# 2024 J3 League

The 2024 J3 League, also known as the 2024 Meiji Yasuda J3 League (2024 明治安田J3リーグ, 2024 Meiji Yasuda J3 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 11th season of the J3 League, the third-tier Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2013.

## Overview

The league continued with 20 teams for the 2024 season.
The top two teams in the league will be automatically promoted to the J2 League, provided they have the necessary license. The 2024 season introduces a promotion play-offs, where one of the teams ranked 3rd to 6th will also be promoted. As of September 2024, all clubs in the league now hold a valid J2 license, following FC Osaka being the final club to be granted one.
There is the possibility that as many as two clubs will be relegated to the Japan Football League. Promotion from the JFL is conditional on holding a valid J3 license. If the JFL champions hold a license, the club will be automatically promoted and the J3's 20th-placed team will be automatically relegated. If the JFL runners-up hold a license, the club will need to play promotion/relegation play-offs against J3's 19th or 20th-placed team for the season, depending on whether the JFL champions hold the J3 license. The club(s) who do not hold a license cannot be promoted and no teams will be relegated from the J3 League.

## Schedule

The league and match format was announced on 19 December 2023. The league began on 23 February and ended on 10 November in a round-robin format of 38 matches.
The J3 promotion play-offs were held in a similar manner to the J2 playoffs, with the semi-finals on 1 December with the final taking place on 7 December.

## Changes from the previous season

Zweigen Kanazawa and Omiya Ardija were relegated to the J3 League, finishing the previous J2 League season as 21st and 22nd-placed teams, respectively. Zweigen Kanazawa are returning to the J3 League after nine seasons in the second-tier. Omiya Ardija will be competing in the third-tier for the first time as a J.League member.
No teams were relegated from the 2023 J3 League. This is only the second time in J3 history that there will be no new clubs promoted from the JFL.
J3 winners Ehime FC and runners-up Kagoshima United were both promoted from the 2023 season.

## Clubs

| Club name | Home town | Stadium | Capacity | Last season | Licence |
| Azul Claro Numazu | Numazu | Ashitaka Stadium | 5,104 | J3 (13th) | J2 |
| Fukushima United | Fukushima | Toho Stadium | 5,710 | J3 (15th) | J1 |
| Gainare Tottori | All cities/towns in Tottori | Axis Bird Stadium | 11,999 | J3 (6th) | J2 |
| FC Gifu | All cities/towns in Gifu | Gifu Nagaragawa Stadium | 16,310 | J3 (8th) | J1 |
| Giravanz Kitakyushu | Kitakyushu, Fukuoka | Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu | 15,066 | J3 (20th) | J1 |
| FC Imabari | Imabari | ASICS Satoyama Stadium | 5,316 | J3 (4th) | J2 |
| Iwate Grulla Morioka | All cities/towns in Iwate | Iwagin Stadium & Kitakami Stadium | 5,046 | J3 (10th) | J1 |
| Kamatamare Sanuki | All cities/towns in Kagawa | Pikara Stadium | 22,338 | J3 (16th) | J1 |
| Kataller Toyama | All cities/towns in Toyama | Toyama Athletic Stadium | 18,588 | J3 (3rd) | J1 |
| Matsumoto Yamaga | Cities/towns in Nagano | Sunpro Alwin | 20,336 | J3 (9th) | J1 |
| Nagano Parceiro | Nagano | Nagano U Stadium | 15,491 | J3 (14th) | J2 |
| Nara Club | All cities/towns on Nara | Rohto Field Nara | 5,369 | J3 (5th) | J2 |
| Omiya Ardija | Saitama, Saitama | NACK5 Stadium Omiya | 15,491 | J2 (21st; Relegated) | J1 |
| FC Osaka | Higashiōsaka, Osaka | Hanazono Rugby Stadium | 26,443 | J3 (11th) | J3 |
| FC Ryukyu | All cities/towns in Okinawa | Tapic Kenso Hiyagon Stadium | 10,189 | J3 (17th) | J1 |
| SC Sagamihara | Sagamihara | Gion Stadium | 11,808 | J3 (18th) | J2 |
| Tegevajaro Miyazaki | Miyazaki & Shintomi, Miyazaki | Unilever Stadium Shintomi | 5,357 | J3 (19th) | J2 |
| Vanraure Hachinohe | Eastern cities/towns in Aomori | Prifoods Stadium | 5,124 | J3 (7th) | J2 |
| YSCC Yokohama | Yokohama | Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium | 15,442 | J3 (12th) | J2 |
| Zweigen Kanazawa | All cities/towns in Ishikawa | Ishikawa Kanazawa Stadium | 10,728 | J2 (22nd; Relegated) | J1 |
* ↑ centering on Tottori, Yonago, Kurayoshi, Sakaiminato
* ↑ centering on Gifu
* ↑ centering on Takamatsu, Marugame
* ↑ centering on Toyama
* ↑ Matsumoto, Azumino, Yamagata, Shiojiri, Omachi, Ikeda, Ikusaka, Minowa, Asahi
* ↑ Hachinohe, Towada, Gonohe, Sannohe, Takko, Hashikami, Nanbu, Shingo, Oirase, Misawa, Shichinohe, Rokunohe, Tohoku, Noheji, Yokohama, Rokkasho
* ↑ centering on Kanazawa, Nonoichi, Kahoku, Tsubata, Tsubata

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Main shirt sponsor |
| Azul Claro Numazu | Masashi Nakayama | Takuya Sugai | Penalty | Usui |
| Fukushima United | Shuhei Terada | Kaito Yamamoto | Hummel | Toho Bank |
| Gainare Tottori | Kentaro Hayashi | Hiroto Sese | Soccer Junky | San-in Godo Bank |
| FC Gifu | Kenichi Amano | Yoshihiro Shoji | Razzoli | Hot Staff |
| Giravanz Kitakyushu | Kohei Masumoto | Haruki Izawa | Umbro | TOTO |
| FC Imabari | Toshihiro Hattori | Keishi Kusumi | Asics | Unicharm |
| Iwate Grulla Morioka | Kei Hoshikawa | Atsutaka Nakamura | Kelme | Nova |
| Kamatamare Sanuki | Atsushi Yoneyama | | Angua | Rexxam |
| Kataller Toyama | Michiharu Otagiri | Kosei Wakimoto | Goldwin | YKK AP |
| Matsumoto Yamaga | Masahiro Shimoda | Akira Ando | Adidas | Epson |
| Nagano Parceiro | Riki Takagi | Takuya Akiyama | Penalty | Hokto |
| Nara Club | Ichizo Nakata | Yuki Kotani | Squadra | Daiwa House |
| Omiya Ardija | Tetsu Nagasawa | Yutaro Hakamata | Under Armour | NTT Docomo |
| FC Osaka | Naoto Otake | Shusuke Sakamoto | bonera | Tobu Top Tours |
| FC Ryukyu | Kim Jong-song | Ryunosuke Noda | sfida | GMO Coin |
| SC Sagamihara | Yuki Richard Stalph | Akihiko Takeshige | Umbro | Gion |
| Tegevajaro Miyazaki | Yuji Okuma | Hikaru Manabe | Yonex | Enatsu Shoji Holdings |
| Vanraure Hachinohe | Nobuhiro Ishizaki | Naoyuki Yamada | Hummel | ATMIX |
| YSCC Yokohama | Kazuki Kuranuki | Kento Dodate | Bonera | Sanshin |
| Zweigen Kanazawa | Akira Ito | Yuto Shirai | Hummel | 12 |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in the table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Zweigen Kanazawa | Masaaki Yanagishita | End of contract | 5 November 2023 | Pre-season | Akira Ito | 11 December 2023 |
| Giravanz Kitakyushu | Shinji Kobayashi | Resigned | 22 November 2023 | Pre-season | Kohei Masumoto | 15 December 2023 |
| Gainare Tottori | Kohei Matsumoto (interim) | End of interim spell | 24 November 2023 | Pre-season | Kentaro Hayashi | 8 December 2023 |
| Fukushima United | Mitsumasa Yoda | Resigned | 27 November 2023 | Pre-season | Shuhei Terada | 13 December 2023 |
| FC Osaka | Ryo Shigaki | Signed by Renofa Yamaguchi | 5 December 2023 | Pre-season | Naoto Otake | 18 December 2023 |
| Tegevajaro Miyazaki | Mitsuo Kato | Resigned | 5 December 2023 | Pre-season | Yuji Okuma | 19 December 2023 |
| Omiya Ardija | Masato Harasaki | Resigned | 9 November 2023 | Pre-season | Tetsu Nagasawa | 11 December 2023 |
| FC Imabari | Naoto Kudo | Resigned | 10 December 2023 | Pre-season | Toshihiro Hattori | 11 December 2023 |
| Iwate Grulla Morioka | Tetsuji Nakamikawa | Management restructure | 8 May 2024 | 20th | Takuya Jinno | 8 May 2024 |
| SC Sagamihara | Kazuyuki Toda | Contract terminated | 19 June 2024 | 9th | Yuki Richard Stalph | 26 June 2024 |
| FC Gifu | Yusaku Ueno | Resigned | 27 June 2024 | 11th | Kenichi Amano | 28 June 2024 (interim) 30 September 2024 (full) |
| Iwate Grulla Morioka | Takuya Jinno | Contract terminated | 18 August 2024 | 20th | Kei Hoshikawa | 18 August 2024 |
| Nara Club | Julián Marín | Contract terminated | 4 September 2024 | 18th | Ichizo Nakata | 4 September 2024 |

## Foreign players

From the 2021 season onwards, there is no limitations on signing foreign players, but clubs could only register up to five of them for a single matchday squad. Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Qatar) were exempted from these restrictions.
* Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the summer 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.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 | Player 7 | Player 8 | Player 9 | Former players |
| Azul Claro Numazu | Gustavo Rissi | | | | | | | | | |
| Fukushima United | | | | | | | | | | |
| Gainare Tottori | | | | | | | | | | |
| FC Gifu | Mun In-ju | Lee Yong-jae | | | | | | | | |
| Giravanz Kitakyushu | Koh Seung-jin | | | | | | | | | |
| FC Imabari | Tomás Moschión | Marcus Índio | Rodrigo Angelotti | Wesley Tanque | Jon Ander Serantes | | | | | Ning Fangze |
| Iwate Grulla Morioka | Sillas | Kenneth Otabor | Ryu Se-gun | Kim Jae-young | Kim Sung-kon | Lee Byung-chan | | | | |
| Kamatamare Sanuki | Au Yeung Yiu Chung | | | | | | | | | |
| Kataller Toyama | Gabriel Nascimento | Matheus Leiria | | | | | | | | |
| Matsumoto Yamaga | Víctor Ibáñez | | | | | | | | | |
| Nagano Parceiro | Ryu Nugraha | Kim Min-ho | Lee Seung-won | Park Soo-bin | | | | | | |
| Nara Club | Marc Vito | Patrik Gustavsson | | | | | | | | Kiadtiphon Udom |
| Omiya Ardija | Arthur Silva | Fabián González | Oriola Sunday | | | | | | | Jakub Świerczok |
| FC Osaka | Jonas Markovski | Everton Kanela | João Moura | Muhammad Khalil | Cho Young-kwang | Choi Young-hoon | Ji Seong-min | Kang Seong-kook | Woo Sang-ho | Efrain Rintaro |
| FC Ryukyu | Cho Eun-su | Jeon Ji-wan | Noh Seung-ki | Park Seong-su | | | | | | |
| SC Sagamihara | | | | | | | | | | Bruno Santos Fabrício Baiano Ryan |
| Tegevajaro Miyazaki | | | | | | | | | | |
| Vanraure Hachinohe | | | | | | | | | | |
| YSCC Yokohama | Shawn van Eerden | Jorn Pedersen | Luqman Hakim Shamsudin | Onye Ogochukwu | | | | | | |
| Zweigen Kanazawa | Jefferson Baiano | Marlyson | Baek In-hwan | | | | | | | |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Omiya Ardija (C, P) | 38 | 25 | 10 | 3 | 72 | 32 | +40 | 85 | Promotion to the 2025 J2 League |
| 2 | FC Imabari (P) | 38 | 22 | 7 | 9 | 62 | 38 | +24 | 73 | Promotion to the 2025 J2 League |
| 3 | Kataller Toyama (O, P) | 38 | 16 | 16 | 6 | 54 | 36 | +18 | 64 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 4 | Matsumoto Yamaga | 38 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 61 | 45 | +16 | 60 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 5 | Fukushima United | 38 | 18 | 5 | 15 | 64 | 49 | +15 | 59 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 6 | FC Osaka | 38 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 43 | 31 | +12 | 58 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 7 | Giravanz Kitakyushu | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 41 | 39 | +2 | 56 | |
| 8 | FC Gifu | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 64 | 56 | +8 | 53 | |
| 9 | SC Sagamihara | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 53 | |
| 10 | Azul Claro Numazu | 38 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 53 | 46 | +7 | 52 | |
| 11 | Vanraure Hachinohe | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 44 | 42 | +2 | 52 | |
| 12 | Zweigen Kanazawa | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 50 | 52 | −2 | 50 | |
| 13 | Gainare Tottori | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 49 | 65 | −16 | 50 | |
| 14 | FC Ryukyu | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 45 | 54 | −9 | 47 | |
| 15 | Tegevajaro Miyazaki | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 46 | 50 | −4 | 46 | |
| 16 | Kamatamare Sanuki | 38 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 48 | 52 | −4 | 43 | |
| 17 | Nara Club | 38 | 7 | 18 | 13 | 43 | 56 | −13 | 39 | |
| 18 | Nagano Parceiro | 38 | 7 | 16 | 15 | 44 | 57 | −13 | 37 | |
| 19 | YSCC Yokohama (R) | 38 | 7 | 11 | 20 | 34 | 64 | −30 | 32 | Qualification for the relegation/promotion play-offs |
| 20 | Iwate Grulla Morioka (R) | 38 | 5 | 7 | 26 | 27 | 80 | −53 | 22 | Relegation to the 2025 JFL |

## Play-offs
### Promotion play-offs

The usual format will be applied in the 2024 season. Promotion play-offs, officially called the 2024 J.League Road To J2 Play-offs (Japanese: 2024 J2昇格プレーオフ), was held from the semi-finals, where the match-ups were previously semi-determined. Based on the J3 placements at the end of the regular season, the third-placed team played against the sixth-placed, while the fourth-placed team played against the fifth-placed. The winners of the semi-finals played the final, with the winners promoted to the J2.
If a match was tied in the play-offs, the team with the highest league position are declared the winner. The rank order was: J3's third, fourth, fifth, and sixth-placed teams.
| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 3 | Kataller Toyama | 1 | | | |
| 6 | FC Osaka | 1 | | | |
| 6 | FC Osaka | 1 | 3 | Kataller Toyama | 2 |
| | | | 4 | Matsumoto Yamaga | 2 |
| 4 | Matsumoto Yamaga | 1 | 4 | Matsumoto Yamaga | 2 |
| 5 | Fukushima United | 1 | | | |

### Semi-finals

In case of a tie, the team with the higher league position (Kataller Toyama) goes through to the play-off final.
In case of a tie, the team with the higher league position (Matsumoto Yamaga) goes through to the play-off final.

### Final

In case of a tie, the team with the higher league position (Kataller Toyama) got promoted to J2 League.

### Relegation play-offs

The relegation play-offs, officially called the 2024 J3/JFL Play-Offs (Japanese: 2024 J3・JFL入れ替え戦), take place on 1 and 7 December 2024. If two teams are equal on the scoreboard, the match will going to extra time and penalty shoot-out. Away goals rule will not applied.

### Overview

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| YSCC Yokohama (J3) | 1–3 | Kochi United (JFL) | 1–1 | 0–2 |

### Matches

Kochi United SC won the J3/JFL play-offs on aggregate 3-1 and got promoted to J3, while YSCC Yokohama lost the play-offs and got relegated to JFL.

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

    As of 24 November 2024.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Marcus Índio | FC Imabari | 19 |
| 1 | Kosuke Fujioka | FC Gifu | 19 |
| 3 | Ryo Shiohama | Fukushima United | 16 |
| 4 | Ryo Nagai | Giravanz Kitakyushu | 14 |
| 5 | Hayato Asakawa | Matsumoto Yamaga | 13 |
| 5 | Kensei Ukita | Nagano Parceiro | 13 |
| 5 | Yuki Okada | Nara Club | 13 |
| 8 | Keigo Hashimoto | Tegevajaro Miyazaki | 12 |
| 8 | Yu Tomidokoro | FC Ryukyu | 12 |
| 8 | Yuya Taguchi | Zweigen Kanazawa | 12 |

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Monthly MVP | Monthly MVP | Goal of the Month | Goal of the Month | Young Player of the Month | Young Player of the Month | References |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | References |
| February/March | Yusaku Ueno | FC Gifu | Kosuke Fujioka | FC Gifu | Yumeki Yokoyama | FC Imabari | Rion Ichihara | Omiya Ardija | |
| April | Tetsu Nagasawa | Omiya Ardija | Hagumi Wada | Azul Claro Numazu | Genta Ito | FC Imabari | Yuto Ozeki | Fukushima United | |
| May | Shuhei Terada | Fukushima United | Yu Tomidokoro | FC Ryukyu | Yu Tomidokoro | FC Ryukyu | Yuki Kajiura | Zweigen Kanazawa | |
| June | Kohei Masumoto | Giravanz Kitakyushu | Arthur Silva | Omiya Ardija | Keisuke Ito | SC Sagamihara | Kosei Okazawa | FC Ryukyu | |
| July | Toshihiro Hattori | FC Imabari | Ryo Nagai | Giravanz Kitakyushu | Takuya Sugai | Azul Claro Numazu | Yumeki Yokoyama | FC Imabari | |
| August | Kim Jong-song | FC Ryukyu | Marcus Índio | FC Imabari | Daigo Furukawa | FC Osaka | Yumeki Yokoyama | FC Imabari | |
| September | Yuji Okuma | Tegevajaro Miyazaki | Masato Kojima | Omiya Ardija | Makoto Fukoin | Gainare Tottori | Mahiro Ano | Tegevajaro Miyazaki | |
| October | Kentaro Hayashi | Gainare Tottori | Kosuke Fujioka | FC Gifu | Takafumi Yamada | FC Imabari | Ryo Nishitani | FC Gifu | |
| November/December | Masahiro Shimoda | Matsumoto Yamaga | Marcus Índio | FC Imabari | Reo Yasunaga | Matsumoto Yamaga | Rei Umeki | FC Imabari | |