# 2016 Emperor's Cup

The 96th Emperor's Cup (第96回天皇杯全日本サッカー選手権大会) was the 2016 edition of the annual Japanese national cup tournament, which was held from 27 August 2016 to its final on 1 January 2017.
Kashima Antlers won their fifth title after a 2–1 defeat of Kawasaki Frontale in the final after extra time.
Kashima Antlers would have qualified for the group stage of the 2017 AFC Champions League as the winner, but as they had already earned a spot by winning the 2016 J1 League, Kawasaki Frontale achieved it by way of finishing third in the 2016 J1 League.

## Calendar

| Round | Date | Matches | Clubs | New entries this round |
| First Round | 27, 28 August | 36 | 47+1+2+22 → 36 | 47 prefectural cup winners 1 2015 University championship winner 22 J2 clubs 2 second-placed team and playoff winners from the 2015 J2 |
| Second Round | 3, 7 September | 24 | 36+12 → 24 | 12 2015 J1 clubs ranked 5th through 15th, 2015 J2 champions |
| Third Round | 22 September | 12 | 24 → 12 | |
| Fourth Round | 9, 12 November | 8 | 12+4 → 8 | 4 Teams qualified for the 2016 AFC Champions League |
| Quarter-finals | 24 December | 4 | 8 → 4 | |
| Semi-finals | 29 December | 2 | 4 → 2 | |
| Final | 1 January 2017 | 1 | 2 → 1 | |

## Participating clubs

88 clubs competed in the tournament. Eleven clubs placed 5th through 15th from the 2015 J1 League and the 2015 J2 League champions received a bye to the second round of the tournament; 2016 AFC Champions League participants entered in the fourth round. The remaining teams entered in the first round.
| 2016 J1 League all clubs | 2016 J2 League all clubs | 2015 University Championship champion | 47 prefectural tournament winners | 47 prefectural tournament winners |
| Albirex Niigata Avispa Fukuoka Gamba Osaka Júbilo Iwata Kashima Antlers Kashiwa Reysol Kawasaki Frontale Nagoya Grampus Omiya Ardija Sagan Tosu Sanfrecce Hiroshima Shonan Bellmare FC Tokyo Urawa Red Diamonds Vegalta Sendai Ventforet Kofu Vissel Kobe Yokohama F. Marinos | Cerezo Osaka Consadole Sapporo Ehime FC Fagiano Okayama FC Gifu Giravanz Kitakyushu JEF United Ichihara Chiba Kamatamare Sanuki Kyoto Sanga FC Machida Zelvia Matsumoto Yamaga FC Mito HollyHock Montedio Yamagata Renofa Yamaguchi FC Roasso Kumamoto Shimizu S-Pulse Thespakusatsu Gunma Tokushima Vortis Tokyo Verdy V-Varen Nagasaki Yokohama FC Zweigen Kanazawa | Kwansei Gakuin University | Hokkaido: Hokkaido University Aomori: Vanraure Hachinohe Iwate: Grulla Morioka Miyagi: Sony Sendai FC Akita: Blaublitz Akita Yamagata: Yamagata University Fukushima: Fukushima United FC Ibaraki: University of Tsukuba Tochigi: Tochigi Uva FC Gunma: Thespakusatsu Challengers Saitama: Tokyo International University Chiba: Vonds Ichihara Tokyo: Waseda University Kanagawa: Kanagawa University Yamanashi: Yamanashi Gakuin University Orions Nagano: AC Nagano Parceiro Niigata: Niigata University of Health and Welfare Toyama: Kataller Toyama Ishikawa: Hokuriku University Fukui: Saurcos Fukui Shizuoka: Honda FC Aichi: Tokai Gakuen University Mie: Suzuka Unlimited FC Gifu: FC Gifu Second | Shiga: MIO Biwako Shiga Kyoto: Kyoto Sangyo University Osaka: Kansai University Hyōgo: Banditonce Kakogawa Nara: Nara Club Wakayama: Arterivo Wakayama Tottori: Gainare Tottori Shimane: Matsue City FC Okayama: Fagiano Okayama Next Hiroshima: SRC Hiroshima Yamaguchi: Tokuyama University Kagawa: R.Velho Takamatsu Tokushima: FC Tokushima Celeste Ehime: FC Imabari Kōchi: Kochi United SC Fukuoka: Fukuoka University Saga: FC Tosu Nagasaki: MD Nagasaki Kumamoto: Tokai University Kumamoto Ōita: Oita Trinita Miyazaki: Honda Lock SC Kagoshima: Kagoshima United FC Okinawa: FC Ryukyu |

## Schedule and results

The matches for the first three rounds were published on 27 June 2016.

### First round

All times given in UTC+09:00