–1	1–0				1–2	1–1		1–2	4–2	1–1	2–1	1–1			1–0
Fagiano Okayama	2–1	0–1		—	2–0	1–2		0–0	2–0	2–2		0–1		1–1	1–0	0–1		1–2		1–0
Gamba Osaka		2–1	2–5	0–3	—	0–1		2–1	2–1	0–1	2–0	0–1	4–0	1–0	2–0
Kashima Antlers	2–1	0–1		1–2		—	3–2	2–1	3–4	1–0	1–0	1–1		1–0	2–0	4–0	1–1	1–0
Kashiwa Reysol	1–1		2–1	2–0	1–0	1–3	—	1–1	3–3				2–0	1–0	1–0	0–0		1–3
Kawasaki Frontale	3–1	2–5	2–0		2–2	2–1		—	0–1		4–0		2–0			0–0	2–2	1–2	2–1	3–3
Kyoto Sanga	2–1		2–3		3–1		1–1		—		1–1	1–0	2–0		3–0		1–1		2–1
Machida Zelvia	1–0					2–1	3–0	2–2	1–2	—		1–2	0–1	3–0		0–1	0–2	2–0		0–3
Nagoya Grampus	3–0			0–0			1–2		1–2	1–2	—	2–1		1–1		0–0	2–1	2–2	2–1	2–0
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	0–1	2–1	2–1	0–1		1–0	1–1	1–2			1–2	—		0–0		2–1			1–0	1–0
Shonan Bellmare		0–0	3–3	1–1		1–0	0–1			1–2	2–1	0–1	—				2–1	1–2	0–1	1–1
Shimizu S-Pulse	2–0	3–1			0–0		0–2	1–1	1–2	2–2	0–3	1–1	3–0	—				3–2	2–0
FC Tokyo			2–2		3–0	0–1	1–1	0–3		0–1	3–1	0–3	0–0	0–2	—	a	3–2	1–0	2–1
Tokyo Verdy			1–0		0–1		0–3	1–0	1–0	0–1	2–1		0–2	0–1	2–2	—		0–1	2–0	1–0
Urawa Red Diamonds		0–0	0–0	1–0	0–1		0–2		2–1			1–0	4–1	2–1	3–2	2–0	—		2–1	3–1
Vissel Kobe	0–1	0–1	1–3	2–0	3–2			2–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	4–0				0–0	—
Yokohama FC		1–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	0–3	1–1	0–1		0–2		0–4		2–0	0–1		1–2	0–1	—	0–1
Yokohama F. Marinos	1–1			0–1	2–0	3–1	0–2		0–3		3–0		1–1	2–3	0–3	0–0		1–2	0–0	—

Updated to match(es) played on 11 August 2025. Source: J1 League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

As of 11 August 2025

Top scorers

Further information: J.League Top Scorer

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[31][32][33]
1	Léo Ceará	Kashima Antlers	14
2	Rafael Ratão	Cerezo Osaka	11
3	Rafael Elias	Kyoto Sanga	9
	Taisei Miyashiro	Vissel Kobe
5	Koya Kitagawa	Shimizu S-Pulse	8
	Yuki Soma	Machida Zelvia
7	Erik	Vissel Kobe	7
	Sho Inagaki	Nagoya Grampus
	Marcelo Ryan	FC Tokyo
	Yuma Suzuki	Kashima Antlers
	Ryoma Watanabe	Urawa Red Diamonds

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref.
Léo Ceará	Kashima Antlers	Kashiwa Reysol	3–1 (A)	8 March 2025	[34]
Rafael Elias	Kyoto Sanga	Kashima Antlers	4–3 (A)	6 April 2025	[35]

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Monthly MVP		Goal of the Month		Young Player of the Month		Save of the Month		References
	Manager	Club	Player	Club	Player	Club	Player	Club	Player	Club
February/March	Toru Oniki	Kashima Antlers	Léo Ceará	Kashima Antlers	Shunki Higashi	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Sōta Kitano	Cerezo Osaka	Ryosuke Kojima	Kashiwa Reysol	[36]
April	Maciej Skorża	Urawa Red Diamonds	Rafael Elias	Kyoto Sanga	Ryo Tabei	Fagiano Okayama	Ryunosuke Sato	Fagiano Okayama	Tomoki Hayakawa	Kashima Antlers	[37]
May	Arthur Papas	Cerezo Osaka	Lucas Fernandes	Cerezo Osaka	Taisei Miyashiro	Vissel Kobe	Alexandre Pisano	Nagoya Grampus	Kōki Fukui	Cerezo Osaka	[38]
June	Ricardo Rodríguez	Kashiwa Reysol	Tojiro Kubo	Kashiwa Reysol	Motoki Nagakura	FC Tokyo	Kota Takai	Kawasaki Frontale	Svend Brodersen	Fagiano Okayama	[39]

See also

• 2025 Japanese Super Cup
• 2025 Emperor's Cup
• 2025 J.League Cup
• 2025 J2 League
• 2025 J3 League
• 2025 Japan Football League
• 2025 Japanese Regional Leagues