# 2011 J.League Division 1

The 2011 J.League Division 1 season was the 46th season of professional football in Japan, and the 19th since the establishment of the J.League. The season began on March 5 and concluded on December 3. The season was put on hold from March 12 to April 23 due to the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, therefore canceling a planned five-week summer break between June 27–July 29 in order to allow preparation of the Japan national team for the 2011 Copa América.
The 2011 J.League Division 1 champion also qualified to the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup as the host team, entering the qualifying play-off round.
Kashiwa Reysol won a second league title, their first in 39 years and first in the professional J.League era. They also became the first champions to win the title the season after being promoted as second division champions.

## Clubs

FC Tokyo, Kyoto Sanga and Shonan Bellmare were relegated at the end of the 2010 season after finishing in the bottom three places of the table. Shonan had only played one season in Division 1 while Kyoto had enjoyed a three-year stay. FC Tokyo had been in the top flight for eleven seasons.
The three relegated teams were replaced by 2010 J.League Division 2 champions Kashiwa Reysol, runners-up Ventforet Kofu and third-placed team Avispa Fukuoka. Kashiwa had made an immediate return to the top division, while Kofu and Fukuoka ended three- and four-year absences respectively.
| Club Name | Home Town(s) | Notes |
| Albirex Niigata | Niigata & Seirō, Niigata | |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Fukuoka | Promoted from J2 League in 2010 |
| Cerezo Osaka | Osaka | 2011 ACL participant |
| Gamba Osaka | Suita, Osaka | 2011 ACL participant |
| Júbilo Iwata | Iwata, Shizuoka | |
| Kashima Antlers | Southwestern cities/towns of Ibaraki | 2011 ACL participant |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Kashiwa, Chiba | Promoted from J2 League in 2010 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Kawasaki, Kanagawa | |
| Montedio Yamagata | All cities/towns in Yamagata | |
| Nagoya Grampus | Nagoya, Aichi | 2011 ACL participant 2010 Defending champions |
| Omiya Ardija | Omiya, Saitama | |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Hiroshima | |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Shizuoka | |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Urawa, Saitama | |
| Vegalta Sendai | Sendai, Miyagi | |
| Ventforet Kofu | All cities/towns in Yamanashi | Promoted from J2 League in 2010 |
| Vissel Kobe | Kobe, Hyōgo | |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | Yokohama & Yokosuka | |

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Head coach$^1$ | Captain$^1$ | Kit manufacturer$^1$ | Shirt sponsor$^1$ |
| Albirex Niigata | Hisashi Kurosaki | Isao Homma | Adidas | Kameda Seika |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Tetsuya Asano | Kosuke Nakamachi | svolme | EVERLIFE |
| Cerezo Osaka | Levir Culpi | Teruyuki Moniwa | Mizuno | Yanmar |
| Gamba Osaka | Akira Nishino | Tomokazu Myojin | Umbro | Panasonic |
| Júbilo Iwata | Masaaki Yanagishita | Daisuke Nasu | Puma | Yamaha |
| Kashima Antlers | Oswaldo de Oliveira | Mitsuo Ogasawara | Nike | LIXIL |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Nelsinho Baptista | Hidekazu Otani | Yonex | Hitachi |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Naoki Soma | Yusuke Igawa | Puma | Fujitsu |
| Montedio Yamagata | Shinji Kobayashi | Katsuyuki Miyazawa | Puma | Tsuyahime |
| Nagoya Grampus | Dragan Stojković | Seigo Narazaki | Le Coq Sportif | Toyota |
| Omiya Ardija | Jun Suzuki | Chikara Fujimoto | Under Armour | NTT Docomo |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Mihailo Petrović | Hisato Satō | Nike | Deodeo |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Afshin Ghotbi | Shinji Ono | Puma | Suzuyo |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Takafumi Hori | Keita Suzuki | Nike | Meiji Seika |
| Vegalta Sendai | Makoto Teguramori | Atsushi Yanagisawa | ASICS | IRIS OHYAMA |
| Ventforet Kofu | Satoru Sakuma | Hideomi Yamamoto | Mizuno | Hakubaku |
| Vissel Kobe | Masahiro Wada | Takayuki Yoshida | ASICS | Rakuten |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | Kazushi Kimura | Shunsuke Nakamura | Nike | Nissan |
$^1$ Subject to change during the season.

### Foreign players

| club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | AFC player | Type-C contract | Non-visa foreign | Former player(s) |
| Albirex Niigata | Anderson Gonzaga | Bruno Lopes | Michael | Cho Young-cheol | | | |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Rafael Ramazotti | | | | Kim Min-je | | |
| Cerezo Osaka | Fábio Lopes | Martinez | | Kim Jin-hyeon | Kim Bo-kyung | | Rodrigo Pimpão |
| Gamba Osaka | Rafinha | Kim Seung-yong | | Lee Keun-ho | Afonso | Kim Jung-ya | Adriano |
| Júbilo Iwata | Gilsinho | Rodrigo Souto | | | | | Lee Woo-jin Park Joo-ho |
| Kashima Antlers | Alex | Fellype Gabriel | Tartá | | Igor Sartori | | Carlão |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Jorge Wagner | Leandro Domingues | | Park Dong-hyuk | Kweon Han-jin | An Yong-hak | Roger |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Juninho | | | | | | |
| Montedio Yamagata | Maicon Souza | | | | | | Hugo Alcântara |
| Nagoya Grampus | Danilson Córdoba | Igor Burzanović | | Joshua Kennedy | | | |
| Omiya Ardija | Rafael Marques | Rodrigo Pimpão | Kim Young-gwon | Lee Chun-soo | | | |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Ante Tomić | Mihael Mikić | Davit Mujiri | | | | |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Alex Brosque | Calvin Jong-a-Pin | Freddie Ljungberg | Eddy Bosnar | | | |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Márcio Richardes | Mazola | Ranko Despotović | Matthew Spiranovic | | | |
| Vegalta Sendai | Diego Souza | Max Carrasco | Cho Byung-kuk | Park Ju-sung | | Ryang Yong-gi | Marquinhos |
| Ventforet Kofu | Daniel Tijolo | Davi | Paulinho | Kim Jin-kyu | | | Rudnei |
| Vissel Kobe | Popó | Raphael Botti | Rogerinho | Bae Chun-suk | | Park Kang-jo | Lee Jae-min |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | | | | Kim Kun-hoan | | | Pablo Bastianini |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Kashiwa Reysol (C) | 34 | 23 | 3 | 8 | 65 | 42 | +23 | 72 | Qualification to 2011 Club World Cup and 2012 Champions League |
| 2 | Nagoya Grampus | 34 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 67 | 36 | +31 | 71 | Qualification to 2012 Champions League |
| 3 | Gamba Osaka | 34 | 21 | 7 | 6 | 78 | 51 | +27 | 70 | Qualification to 2012 Champions League |
| 4 | Vegalta Sendai | 34 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 39 | 25 | +14 | 56 | |
| 5 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 46 | 40 | +6 | 56 | |
| 6 | Kashima Antlers | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 53 | 40 | +13 | 50 | |
| 7 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 52 | 49 | +3 | 50 | |
| 8 | Júbilo Iwata | 34 | 13 | 8 | 13 | 53 | 45 | +8 | 47 | |
| 9 | Vissel Kobe | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 44 | 45 | −1 | 46 | |
| 10 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 42 | 51 | −9 | 45 | |
| 11 | Kawasaki Frontale | 34 | 13 | 5 | 16 | 52 | 53 | −1 | 44 | |
| 12 | Cerezo Osaka | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 67 | 53 | +14 | 43 | |
| 13 | Omiya Ardija | 34 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 38 | 48 | −10 | 42 | |
| 14 | Albirex Niigata | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 38 | 46 | −8 | 39 | |
| 15 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 34 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 36 | 43 | −7 | 36 | |
| 16 | Ventforet Kofu (R) | 34 | 9 | 6 | 19 | 42 | 63 | −21 | 33 | Relegation to 2012 J.League Division 2 |
| 17 | Avispa Fukuoka (R) | 34 | 6 | 4 | 24 | 34 | 75 | −41 | 22 | Relegation to 2012 J.League Division 2 |
| 18 | Montedio Yamagata (R) | 34 | 5 | 6 | 23 | 23 | 64 | −41 | 21 | Relegation to 2012 J.League Division 2 |

## Results

| Home \ Away | ALB | ANT | ARD | AVI | CER | FRO | GAM | GRA | JÚB | MON | REY | SFR | SSP | RED | VEG | VEN | VIS | FMA |
| Albirex Niigata | | 2–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 4–2 |
| Kashima Antlers | 1–2 | | 3–3 | 6–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 |
| Omiya Ardija | 0–0 | 1–1 | | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–5 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Avispa Fukuoka | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 7–1 | | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 6–0 | 5–0 | 5–4 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 0–3 | 0–1 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 3–0 |
| Gamba Osaka | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 6–3 | | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 5–3 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 |
| Nagoya Grampus | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 5–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Júbilo Iwata | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | | 4–0 | 6–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 |
| Montedio Yamagata | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–5 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–5 | 0–2 | 1–1 | | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–4 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | | 3–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 4–1 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 1–3 | | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–5 | 0–0 |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 0–2 |
| Vegalta Sendai | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 4–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Ventforet Kofu | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 4–3 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–2 | | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Vissel Kobe | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 | | 2–0 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 4–0 | 1–0 | |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Joshua Kennedy | Nagoya Grampus | 19 |
| 2 | Mike Havenaar | Ventforet Kofu | 17 |
| 3 | Leandro Domingues | Kashiwa Reysol | 15 |
| 3 | Tadanari Lee | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 15 |
| 3 | Lee Keun-ho | Gamba Osaka | 15 |
| 6 | Keiji Tamada | Nagoya Grampus | 14 |
| 6 | Ryoichi Maeda | Júbilo Iwata | 14 |
| 6 | Shingo Akamine | Vegalta Sendai | 14 |
| 9 | Bruno Lopes | Albirex Niigata | 13 |
| 9 | Junya Tanaka | Kashiwa Reysol | 13 |
| 11 | Hidetaka Kanazono | Júbilo Iwata | 12 |
| 11 | Yu Kobayashi | Kawasaki Frontale | 12 |
| 11 | Yūzō Tashiro | Kashima Antlers | 12 |
| 14 | Rafinha | Gamba Osaka | 11 |
| 15 | Jorge Wagner | Kashiwa Reysol | 10 |
| 15 | Paulinho | Ventforet Kofu | 10 |
| 15 | Rafael Marques | Omiya Ardija | 10 |
| 15 | Hisato Satō | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 10 |
| 15 | Ryūji Bando | Cerezo Osaka | 10 |
| 20 | Adriano | Gamba Osaka | 9 |
| 20 | Genki Haraguchi | Urawa Red Diamonds | 9 |
| 20 | Hideaki Kitajima | Kashiwa Reysol | 9 |
| 20 | Jungo Fujimoto | Nagoya Grampus | 9 |
| 20 | Masashi Oguro | Yokohama F. Marinos | 9 |
| 20 | Takayuki Yoshida | Vissel Kobe | 9 |
| 20 | Yoshito Ōkubo | Vissel Kobe | 9 |
| 27 | Juninho | Kawasaki Frontale | 8 |
| 27 | Genki Omae | Shimizu S-Pulse | 8 |
| 27 | Hideya Okamoto | Avispa Fukuoka | 8 |
| 27 | Shu Kurata | Cerezo Osaka | 8 |

## Awards
### MVP

* Leandro Domingues

### Top scorer

* Joshua Kennedy

### Best XI

| Position | Player |
| GK | Seigo Narazaki |
| DF | Hiroki Sakai |
| DF | Marcus Tulio Tanaka |
| DF | Naoya Kondo |
| MF | Jorge Wagner |
| MF | Leandro Domingues |
| MF | Hiroshi Kiyotake |
| MF | Jungo Fujimoto |
| MF | Yasuhito Endō |
| FW | Joshua Kennedy |
| FW | Mike Havenaar |

## Attendance

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 576,477 | 54,441 | 20,240 | 33,910 | −15.1%$^†$ |
| 2 | Albirex Niigata | 442,836 | 37,830 | 13,644 | 26,049 | −14.7%$^†$ |
| 3 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 357,647 | 37,725 | 7,104 | 21,038 | −18.1%$^†$ |
| 4 | Kawasaki Frontale | 294,776 | 20,973 | 13,111 | 17,340 | −6.6%$^†$ |
| 5 | Nagoya Grampus | 284,590 | 28,515 | 6,793 | 16,741 | −16.2%$^†$ |
| 6 | Gamba Osaka | 278,981 | 20,991 | 11,364 | 16,411 | −1.5%$^†$ |
| 7 | Kashima Antlers | 274,655 | 25,061 | 7,810 | 16,156 | −22.9%$^†$ |
| 8 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 268,614 | 21,524 | 10,745 | 15,801 | −12.2%$^†$ |
| 9 | Vegalta Sendai | 266,144 | 19,224 | 11,356 | 15,656 | −9.7%$^†$ |
| 10 | Cerezo Osaka | 240,465 | 37,172 | 5,351 | 14,145 | −5.9%$^†$ |
| 11 | Vissel Kobe | 224,962 | 19,913 | 6,151 | 13,233 | +3.2%$^†$ |
| 12 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 224,447 | 18,788 | 7,099 | 13,203 | −9.3%$^†$ |
| 13 | Ventforet Kofu | 205,808 | 21,589 | 6,893 | 12,106 | −2.4%$^†$ |
| 14 | Kashiwa Reysol | 202,593 | 30,807 | 6,855 | 11,917 | +47.2%$^†$ |
| 15 | Júbilo Iwata | 200,525 | 30,516 | 6,386 | 11,796 | −2.8%$^†$ |
| 16 | Avispa Fukuoka | 177,054 | 19,421 | 4,028 | 10,415 | +18.1%$^†$ |
| 17 | Montedio Yamagata | 158,527 | 18,008 | 5,053 | 9,325 | −20.4%$^†$ |
| 18 | Omiya Ardija | 154,681 | 12,221 | 5,627 | 9,099 | −17.8%$^†$ |
| | League total | 4,833,782 | 54,441 | 4,028 | 15,797 | −14.3%$^†$ |
Updated to games played on December 3, 2011 Source: J. League Division 1 Notes: $^†$ Team played previous season in J2.

### Notes

* Note 1: Kashima Antlers played one game at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo as the Kashima Soccer Stadium in Kashima was damaged in the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

## In popular culture

This particular season was used as reference in the movie Detective Conan: The Eleventh Striker. Many players in real life actually provide cameo roles for the film, including Kazuyoshi Miura (Yokohama FC), Yasuhito Endō (Gamba Osaka), Yasuyuki Konno (Gamba Osaka), Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale), and Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus). In the movie, a bomber threatens to bomb all the stadiums unless certain conditions are met. The main character, Conan Edogawa, must solve the case and find the culprit. In the movie, two additional fictional teams are added to the squad: Tokyo Spirits and Big Osaka, making the league with 20 teams.