# 2025 Emperor's Cup

The 2025 Emperor's Cup or the JFA 105th Japan Football Championship (Japanese: 天皇杯 JFA 第105回全日本サッカー選手権大会) is the 105th edition of the annually known contested cup. It features 88 teams representing the prefectural football associations, university football federation, J1 League and the J2 League.
Vissel Kobe are the defending champions, winning the 2024 final by 1–0 against Gamba Osaka, just before becoming 2025 J1 League champions, winning the domestic double. They join the competition along other J1 and J2 League teams in the second round.
Due to the participation of Urawa Red Diamonds in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, they were given automatic qualification to the Round of 16 of the Emperor's Cup, as the Club World Cup takes place between June and July, just when the rest of the J1 League teams are participating in the second and third round of the Emperor's Cup.

## Calendar

The schedule for the first round to the Round of 16 was announced on 4 February 2025.
| Round | Date | Backup date(s) | Matches | Clubs | New entries this round |
| First round | 24–25 May | 28 May | 27 | 54 (47+6+1) → 27 | 47 prefectural qualification cup winners 6 2025 J2 League clubs 1 amateur designated team |
| Second round | 11 June | 18 June | 32 | 60 (27+19+14) → 30 | 19 2025 J1 League clubs 14 2025 J2 League clubs |
| Third round | 16 July | 23 July | 15 | 30 → 15 | None |
| Round of 16 | 6 August | 13 August | 8 | 16 (15+1) → 8 | Urawa Red Diamonds |
| Quarter-finals | 27 August | 10 September | 4 | 8 → 4 | None |
| Semi-finals | 16 November | – | 2 | 4 → 2 | None |
| Final | 22 November | – | 1 | 2 → 1 | None |

## Qualifying rounds

As the norm, only J1 and J2 League clubs qualify directly for the first round. All the teams from lower divisions (starting from the J3 League) who wants to qualify to the Emperor's Cup (exception being made to the JFA-seeded team), have to undergo a prefectural qualification, with regulations and schedules varying from one association to another. In total, there are 47 prefectural cup qualifications, with the winners of each prefectural cup earning their right to play in the Emperor's Cup, with all of them assigned to start the competition in the first round.
In bold, it will be displayed the teams that won each final, and not necessarily the home team. All the matches are played on a neutral venue.

## Participating clubs
### J1 League (1)

All teams playing in the 2024 J1 League join the competition in the second round, except 2025 FIFA Club World Cup participants Urawa Red Diamonds, who joins it in the Round of 16.
| Club | Apps. | Prefecture |
| Kashima Antlers | 40th | Ibaraki |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 59th | Saitama |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 57th | Chiba |
| FC Tokyo | 31st | Tokyo |
| Tokyo Verdy | 50th | Tokyo |
| Machida Zelvia | 13rd | Tokyo |
| Kawasaki Frontale | 42nd | Kanagawa |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 47th | Kanagawa |
| Yokohama FC | 26th | Kanagawa |
| Shonan Bellmare | 53rd | Kanagawa |
| Club | Apps. | Prefecture |
| Albirex Niigata | 33rd | Niigata |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 33rd | Shizuoka |
| Nagoya Grampus | 48th | Aichi |
| Kyoto Sanga | 42nd | Kyoto |
| Gamba Osaka | 45th | Osaka |
| Cerezo Osaka | 56th | Osaka |
| Vissel Kobe | 38th | Hyogo |
| Fagiano Okayama | 17th | Okayama |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 73rd | Hiroshima |
| Avispa Fukuoka | 33rd | Fukuoka |

### J2 League (2)

Out of 20 participating teams in the 2025 J2 League, 14 joins the competition in the second round. Six teams (highlighted with a "†") joins the tournament in the first round, which are the three worst-ranked non-relegated 2024 J2 League teams and the promoted ones from the 2024 J3 League.
| Club | Apps. | Prefecture |
| Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | 44th | Hokkaido |
| Vegalta Sendai | 31st | Miyagi |
| Blaublitz Akita | 32nd | Akita |
| Montedio Yamagata | 33rd | Yamagata |
| Iwaki FC | 8th | Fukushima |
| Mito HollyHock † | 29th | Ibaraki |
| RB Omiya Ardija † | 30th | Saitama |
| JEF United Chiba | 60th | Chiba |
| Ventforet Kofu | 33rd | Yamanashi |
| Kataller Toyama † | 16th | Toyama |
| Club | Apps. | Prefecture |
| Júbilo Iwata | 48th | Shizuoka |
| Fujieda MYFC | 7th | Shizuoka |
| Renofa Yamaguchi | 21st | Yamaguchi |
| Tokushima Vortis | 37th | Tokushima |
| Ehime FC † | 24th | Ehime |
| FC Imabari † | 15th | Ehime |
| Sagan Tosu | 33rd | Saga |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | 18th | Nagasaki |
| Roasso Kumamoto | 25th | Kumamoto |
| Oita Trinita † | 29th | Oita |

### Amateur Designated Team (S+)

Toyo University was selected by the JFA to receive the automatic qualification for the tournament. They are the defending national university champions, having won the 2024 All Japan University Football Championship.
| Team | Prefecture | League | Apps. |
| Toyo University | Tokyo | Kanto University League D1 | 1th |

### Prefectural Representatives (PR)

All the 47 prefectural tournaments winners (prefectural representatives) joins in the first round.
* Prefecture
* Hokkaido
* Aomori
* Iwate
* Miyagi
* Akita
* Yamagata
* Fukushima
* Ibaraki
* Tochigi
* Gunma
* Saitama
* Chiba
* Tokyo
* Kanagawa
* Yamanashi
* Nagano
* Niigata
* Toyama
* Ishikawa
* Fukui
* Shizuoka
* Aichi
* Mie
* Gifu
* Shiga
* Kyoto
* Osaka
* Hyogo
* Nara
* Wakayama
* Tottori
* Shimane
* Okayama
* Hiroshima
* Yamaguchi
* Kagawa
* Tokushima
* Ehime
* Kochi
* Fukuoka
* Saga
* Nagasaki
* Kumamoto
* Oita
* Miyazaki
* Kagoshima
* Okinawa

## Schedule

On 7 March 2025, the JFA announced the match pairings from the entire tournament, with its respective dates and kick-offs being revealed up to the Round of 16.