# 2023 J2 League

The 2023 J2 League, also known as the 2023 Meiji Yasuda J2 League (Japanese: 2023 明治安田生命J2リーグ, Hepburn: 2023 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J2 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 25th season of the J2 League, the second-tier Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1999.

## Overview

This was the last season to be played with 22 participating clubs, as the number of clubs was reduced to 20 from the 2024 season.
FC Ryukyu and Iwate Grulla Morioka were relegated to the 2023 J3 League, finishing the previous J2 League season as 21st and 22nd-placed team, respectively.
Relegated from J1, both Shimizu S-Pulse and Júbilo Iwata were the only Shizuoka-based J1 teams last season. Now, they return to J2 after spending six and one season, respectively, at the top flight.
J3 winners Iwaki FC and runners-up Fujieda MYFC were both promoted from the J3 League. Both teams make their debut in J2 League, with Iwaki being promoted to the J2 just a season after being promoted to J3.
For the first time ever since the 2004 season, three teams from the same prefecture participate in the J2 League, as Shimizu S-Pulse, Júbilo Iwata and Fujieda MYFC are all based on Shizuoka Prefecture.

## Participating clubs

| Club name | Hometown | Stadium | Capacity | Previous season rank | License |
| Blaublitz Akita | Akita | Soyu Stadium | 20,125 | J2 (12th) | J1 |
| Fagiano Okayama | All cities/towns in Okayama | City Light Stadium | 20,000 | J2 (3rd) | J1 |
| Fujieda MYFC | Cities/towns in Shizuoka Prefecture | Fujieda Soccer Stadium | 13,000 | J3 (2nd) | J1 |
| Iwaki FC | Iwaki and Futaba District, Fukushima | Iwaki Green Field | 5,600 | J3 (1st) | J1 |
| JEF United Chiba | Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba | Fukuda Denshi Arena | 18,500 | J2 (10th) | J1 |
| Júbilo Iwata | Iwata, Shizuoka | Yamaha Stadium | 15,156 | J1 (18th) | J1 |
| Machida Zelvia | Machida, Tokyo | Machida Athletic Stadium | 10,600 | J2 (15th) | J1 |
| Mito HollyHock | All cities/towns in central and northern Ibaraki | K's denki Stadium Mito | 12,000 | J2 (13th) | J1 |
| Montedio Yamagata | All cities/towns in Yamagata | ND Soft Stadium | 20,315 | J2 (6th) | J1 |
| Oita Trinita | Ōita Prefecture | Showa Denko Dome Oita | 40,000 | J2 (5th) | J1 |
| Omiya Ardija | Saitama, Saitama | NACK5 Stadium Omiya | 15,500 | J2 (19th) | J1 |
| Renofa Yamaguchi | All cities/towns in Yamaguchi | Yamaguchi Ishin Park Stadium | 20,000 | J2 (16th) | J1 |
| Roasso Kumamoto | Kumamoto, Kumamoto | Egao Kenko Stadium | 32,000 | J2 (4th) | J1 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Shizuoka | IAI Stadium Nihondaira | 20,339 | J1 (17th) | J1 |
| Thespakusatsu Gunma | All cities/towns in Gunma | Shoda Shoyu Stadium Gunma | 15,253 | J2 (20th) | J1 |
| Tochigi SC | Utsunomiya, Tochigi | Kanseki Stadium Tochigi | 25,244 | J2 (17th) | J1 |
| Tokushima Vortis | Tokushima Prefecture | Pocarisweat Stadium | 20,441 | J2 (8th) | J1 |
| Tokyo Verdy | All cities/towns in Tokyo | Ajinomoto Stadium | 49,970 | J2 (9th) | J1 |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | All cities/towns in Nagasaki Prefecture | Nagasaki Athletic Stadium | 20,246 | J2 (11th) | J1 |
| Vegalta Sendai | Miyagi Prefecture | Yurtec Stadium Sendai | 19,694 | J2 (7th) | J1 |
| Ventforet Kofu | All cities/towns in Yamanashi Prefecture | Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium | 17,000 | J2 (18th) | J1 |
| Zweigen Kanazawa | All cities/towns in Ishikawa | Ishikawa Kanazawa Stadium | 20,000 | J2 (14th) | J1 |
* ↑ centering on Okayama, Kurashiki, Tsuyama
* ↑ Mito, Hitachi, Hitachinaka, Kasama, Naka, Omitama, Hitachiota, Kitaibaraki, Hitachiomiya, Takahagi, Ibaraki, Shirosato, Oarai, Daigo, Tokai
* ↑ centering on Yamagata, Tendo, Tsuruoka
* ↑ centering on Kusatsu and Maebashi
* ↑ centering on Nagasaki and Isahaya
* ↑ centering on Kofu and Nirasaki
* ↑ centering on Kanazawa, Nonoichi, Kahoku, Tsubata, Tsubata

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Main shirt sponsor |
| Blaublitz Akita | Ken Yoshida | Ryutaro Iio | Athleta | TDK |
| Fagiano Okayama | Takashi Kiyama | Yasutaka Takagi | Penalty | GROP |
| Fujieda MYFC | Daisuke Sudo | Masahiko Sugita | Gol. | Seikan Kensa Center |
| Iwaki FC | Yuzo Tamura | Yuto Yamashita | Under Armour | BHC |
| JEF United Chiba | Yoshiyuki Kobayashi | Daisuke Suzuki | Hummel | Fuji Electric |
| Júbilo Iwata | Akinobu Yokouchi | Yuto Suzuki | Admiral | Yamaha |
| Machida Zelvia | Go Kuroda | Masayuki Okuyama | Adidas | CyberAgent |
| Mito HollyHock | Yoshimi Hamasaki | Takumi Kusumoto | soccer junky | K's Holdings |
| Montedio Yamagata | Susumu Watanabe | Shuto Minami | Penalty | ABeam |
| Oita Trinita | Takahiro Shimotaira | Tsukasa Umesaki | Puma | Daihatsu Kyushu |
| Omiya Ardija | Masato Harasaki | Yutaro Hakamata | Under Armour | NTT Docomo |
| Renofa Yamaguchi | Juan Esnáider | Kensuke Sato | Finta | upr |
| Roasso Kumamoto | Takeshi Oki | Rei Hirakawa | Puma | Hirata |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Tadahiro Akiba | Yoshinori Suzuki | Puma | Suzuyo |
| Thespakusatsu Gunma | Tsuyoshi Otsuki | Hajime Hosogai | Kelme | Cainz |
| Tochigi SC | Yu Tokisaki | Sho Sato | Athleta | TKC |
| Tokushima Vortis | Tatsuma Yoshida | Yoichiro Kakitani | Mizuno | Otsuka Pharmaceutical (Pocari Sweat) |
| Tokyo Verdy | Hiroshi Jofuku | Koki Morita | Athleta | Nicigas |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | Fábio Carille | Shunya Yoneda | Umbro | Japanet |
| Vegalta Sendai | Takafumi Hori | Yuta Koide | Adidas | Iris Ohyama |
| Ventforet Kofu | Yoshiyuki Shinoda | Hidehiro Sugai | Mizuno | Hakubaku |
| Zweigen Kanazawa | Masaaki Yanagishita | Yuto Shirai | Hummel | Hokkoku Shimbun |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing | Manner | Exit date | Exit date | Position in table | Incoming | Incoming date | Incoming date | Ref. |
| Team | Outgoing | Manner | Announced on | Departed on | Position in table | Incoming | Announced on | Arrived on | Ref. |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Zé Ricardo | Sacked | 3 April 2023 | 3 April 2023 | 19th | Tadahiro Akiba | 4 April 2023 | 4 April 2023 | |
| Montedio Yamagata | Peter Cklamovski | Sacked | 4 April 2023 | 4 April 2023 | 18th | Susumu Watanabe | 5 April 2023 | 5 April 2023 | |
| Renofa Yamaguchi | Yoshihiro Natsuka | Resigned | 9 May 2023 | 9 May 2023 | 18th | Genki Nakayama (interim) | 10 May 2023 | 10 May 2023 | |
| Omiya Ardija | Naoki Soma | Resigned | 19 May 2023 | 19 May 2023 | 22nd | Masato Harasaki | 20 May 2023 | 20 May 2023 | |
| Renofa Yamaguchi | Genki Nakayama | End of interim spell | 29 May 2023 | 7 June 2023 | 19th | Juan Esnáider | 29 May 2023 | 8 June 2023 | |
| Iwaki FC | Hiromasa Suguri | Sacked | 14 June 2023 | 14 June 2023 | 21st | Yuzo Tamura | 15 June 2023 | 15 June 2023 | |
| Vegalta Sendai | Akira Ito | Sacked | 12 July 2023 | 12 July 2023 | 13th | Takafumi Hori | 13 July 2023 | 13 July 2023 | |
| Tokushima Vortis | Beñat Labaien | Sacked | 22 August 2023 | 22 August 2023 | 19th | Tatsuma Yoshida | 23 August 2023 | 23 August 2023 | |

## Foreign players

As of the 2023 season, there are no more restrictions on a number of signed foreign players, but clubs can only register up to five foreign players for a single match-day squad. Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia and Qatar) are exempt from these restrictions.
* Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the midseason transfer window.
* Player's name in italics indicates the player has Japanese nationality in addition to their FIFA nationality, 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 school in the country.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 | Player 7 | Player 8 | Left mid-season |
| Blaublitz Akita | | | | | | | | | |
| Fagiano Okayama | Lucão | Tiago Alves | Han Eui-kwon | Stefan Mauk | Jordy Buijs | | | | |
| Fujieda MYFC | Kauan | Pedro Henrique | Anderson Chaves | Naldinho | | | | | |
| Iwaki FC | Nélson Machado | | | | | | | | |
| JEF United Chiba | Mendes | Dudu | | | | | | | |
| Júbilo Iwata | Ricardo Graça | Dudu Pacheco | Fabián González | Ri Kyong-su | | | | | |
| Machida Zelvia | Erik | Ademilson | Mitchell Duke | Jang Min-gyu | Nedeljko Stojišić | Byron Vásquez | | | |
| Mito HollyHock | Jefferson Tabinas | | | | | | | | |
| Montedio Yamagata | Dellatorre | Tiago Alves | | | | | | | |
| Oita Trinita | Matheus Pereira | Matheus Teixeira | Derlan | Samuel | | | | | |
| Omiya Ardija | Rodrigo Angelotti | Kaique | Jakub Świerczok | | | | | | |
| Renofa Yamaguchi | Renan | Sílvio | Choi Hyun-chan | Kim Byeom-yong | | | | | |
| Roasso Kumamoto | | | | | | | | | |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Carlinhos Júnior | Thiago Santana | Renato Augusto | Ronaldo | Benjamin Kololli | Oh Se-hun | | | |
| Thespakusatsu Gunma | | | | | | | | | |
| Tochigi SC | Juninho | Rafael Costa | Leandro Pereira | Origbaajo Ismaila | | | | | |
| Tokushima Vortis | Elsinho | José Aurelio Suárez | Luismi Quezada | Hyon Rio | | | | | Cacá Oriola Sunday |
| Tokyo Verdy | Matheus Vidotto | Pratama Arhan | | | | | | | Byron Vásquez Mario Engels |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | Caio César | Edigar Junio | Valdo | Marcos Guilherme | Matheus Jesus | Juanma | Carlos Gutiérrez | Luka Radotić | Clayson Kaique Cristiano |
| Vegalta Sendai | Foguinho | Ewerton | Kim Tae-hyeon | Heo Yong-joon | Ryang Yong-gi | | | | |
| Ventforet Kofu | Eduardo Mancha | Cristiano | Lucas Macedo | Peter Utaka | Michael Woud | | | | Getúlio |
| Zweigen Kanazawa | Léo Bahia | Jefferson Baiano | Park Jun-seo | Taiga Son | | | | | |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Machida Zelvia (C, P) | 42 | 26 | 9 | 7 | 79 | 35 | +44 | 87 | Promotion to the 2024 J1 League |
| 2 | Júbilo Iwata (P) | 42 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 74 | 44 | +30 | 75 | Promotion to the 2024 J1 League |
| 3 | Tokyo Verdy (O, P) | 42 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 57 | 31 | +26 | 75 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 4 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 42 | 20 | 14 | 8 | 78 | 34 | +44 | 74 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 5 | Montedio Yamagata | 42 | 21 | 4 | 17 | 64 | 54 | +10 | 67 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 6 | JEF United Chiba | 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 61 | 53 | +8 | 67 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 7 | V-Varen Nagasaki | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 70 | 56 | +14 | 65 | |
| 8 | Ventforet Kofu | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 60 | 50 | +10 | 64 | |
| 9 | Oita Trinita | 42 | 17 | 11 | 14 | 54 | 56 | −2 | 62 | |
| 10 | Fagiano Okayama | 42 | 13 | 19 | 10 | 49 | 49 | 0 | 58 | |
| 11 | Thespakusatsu Gunma | 42 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 57 | |
| 12 | Fujieda MYFC | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 61 | 72 | −11 | 52 | |
| 13 | Blaublitz Akita | 42 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 37 | 44 | −7 | 51 | |
| 14 | Roasso Kumamoto | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 52 | 53 | −1 | 49 | |
| 15 | Tokushima Vortis | 42 | 10 | 19 | 13 | 43 | 53 | −10 | 49 | |
| 16 | Vegalta Sendai | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 48 | 61 | −13 | 48 | |
| 17 | Mito HollyHock | 42 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 49 | 66 | −17 | 47 | |
| 18 | Iwaki FC | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 45 | 69 | −24 | 47 | |
| 19 | Tochigi SC | 42 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 39 | 47 | −8 | 44 | |
| 20 | Renofa Yamaguchi | 42 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 37 | 67 | −30 | 44 | |
| 21 | Omiya Ardija (R) | 42 | 11 | 6 | 25 | 37 | 71 | −34 | 39 | Relegation to 2024 J3 League |
| 22 | Zweigen Kanazawa (R) | 42 | 9 | 8 | 25 | 41 | 70 | −29 | 35 | Relegation to 2024 J3 League |

## Play-offs

The usual format was applied in the 2023 season. Promotion play-offs, officially called the 2023 J.League Road To J1 Play-offs (Japanese: 2023 J1昇格プレーオフ), was held from the semi-finals, where the match-ups were previously semi-determined. Based on the J2 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 J1.
If a match was tied in the play-offs, the team with the higher rank won. The rank order was: J2's third, fourth, fifth, and sixth-placed teams.
For the 2023 season, three teams were to be promoted to the 2024 J1 League with no relegation playoffs between the leagues.
| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 3 | Tokyo Verdy | 2 | | | |
| 6 | JEF United Chiba | 1 | | | |
| 6 | JEF United Chiba | 1 | 3 | Tokyo Verdy | 1 |
| | | | 4 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 1 |
| 4 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 0 | 4 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 1 |
| 5 | Montedio Yamagata | 0 | | | |

### Final
## Season statistics
### Goal contributions
#### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Juanma Delgado | V-Varen Nagasaki | 26 |
| 2 | Erik | Machida Zelvia | 18 |
| 3 | Carlinhos Júnior | Shimizu S-Pulse | 15 |
| 4 | Hiiro Komori | JEF United Chiba | 13 |
| 4 | Kaito Mori | Tokushima Vortis | 13 |
| 4 | Tiago Alves | Montedio Yamagata | 13 |
| 4 | Ryo Watanabe | Fujieda MYFC | 13 |

#### Top assists

| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
| 1 | Takashi Inui | Shimizu S-Pulse | 10 |
| 1 | Yuto Suzuki | Júbilo Iwata | 10 |
| 3 | Rei Hirakawa | Roasso Kumamoto | 9 |
| 3 | Ryo Sato | Thespakusatsu Gunma | 9 |
| 3 | Hidetoshi Takeda | Mito HollyHock | 9 |

#### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Matheus Vidotto | Tokyo Verdy | 23 |
| 2 | Shuichi Gonda | Shimizu S-Pulse | 19 |
| 3 | Masatoshi Kushibiki | Thespakusatsu Gunma | 16 |
| 4 | Kentaro Kakoi | Blaublitz Akita | 14 |
| 5 | Go Hatano | V-Varen Nagasaki | 11 |
| 5 | William Popp | Machida Zelvia | 11 |
| 5 | José Aurelio Suárez | Tokushima Vortis | 11 |

### Discipline
#### Player

* Most yellow cards: 11
** Juanma Delgado (V-Varen Nagasaki)
* Most red cards: 2
** Ryo Endo (Iwaki FC)
** So Nakagawa (Fujieda MYFC)
** Pereira (Oita Trinita)
** Kotaro Yamahara (Fujieda MYFC)

#### Club

* Most yellow cards: 69 (V-Varen Nagasaki)
* Most red cards: 7 (Fujieda MYFC)

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Monthly MVP | Monthly MVP | Goal of the Month | Goal of the Month | Refs. |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | Refs. |
| February/March | Go Kuroda | Machida Zelvia | Erik | Machida Zelvia | Akira Silvano Disaro | Shimizu S-Pulse | |
| April | Fábio Carille | V-Varen Nagasaki | Juanma Delgado | V-Varen Nagasaki | Shunta Araki | Machida Zelvia | |
| May | Go Kuroda | Machida Zelvia | Kaito Mori | Tokushima Vortis | Shunya Yoneda | V-Varen Nagasaki | |
| June | Akinobu Yokouchi | Júbilo Iwata | Erik | Machida Zelvia | Kaito Umeda | Mito HollyHock | |
| July | Yuzo Tamura | Iwaki FC | Hiroto Iwabuchi | Iwaki FC | Takashi Inui | Shimizu S-Pulse | |
| August | Tadahiro Akiba | Shimizu S-Pulse | Yoshinori Suzuki | Shimizu S-Pulse | Keita Nakamura | V-Varen Nagasaki | |
| September | Yoshiyuki Kobayashi | JEF United Chiba | Taishi Taguchi | JEF United Chiba | Junya Suzuki | Machida Zelvia | |
| October | Hiroshi Jofuku | Tokyo Verdy | Zento Uno | Machida Zelvia | Kazaki Nakagawa | Fujieda MYFC | |
| November | Akinobu Yokouchi | Júbilo Iwata | Masaya Matsumoto | Júbilo Iwata | Hikaru Nakahara | Tokyo Verdy | |

## Attendances

| # | Football club | Home games | Average attendance |
| 1 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 21 | 12,083 |
| 2 | Vegalta Sendai | 21 | 9,495 |
| 3 | Júbilo Iwata | 21 | 9,447 |
| 4 | JEF United | 21 | 8,675 |
| 5 | Oita Trinita | 21 | 8,083 |
| 6 | Tokyo Verdy | 21 | 8,070 |
| 7 | Montedio Yamagata | 21 | 7,490 |
| 8 | Machida Zelvia | 21 | 7,478 |
| 9 | Fagiano Okayama | 21 | 7,248 |
| 10 | Ventforet Kofu | 21 | 7,045 |
| 11 | V-Varen Nagasaki | 21 | 6,760 |
| 12 | Omiya Ardija | 21 | 6,675 |
| 13 | Tochigi SC | 21 | 6,282 |
| 14 | Roasso Kumamoto | 21 | 6,251 |
| 15 | Tokushima Vortis | 21 | 6,002 |
| 16 | Mito HollyHock | 21 | 5,262 |
| 17 | Zweigen Kanazawa | 21 | 5,235 |
| 18 | Renofa Yamaguchi | 21 | 5,214 |
| 19 | Fujieda MYFC | 21 | 5,062 |
| 20 | Iwaki FC | 21 | 4,878 |
| 21 | Thespakusatsu Gunma | 21 | 4,876 |
| 22 | Blaublitz Akita | 21 | 4,388 |