# 2025 J1 League

The 2025 J1 League, also known as the 2025 Meiji Yasuda J1 League (Japanese: 2025 明治安田J1リーグ, Hepburn: 2025 Meiji Yasuda J1 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, is the 33rd season of J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. This is the 11th season of the league since its rebrand from J.League Division 1.
Vissel Kobe are the defending champions, having won their second league title in a row on the last matchday of the 2024 season.

## Overview

This is the last J.League season played in a whole calendar year from late winter to early winter, with the following season onwards played from summer to spring.
The tournament format and match format was announced on 25 November 2024, with the season starting on 14 February 2025 and concluding on 6 December 2025.
This season is also the last with an annual format; starting with the 2026–27 season, the league will adopt the European calendar of September to May, with a special tournament held during the first half of 2026.

## Changes from the previous season

There were three teams relegated to the 2025 J2 League. Júbilo Iwata, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, and Sagan Tosu, were relegated as they finished 18th, 19th, and 20th respectively in the previous season, ending their one, eight, and 13-year stays in the top flight respectively.
Three teams were promoted from the 2024 J2 League: Shimizu S-Pulse, who won the title and returned to J1 after a two-year absence, Yokohama FC, who finished second, returning to the J1 after just a season playing in the J2 League, and Fagiano Okayama, who finished fifth and won the play-offs; they are playing in the top flight for the first time in their history.

## Clubs

| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Kashima Antlers | Ibaraki Prefecture | Kashima Soccer Stadium | 39,095 |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Saitama Prefecture | Saitama Stadium 2002 | 62,040 |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Chiba Prefecture | Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium | 15,109 |
| FC Tokyo | Tokyo | Ajinomoto Stadium | 47,851 |
| Tokyo Verdy | Tokyo | Ajinomoto Stadium | 47,851 |
| Machida Zelvia | Tokyo | Machida GION Stadium | 15,489 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Kanagawa Prefecture | Uvance Todoroki Stadium by Fujitsu | 26,827 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | Kanagawa Prefecture | Nissan Stadium | 71,624 |
| Yokohama FC | Kanagawa Prefecture | NHK Spring Mitsuzawa Football Stadium | 15,442 |
| Shonan Bellmare | Kanagawa Prefecture | Lemon Gas Stadium Hiratsuka | 15,380 |
| Albirex Niigata | Niigata Prefecture | Denka Big Swan Stadium | 41,684 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Shizuoka Prefecture | IAI Stadium Nihondaira | 19,594 |
| Nagoya Grampus | Aichi Prefecture | Toyota Stadium | 42,753 |
| Kyoto Sanga | Kyoto Prefecture | Sanga Stadium by Kyocera | 21,623 |
| Gamba Osaka | Osaka Prefecture | Panasonic Stadium Suita | 39,694 |
| Cerezo Osaka | Osaka Prefecture | Yodoko Sakura Stadium | 24,481 |
| Vissel Kobe | Hyōgo Prefecture | Noevir Stadium Kobe | 29,643 |
| Fagiano Okayama | Okayama Prefecture | JFE Harenokuni Stadium | 15,479 |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Hiroshima Prefecture | Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima | 28,347 |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Fukuoka Prefecture | Best Denki Stadium | 21,562 |

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Main shirt sponsor |
| Albirex Niigata | Daisuke Kimori | Yuto Horigome | Adidas | Kameda Seika |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Kim Myung-hwi | Tatsuki Nara | Yonex | Shin Nihon Seiyaku |
| Cerezo Osaka | Arthur Papas | Shunta Tanaka | Mizuno | Yanmar |
| Fagiano Okayama | Takashi Kiyama | Ryo Takeuchi | Penalty | GROP |
| FC Tokyo | Rikizo Matsuhashi | Kei Koizumi | New Balance | Tokyo Gas |
| Gamba Osaka | Dani Poyatos | Takashi Usami | Hummel | Panasonic |
| Kashima Antlers | Toru Oniki | Gaku Shibasaki | Nike | LIXIL |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Ricardo Rodríguez | Tomoya Inukai | Yonex | Hitachi |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Shigetoshi Hasebe | Yasuto Wakizaka | Puma | Fujitsu |
| Kyoto Sanga | Cho Kwi-jae | Sota Kawasaki | Puma | Kyocera |
| Machida Zelvia | Go Kuroda | Gen Shoji | Adidas | CyberAgent |
| Nagoya Grampus | Kenta Hasegawa | Ryuji Izumi | Mizuno | Toyota GR Yaris |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Michael Skibbe | Sho Sasaki | Nike | EDION |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Tadahiro Akiba | Koya Kitagawa | Puma | Suzuyo |
| Shonan Bellmare | Satoshi Yamaguchi | Akito Suzuki | Penalty | Meldia |
| Tokyo Verdy | Hiroshi Jofuku | Koki Morita | Athleta | Nicigas |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Maciej Skorża | Takahiro Sekine | Nike | Polus |
| Vissel Kobe | Takayuki Yoshida | Tetsushi Yamakawa | Asics | Rakuten Mobile |
| Yokohama FC | Shuhei Yomoda | Yoshiaki Komai | Puma | Onodera Group |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | Steve Holland | Takuya Kida | Adidas | Nissan |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in the table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Masami Ihara | End of contract | 9 December 2024 | Pre-season | Ricardo Rodríguez | 11 December 2024 |
| FC Tokyo | Peter Cklamovski | End of contract | 9 December 2024 | Pre-season | Rikizo Matsuhashi | 21 December 2024 |
| Cerezo Osaka | Akio Kogiku | End of contract | 9 December 2024 | Pre-season | Arthur Papas | 17 December 2024 |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Shigetoshi Hasebe | End of contract | 9 December 2024 | Pre-season | Kim Myung-hwi | 13 December 2024 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Toru Oniki | End of contract | 9 December 2024 | Pre-season | Shigetoshi Hasebe | 12 December 2024 |
| Kashima Antlers | Masaki Chugo | Redesignated as assistant coach | 9 December 2024 | Pre-season | Toru Oniki | 12 December 2024 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | John Hutchinson | End of interim spell | 9 December 2024 | Pre-season | Steve Holland | 17 December 2024 |
| Albirex Niigata | Rikizo Matsuhashi | Resigned | 13 December 2024 | Pre-season | Daisuke Kimori | 19 December 2024 |

### Foreign players

From the 2019 season, there are no limitations on signing foreign players, but clubs can only register up to five of them for a single matchday squad. Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Morocco, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia) were exempted from these restrictions.
* Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season 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 | Former player (s) |
| Albirex Niigata | Jason Geria | Danilo Gomes | Miguel Silveira | Michael Fitzgerald | | | | | |
| Avispa Fukuoka | Wellington | Shahab Zahedi | Kim Moon-hyeon | Nassim Ben Khalifa | | | | | |
| Cerezo Osaka | Lucas Fernandes | Rafael Ratão | Thiago Andrade | Vitor Bueno | Kim Jin-hyeon | Jaroensak Wonggorn | | | |
| Fagiano Okayama | Gleyson | Lucão | Svend Brodersen | | | | | | |
| FC Tokyo | Everton Galdino | Henrique Trevisan | Marcelo Ryan | Baek In-hwan | | | | | |
| Gamba Osaka | Juan Alano | Welton | Zhang Aolin | Neta Lavi | Issam Jebali | Deniz Hümmet | | | |
| Kashima Antlers | Léo Ceará | Talles | Aleksandar Čavrić | Kim Tae-hyeon | Park Eui-jeong | | | | |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Diego | | | | | | | | |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Erison | Jesiel | Marcinho | Patrick Verhon | César Haydar | Jung Sung-ryong | Lee Geun-hyeong | | |
| Kyoto Sanga | João Pedro | Marco Túlio | Murilo Costa | Patrick William | Rafael Elias | Gu Sung-yun | | | |
| Machida Zelvia | Mitch Duke | Byron Vásquez | Ibrahim Drešević | Kaung Zan Mara | Cha Je-hoon | Na Sang-ho | Oh Se-hun | Anton Burns | Erik |
| Nagoya Grampus | Mateus | Kasper Junker | Yves Avelete | | | | | | |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Marcos Júnior | Valère Germain | Tolgay Arslan | Jeong Min-ki | | | | | |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Capixaba | Douglas Tanque | Matheus Bueno | Ahmed Ahmedov | Jelani Reshaun Sumiyoshi | | | | |
| Shonan Bellmare | Luiz Phellype | Lukian | Zé Ricardo | Kim Min-tae | | | | | |
| Tokyo Verdy | Matheus Vidotto | | | | | | | | |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Danilo Boza | Matheus Sávio | Thiago Santana | Marius Høibråten | Samuel Gustafson | | | | |
| Vissel Kobe | Caetano | Erik | Gustavo Klismahn | Jean Patric | Matheus Thuler | Richard Monday Ubong | | | |
| Yokohama FC | João Paulo | Léo Bahia | Michel | Phelipe | Yuri Lara | | | | |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | Thomas Deng | Anderson Lopes | Élber | Yan Matheus | Jeison Quiñónes | Sandy Walsh | Park Il-gyu | Kodjo Aziangbe | |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Kashima Antlers | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 13 | Qualification for the AFC Champions League Elite league stage |
| 2 | Machida Zelvia | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 12 | Qualification for the AFC Champions League Elite league stage |
| 3 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 11 | |
| 4 | Kashiwa Reysol | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 11 | |
| 5 | Shonan Bellmare | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 11 | |
| 6 | Avispa Fukuoka | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 9 | |
| 7 | Gamba Osaka | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 9 | |
| 8 | Kawasaki Frontale | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 8 | |
| 9 | Fagiano Okayama | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 8 | |
| 10 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 8 | |
| 11 | Kyoto Sanga | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 8 | |
| 12 | FC Tokyo | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 7 | |
| 13 | Yokohama FC | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 7 | |
| 14 | Tokyo Verdy | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 7 | |
| 15 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 | |
| 16 | Vissel Kobe | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 | |
| 17 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 6 | |
| 18 | Cerezo Osaka | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 11 | −1 | 5 | Relegation to the J2 League |
| 19 | Albirex Niigata | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 3 | Relegation to the J2 League |
| 20 | Nagoya Grampus | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 14 | −8 | 2 | Relegation to the J2 League |

## Results

| Home \ Away | ANI | AFU | COS | FOK | GOS | KSA | KSR | KWF | KYS | MCZ | NGR | SHI | SHB | SSP | TOK | TOV | URD | VKO | YOK | YFM |
| Albirex Niigata | — | | 2–2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2–2 | | | | |
| Avispa Fukuoka | | — | | | | | 0–1 | 1–2 | | | | | | | 1–0 | | | | | |
| Cerezo Osaka | | | — | | a | | | | | | 1–1 | | 1–2 | | | | | | | |
| Fagiano Okayama | | | | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | | 0–0 | | | | | | 1–1 | | | | | | |
| Gamba Osaka | | 2–1 | 2–5 | | — | | | | | | | | | 1–0 | | | | | | |
| Kashima Antlers | 2–1 | 0–1 | | | | — | | | | | | | | | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | | | |
| Kashiwa Reysol | | | 2–1 | | | 1–3 | — | 1–1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Kawasaki Frontale | | | | | | | | — | 0–1 | | 4–0 | | | | | | | | | |
| Kyoto Sanga | | | | | | | | | — | | | | | | | | 1–1 | | | |
| Machida Zelvia | 1–0 | | | | | | | | | — | | 1–2 | | | | 0–1 | | | | |
| Nagoya Grampus | | | | | | | | | | 1–2 | — | | | | | | | 2–2 | | |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | | | | | | | 1–1 | | | | | — | | | | | | | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Shonan Bellmare | | | | | | 1–0 | | | | | | | — | | | | 2–1 | 1–2 | | |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 2–0 | | | | | | | | 1–2 | | | 1–1 | | — | | | | | | |
| FC Tokyo | | | | | | | | | | 0–1 | 3–1 | | 0–0 | | — | a | | | | |
| Tokyo Verdy | | | | | 0–1 | | | | | | 2–1 | | | 0–1 | a | — | | | | |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | | | | 1–0 | | | 0–2 | | | | | | | | | | — | | | |
| Vissel Kobe | | 0–1 | | | | | | | 1–1 | | | | | | | | 0–0 | — | | |
| Yokohama FC | | | 2–0 | 1–0 | | | | | | 0–2 | | | | | 0–1 | | | | — | 0–0 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 1–1 | | | | 2–0 | | | | | | | | 1–1 | | | | | | a | — |

## Season statistics

    As of 16 March 2025

### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Léo Ceará | Kashima Antlers | 5 |
| 2 | Sota Kitano | Cerezo Osaka | 4 |
| 3 | Takuma Nishimura | Machida Zelvia | 3 |
| 3 | Thiago Santana | Urawa Red Diamonds | 3 |
| 3 | Akito Suzuki | Shonan Bellmare | 3 |
| 3 | Yuma Suzuki | Kashima Antlers | 3 |
| 7 | Rafael Elias | Kyoto Sanga | 2 |
| 7 | Erik | Vissel Kobe | 2 |
| 7 | Sho Fukuda | Shonan Bellmare | 2 |
| 7 | Motoki Hasegawa | Albirex Niigata | 2 |
| 7 | Yuki Kakita | Kashiwa Reysol | 2 |
| 7 | Takaya Kimura | Fagiano Okayama | 2 |
| 7 | Koya Kitagawa | Shimizu S-Pulse | 2 |
| 7 | Shu Kurata | Gamba Osaka | 2 |
| 7 | Na Sang-ho | Machida Zelvia | 2 |
| 7 | Motohiko Nakajima | Cerezo Osaka | 2 |
| 7 | Sota Nakamura | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 2 |
| 7 | Yuya Osako | Vissel Kobe | 2 |
| 7 | Yuto Tsunashima | Tokyo Verdy | 2 |
| 7 | Asahi Uenaka | Yokohama F. Marinos | 2 |
| 7 | Ken Yamura | Albirex Niigata | 2 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref. |
| Léo Ceará | Kashima Antlers | Kashiwa Reysol | 3–1 (A) | 8 March 2025 | |