# 2018 J3 League

The 2018 J3 League (referred to as the 2018 Meiji Yasuda J3 League (2018 明治安田生命J3リーグ) for sponsorship reasons) was the 5th season of J3 League under its current name.

## Clubs

Tochigi SC, the 2017 J3 League runners-up, earned promotion to the J2 League after securing another runners-up season; this time, unlike 2016, it was enough to clinch direct promotion. Defending champions are Blaublitz Akita, which became the first club not to gain promotion after winning the championship since J3's inception. Thespakusatsu Gunma was the new entry for the league: it was their first third division season since 2004, when they were promoted to J2 from JFL.
No promotion from Japan Football League came this time. This was another first for the J3 League since its inception.
| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| Azul Claro Numazu | Numazu | Ashitaka Stadium | 10,000 |
| Blaublitz Akita | Akita | Akigin Stadium | 4,992 |
| Fukushima United FC | Fukushima | Toho Stadium | 21,000 |
| Gainare Tottori | Tottori | Bird Stadium | 16,033 |
| Giravanz Kitakyushu | Kitakyushu | Kitakyushu Stadium | 15,066 |
| Grulla Morioka | Morioka | Iwagin Stadium | 4,946 |
| Kagoshima United FC | Kagoshima | Kamoike Stadium | 19,934 |
| Kataller Toyama | Toyama | Toyama Athletic Stadium | 25,251 |
| Fujieda MYFC | Fujieda | Fujieda Soccer Field | 13,000 |
| Nagano Parceiro | Nagano | Nagano U Stadium | 15,491 |
| FC Ryukyu | Okinawa | Okinawa Athletic Stadium | 25,000 |
| SC Sagamihara | Sagamihara | Gion Stadium | 15,300 |
| Thespakusatsu Gunma | All cities/towns in Gunma | Shoda Shoyu Stadium Gunma | 15,253 |
| FC Tokyo U-23 | Tokyo | Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka | 7,137 |
| YSCC Yokohama | Yokohama | Mitsuzawa Stadium | 15,454 |
| Cerezo Osaka U-23 | Osaka & Sakai, Osaka | Kincho Stadium | 19,904 |
| Gamba Osaka U-23 | North cities in Osaka | Panasonic Stadium Suita Expo '70 Commemorative Stadium | 39,694 21,000 |

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer |
| Azul Claro Numazu | Ken Yoshida | Takuya Sugai | Puma |
| Blaublitz Akita | Koichi Sugiyama | Naoyuki Yamada | ATHLETA |
| Cerezo Osaka U-23 | Yuji Okuma | none | Puma |
| Fukushima United | Kazuaki Tasaka | Takumi Watanabe | hummel |
| Gainare Tottori | Daisuke Sudo | Fernandinho | hummel |
| Gamba Osaka U-23 | Tsuneyasu Miyamoto | none | Umbro |
| Giravanz Kitakyushu | Hitoshi Morishita | Ryu Kawakami | bonera |
| Grulla Morioka | Toshimi Kikuchi | Kohei Doi | Under Armour |
| Kagoshima United | Yasutoshi Miura | Akira Akao | Puma |
| Kataller Toyama | Ryo Adachi | Junya Imase | Goldwin |
| Fujieda MYFC | Atsuto Oishi | Daiki Asada | gol. |
| Nagano Parceiro | Yuji Sakakura | Tomokazu Myojin | Penalty |
| FC Ryukyu | Kim Jong-song | Park Iru-gyu | sfida |
| SC Sagamihara | Takayuki Nishigaya | Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi | gol. |
| Thespakusatsu Gunma | Keiichiro Nuno | Tetsuya Funatsu | Finta |
| FC Tokyo U-23 | Takayoshi Amma | none | Umbro |
| YSCC Yokohama | Yasuhiro Higuchi | Norimasa Nakanishi | SVOLME |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Kataller Toyama | Tetsuro Uki | 9 May 2018 | Ryo Adachi | 9 May 2018 |
| Gainare Tottori | Ryuzo Morioka | 4 June 2018 | Daisuke Sudo | 4 June 2018 |
| Nagano Parceiro | Tetsuya Asano | 12 June 2018 | Yuji Sakakura | 12 June 2018 |
| Giravanz Kitakyushu | Hitoshi Morishita | 17 June 2018 | Tetsuji Hashiratani | 20 June 2018 |
| Blaublitz Akita | Koichi Sugiyama | 11 July 2018 | Shuichi Mase | 11 July 2018 |
| Gamba Osaka U-23 | Tsuneyasu Miyamoto | 23 July 2018 | Noritada Saneyoshi | 23 July 2018 |
| Fujieda MYFC | Atsuto Oishi | 24 July 2018 | Nobuhiro Ishizaki | 27 July 2018 |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | FC Ryukyu (C, P) | 32 | 20 | 6 | 6 | 70 | 40 | +30 | 66 | Promotion to 2019 J2 League |
| 2 | Kagoshima United (P) | 32 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 46 | 35 | +11 | 57 | Promotion to 2019 J2 League |
| 3 | Gainare Tottori | 32 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 61 | 47 | +14 | 53 | |
| 4 | Azul Claro Numazu | 32 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 40 | 29 | +11 | 52 | |
| 5 | Thespakusatsu Gunma | 32 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 37 | 35 | +2 | 52 | |
| 6 | Gamba Osaka U-23 | 32 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 53 | 43 | +10 | 47 | |
| 7 | Cerezo Osaka U-23 | 32 | 13 | 7 | 12 | 47 | 36 | +11 | 46 | |
| 8 | Blaublitz Akita | 32 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 37 | 35 | +2 | 43 | |
| 9 | SC Sagamihara | 32 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 42 | 53 | −11 | 42 | |
| 10 | Nagano Parceiro | 32 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 39 | 37 | +2 | 41 | |
| 11 | Kataller Toyama | 32 | 12 | 5 | 15 | 41 | 50 | −9 | 41 | |
| 12 | Fukushima United | 32 | 9 | 13 | 10 | 36 | 43 | −7 | 40 | |
| 13 | Grulla Morioka | 32 | 12 | 4 | 16 | 41 | 56 | −15 | 40 | |
| 14 | FC Tokyo U-23 | 32 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 38 | 45 | −7 | 36 | |
| 15 | YSCC Yokohama | 32 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 40 | 48 | −8 | 34 | |
| 16 | Fujieda MYFC | 32 | 10 | 4 | 18 | 32 | 48 | −16 | 34 | |
| 17 | Giravanz Kitakyushu | 32 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 22 | 42 | −20 | 27 | |
* ↑ Only teams that hold a J2 license are eligible for promotion.

## Results table

| Home \ Away | AZU | BLA | C23 | FUK | GAI | G23 | GIR | GRU | KGU | KAT | MYF | PAR | RYU | SGM | SPA | T23 | YSC |
| Azul Claro Numazu | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Blaublitz Akita | 1–0 | | 1–4 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Cerezo Osaka U-23 | 0–0 | 0–1 | | 1–1 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 6–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Fukushima United | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | | 3–4 | 4–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 |
| Gainare Tottori | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 7–0 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 1–4 |
| Gamba Osaka U-23 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 2–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–6 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2–4 | 3–0 |
| Giravanz Kitakyushu | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–4 | | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 |
| Grulla Morioka | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 1–4 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 3–0 | 1–4 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–2 |
| Kagoshima United | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Kataller Toyama | 0–3 | 0–4 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | | 4–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Fujieda MYFC | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Nagano Parceiro | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 4–0 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| FC Ryukyu | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 5–2 | 4–0 | 4–3 | 3–0 | 2–0 | | 5–1 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 |
| SC Sagamihara | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–5 | | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Thespakusatsu Gunma | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | | 4–1 | 2–2 |
| FC Tokyo U-23 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | | 1–0 |
| YSCC Yokohama | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | |

## Top scorers

    As of matches played 2 December 2018.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Leonardo | Gainare Tottori | 24 |
| 2 | João Gabriel | SC Sagamihara | 17 |
| 3 | Kazaki Nakagawa | FC Ryukyu | 16 |
| 3 | Yuta Togashi | FC Ryukyu | 16 |
| 5 | Kaito Taniguchi | Grulla Morioka | 15 |
| 6 | Rei Yonezawa | Cerezo Osaka U-23 | 12 |
| 7 | Koki Oshima | Thespakusatsu Gunma | 10 |
| 7 | Yu Tomidokoro | FC Ryukyu | 10 |
| 9 | Fernandinho | Gainare Tottori | 9 |
| 9 | Kiichi Yajima | FC Tokyo U-23 | 9 |
| 11 | Hayate Take | Fukushima United FC | 8 |
| 11 | Junki Hata | Azul Claro Numazu | 8 |
| 11 | Kazunari Ichimi | Gamba Osaka U-23 | 8 |

## Attendances

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Giravanz Kitakyushu | 72,014 | 12,812 | 2,320 | 4,501 | −24.2%$^†$ |
| 2 | Kagoshima United FC | 64,642 | 10,916 | 1,703 | 4,040 | +15.2%$^†$ |
| 3 | Nagano Parceiro | 56,869 | 7,082 | 2,679 | 3,554 | −16.5%$^†$ |
| 4 | SC Sagamihara | 55,331 | 12,612 | 1,602 | 3,458 | −5.4%$^†$ |
| 5 | Thespakusatsu Gunma | 53,531 | 4,700 | 1,604 | 3,346 | −12.7%$^†$ |
| 6 | FC Ryukyu | 50,330 | 7,810 | 886 | 3,146 | +25.4%$^†$ |
| 7 | Azul Claro Numazu | 45,716 | 5,687 | 1,271 | 2,857 | −5.7%$^†$ |
| 8 | Blaublitz Akita | 45,420 | 11,802 | 831 | 2,839 | +20.1%$^†$ |
| 9 | Kataller Toyama | 42,718 | 4,124 | 1,602 | 2,670 | −15.5%$^†$ |
| 10 | Gainare Tottori | 42,519 | 4,817 | 1,302 | 2,657 | +70.4%$^†$ |
| 11 | FC Tokyo U-23 | 27,564 | 2,563 | 934 | 1,723 | −10.9%$^†$ |
| 12 | Fukushima United FC | 25,214 | 3,199 | 671 | 1,576 | +6.1%$^†$ |
| 13 | Gamba Osaka U-23 | 22,107 | 3,753 | 568 | 1,382 | +12.7%$^†$ |
| 14 | Fujieda MYFC | 20,360 | 2,592 | 508 | 1,273 | −12.1%$^†$ |
| 15 | Grulla Morioka | 19,461 | 3,115 | 515 | 1,216 | −9.1%$^†$ |
| 16 | Cerezo Osaka U-23 | 17,784 | 4,551 | 509 | 1,112 | +22.3%$^†$ |
| 17 | YSCC Yokohama | 16,077 | 1,509 | 546 | 1,005 | +5.7%$^†$ |
| | League total | 677,657 | 12,812 | 508 | 2,491 | −4.7%$^†$ |
Updated to games played on 2 December 2018 Source: J. League Data Notes: $^†$ Relegated from J2.