# 2022 J2 League

The 2022 J2 League, also known as the 2022 Meiji Yasuda J2 League (Japanese: 2022 明治安田生命J2リーグ, Hepburn: 2022 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J2 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 24th season of the J2 League, the second-tier Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1999.

## Clubs

| Club name | Hometown | Stadium | Capacity | Previous season rank | License |
| Albirex Niigata | Niigata & Seiro, Niigata | Denka Big Swan Stadium | 42,300 | J2 (6th) | J1 |
| Blaublitz Akita | Akita | Soyu Stadium | 20,125 | J2 (13th) | J1 |
| Fagiano Okayama | All cities/towns in Okayama | City Light Stadium | 20,000 | J2 (11th) | J1 |
| Iwate Grulla Morioka | All cities/towns in Iwate | Iwagin Stadium & Kitakami Stadium | 4,946 | J3 (2nd) | J1 |
| JEF United Chiba | Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba | Fukuda Denshi Arena | 18,500 | J2 (8th) | J1 |
| Machida Zelvia | Machida, Tokyo | Machida Athletic Stadium | 10,600 | J2 (5th) | J1 |
| Mito HollyHock | Cities/towns in Ibaraki | K's denki Stadium Mito | 12,000 | J2 (10th) | J1 |
| Montedio Yamagata | All cities/towns in Yamagata | ND Soft Stadium | 20,315 | J2 (7th) | J1 |
| Oita Trinita | Ōita Prefecture | Showa Denko Dome Oita | 40,000 | J1 (18th) | J1 |
| Omiya Ardija | Saitama, Saitama | NACK5 Stadium Omiya | 15,500 | J2 (16th) | J1 |
| Renofa Yamaguchi | All cities/towns in Yamaguchi | Yamaguchi Ishin Park Stadium | 20,000 | J2 (15th) | J1 |
| Roasso Kumamoto | Kumamoto, Kumamoto | Egao Kenko Stadium | 32,000 | J3 (1st) | J1 |
| FC Ryukyu | All cities/towns in Okinawa | Tapic Kenso Hiyagon Stadium | 25,000 | J2 (9th) | J1 |
| Thespakusatsu Gunma | All cities/towns in Gunma | Shoda Shoyu Stadium Gunma | 15,253 | J2 (18th) | J1 |
| Tochigi SC | Utsunomiya, Tochigi | Kanseki Stadium Tochigi | 25,244 | J2 (14th) | J1 |
| Tokushima Vortis | Tokushima Prefecture | Pocarisweat Stadium | 20,441 | J1 (17th) | J1 |
| Tokyo Verdy | All cities/towns in Tokyo | Ajinomoto Stadium | 49,970 | J2 (12th) | J1 |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | All cities/towns in Nagasaki Prefecture | Nagasaki Athletic Stadium | 20,246 | J2 (4th) | J1 |
| Vegalta Sendai | Miyagi Prefecture | Yurtec Stadium Sendai | 19,694 | J1 (19th) | J1 |
| Ventforet Kofu | All cities/towns in Yamanashi Prefecture | Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium | 17,000 | J2 (3rd) | J1 |
| Yokohama FC | Kanagawa Prefecture | Mitsuzawa Stadium | 15,046 | J1 (20th) | J1 |
| Zweigen Kanazawa | All cities/towns in Ishikawa | Ishikawa Kanazawa Stadium | 20,000 | J2 (17th) | J1 |
* ↑ centering on Okayama, Kurashiki, Tsuyama
* ↑ Mito, Hitachinaka, Kasama, Naka, Omitama, Ibaraki, Shirosato, Oarai, Tokai
* ↑ centering on Yamagata, Tendo, Tsuruoka
* ↑ centering on Okinawa
* ↑ 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 |
| Albirex Niigata | Rikizo Matsuhashi | Yuto Horigome | Adidas |
| Blaublitz Akita | Ken Yoshida | Shuto Inaba | ATHLETA |
| Fagiano Okayama | Takashi Kiyama | Junki Kanayama | Penalty |
| Iwate Grulla Morioka | Yutaka Akita | Yusuke Muta | Kelme |
| JEF United Chiba | Yoon Jong-hwan | Daisuke Suzuki | Hummel |
| Machida Zelvia | Ranko Popović | Taiki Hirato | SVOLME |
| Mito HollyHock | Tadahiro Akiba | Ryo Niizato | soccer junky |
| Montedio Yamagata | Peter Cklamovski | Shuto Minami | Penalty |
| Oita Trinita | Takahiro Shimotaira | Hokuto Shimoda | Puma |
| Omiya Ardija | Naoki Soma | Yuta Mikado | Under Armour |
| Renofa Yamaguchi | Yoshihiro Natsuka | Joji Ikegami | Finta |
| Roasso Kumamoto | Takeshi Oki | So Kawahara | Puma |
| FC Ryukyu | Nacho Fernández | Ryohei Okazaki | sfida |
| Thespakusatsu Gunma | Tsuyoshi Otsuki | Hajime Hosogai | Kelme |
| Tochigi SC | Yu Tokisaki | Yuki Nishiya | ATHLETA |
| Tokushima Vortis | Dani Poyatos | Hidenori Ishii | Mizuno |
| Tokyo Verdy | Hiroshi Jofuku | Tomohiro Taira | ATHLETA |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | Fábio Carille | Caio César | Umbro |
| Vegalta Sendai | Akira Ito | Ryang Yong-gi | Adidas |
| Ventforet Kofu | Tatsuma Yoshida | Sho Araki | Mizuno |
| Yokohama FC | Shuhei Yomoda | Tatsuya Hasegawa | Soccer Junky |
| Zweigen Kanazawa | Masaaki Yanagishita | Tomonobu Hiroi | Hummel |

### 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. |
| Omiya Ardija | Masahiro Shimoda | Sacked | 26 May 2022 | 26 May 2022 | 20th | Naoki Soma | 26 May 2022 | 28 May 2022 | |
| FC Ryukyu | Tetsuhiro Kina | Sacked | 8 June 2022 | 8 June 2022 | 22nd | Kazuki Kuranuki (caretaker) | 9 June 2022 | 9 June 2022 | |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | Hiroshi Matsuda | Sacked | 12 June 2022 | 12 June 2022 | 5th | Takeo Harada (caretaker) | 12 June 2022 | 12 June 2022 | |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | Takeo Harada | End of caretaker spell | 12 June 2022 | 1 July 2022 | TBD | Fábio Carille | 12 June 2022 | 2 July 2022 | |
| FC Ryukyu | Kazuki Kuranuki | End of caretaker spell | 13 June 2022 | 13 June 2022 | 22nd | Nacho Fernández | 13 June 2022 | 14 June 2022 | |
| Tokyo Verdy | Takafumi Hori | Sacked | 13 June 2022 | 13 June 2022 | 14th | Hiroshi Jofuku | 13 June 2022 | 14 June 2022 | |
| Vegalta Sendai | Masato Harasaki | Sacked | 6 September 2022 | 6 September 2022 | 4th | Akira Ito | 6 September 2022 | 6 September 2022 | |

## Foreign players

As of 2022 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 midseason |
| Albirex Niigata | Thomas Deng | Kazuyoshi Shimabuku | Alexandre Guedes | Ippei Shinozuka | | | | | |
| Blaublitz Akita | | | | | | | | | |
| Fagiano Okayama | Tiago Alves | Han Eui-kwon | Mitchell Duke | Stefan Mauk | Jordy Buijs | | | | Yu Yong-hyeon |
| Iwate Grulla Morioka | Brenner | Cristiano | Lucas Morelatto | Kim Jong-min | Jang Hyun-soo | Paul Tabinas | Han Yong-thae | Kenneth Otabor | |
| JEF United Chiba | Daniel | Ricardo Lopes | Tiago Leonço | Jang Min-gyu | | | | | Saldanha |
| Machida Zelvia | Dudu | Vinícius Araújo | Jong Tae-se | | | | | | |
| Mito HollyHock | Leonard Brodersen | Jefferson Tabinas | | | | | | | |
| Montedio Yamagata | Dellatorre | Tiago Alves | | | | | | | |
| Oita Trinita | Eduardo Neto | Matheus Pereira | Samuel | | | | | | |
| Omiya Ardija | | | | | | | | | |
| Renofa Yamaguchi | Renan | | | | | | | | |
| Roasso Kumamoto | Leo Kenta | Thales | | | | | | | |
| FC Ryukyu | Kelvin | Álex Barrera | Danny Carvajal | Ri Yong-jik | Sittichok Paso | Phạm Văn Luân | Vũ Hồng Quân | Sadam Sulley | Vinícius Faria |
| Thespakusatsu Gunma | | | | | | | | | |
| Tochigi SC | Juninho | Carlos Gutiérrez | | | | | | | Ömer Tokaç |
| Tokushima Vortis | Cacá | Elsinho | Rio Hyon | Oriola Sunday | Mushaga Bakenga | José Aurelio Suárez | | | |
| Tokyo Verdy | Matheus Vidotto | Pratama Arhan | Byron Vásquez | | | | | | |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | Caio César | Cristiano | Edigar Junio | Kaique | Clayson | Víctor Ibarbo | | | |
| Vegalta Sendai | Felippe Cardoso | Foguinho | Kim Tae-hyeon | Ryang Yong-gi | Leandro Desábato | Nedeljko Stojišić | | | |
| Ventforet Kofu | Renato | Willian Lira | Eduardo Mancha | Foguete | Getúlio | Igor Sartori | | | Bruno Paraíba |
| Yokohama FC | Gabriel | Kléber | Rhayner | Saulo Mineiro | Marcelo Ryan | Mateus Moraes | Svend Brodersen | | Felipe Vizeu |
| Zweigen Kanazawa | Taiga Son | | | | | | | | |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Albirex Niigata (C, P) | 42 | 25 | 9 | 8 | 73 | 35 | +38 | 84 | Promotion to the J1 League |
| 2 | Yokohama FC (P) | 42 | 23 | 11 | 8 | 66 | 49 | +17 | 80 | Promotion to the J1 League |
| 3 | Fagiano Okayama | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 61 | 42 | +19 | 72 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 4 | Roasso Kumamoto | 42 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 58 | 48 | +10 | 67 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 5 | Oita Trinita | 42 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 62 | 52 | +10 | 66 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 6 | Montedio Yamagata | 42 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 62 | 40 | +22 | 64 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 7 | Vegalta Sendai | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 67 | 59 | +8 | 63 | |
| 8 | Tokushima Vortis | 42 | 13 | 23 | 6 | 48 | 35 | +13 | 62 | |
| 9 | Tokyo Verdy | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 62 | 55 | +7 | 61 | |
| 10 | JEF United Chiba | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 44 | 42 | +2 | 61 | |
| 11 | V-Varen Nagasaki | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 50 | 54 | −4 | 56 | |
| 12 | Blaublitz Akita | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 39 | 46 | −7 | 56 | |
| 13 | Mito HollyHock | 42 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 47 | 46 | +1 | 54 | |
| 14 | Zweigen Kanazawa | 42 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 56 | 69 | −13 | 52 | |
| 15 | Machida Zelvia | 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 51 | |
| 16 | Renofa Yamaguchi | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 51 | 54 | −3 | 50 | |
| 17 | Tochigi SC | 42 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 32 | 40 | −8 | 49 | |
| 18 | Ventforet Kofu (X) | 42 | 11 | 15 | 16 | 47 | 54 | −7 | 48 | Qualification for the AFC Champions League group stage |
| 19 | Omiya Ardija | 42 | 10 | 13 | 19 | 48 | 64 | −16 | 43 | |
| 20 | Thespakusatsu Gunma | 42 | 11 | 9 | 22 | 36 | 57 | −21 | 42 | |
| 21 | FC Ryukyu (R) | 42 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 41 | 65 | −24 | 37 | Relegation to J3 League |
| 22 | Iwate Grulla Morioka (R) | 42 | 9 | 7 | 26 | 35 | 80 | −45 | 34 | Relegation to J3 League |
* ↑ Qualified as the 2022 Emperor's Cup winners.

## Promotion–relegation playoffs

| First round 30 October | First round 30 October | First round 30 October | Second round 6 November | Second round 6 November | Second round 6 November | Final 13 November | Final 13 November | Final 13 November |
| J2 (3) | Fagiano Okayama | 0 | | | | | | |
| J2 (3) | Fagiano Okayama | 0 | | | | J1 (16) | Kyoto Sanga | 1 |
| J2 (6) | Montedio Yamagata | 3 | | | | J1 (16) | Kyoto Sanga | 1 |
| J2 (6) | Montedio Yamagata | 3 | J2 (6) | Montedio Yamagata | 2 | J2 (4) | Roasso Kumamoto | 1 |
| | | | J2 (4) | Roasso Kumamoto | 2 | | | |
| J2 (4) | Roasso Kumamoto | 2 | J2 (4) | Roasso Kumamoto | 2 | | | |
| J2 (5) | Oita Trinita | 2 | | | | | | |

## Season statistics

    As of 31 October 2022

### Goal contributions
#### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Koki Ogawa | Yokohama FC | 26 |
| 2 | Tiago Alves | Fagiano Okayama | 16 |
| 3 | Masato Nakayama | Vegalta Sendai | 14 |
| 3 | Toshiki Takahashi | Roasso Kumamoto | 14 |
| 5 | Masamichi Hayashi | Zweigen Kanazawa | 13 |
| 5 | Ryoga Sato | Tokyo Verdy | 13 |

#### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Ryosuke Kojima | Albirex Niigata | 18 |
| 2 | Masaaki Goto | Montedio Yamagata | 17 |
| 3 | Shota Arai | JEF United Chiba | 14 |
| 4 | José Aurelio Suárez | Tokushima Vortis | 13 |
| 4 | Shuhei Kawata | Tochigi SC | 13 |
| 4 | Yudai Tanaka | Blaublitz Akita | 13 |

### Discipline
#### Player

* Most yellow cards: 9
** Kota Fukatsu (Machida Zelvia)
* Most red cards: 2
** Carlos Gutiérrez (Tochigi SC)

#### Club

* Most yellow cards: 67 (Iwate Grulla Morioka)
* Most red cards: 4 (Mito HollyHock)

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Monthly MVP | Monthly MVP | Goal of the Month | Goal of the Month | References |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | References |
| February/March | Shuhei Yomoda | Yokohama FC | Koki Ogawa | Yokohama FC | Tiago Alves | Fagiano Okayama | |
| April | Masato Harasaki | Vegalta Sendai | Ryoma Kida | Vegalta Sendai | Kota Yamada | Montedio Yamagata | |
| May | Rikizo Matsuhashi | Albirex Niigata | Shunsuke Mito | Albirex Niigata | Kazuma Yamaguchi | Machida Zelvia | |
| June | Takashi Kiyama | Fagiano Okayama | Koki Ogawa | Yokohama FC | Hiroki Noda | Montedio Yamagata | |
| July | Takeshi Oki | Roasso Kumamoto | Edigar Junio | V-Varen Nagasaki | Naohiro Sugiyama | Roasso Kumamoto | |
| August | Takashi Kiyama | Fagiano Okayama | Jordy Buijs | Fagiano Okayama | Wataru Tanaka | Renofa Yamaguchi | |
| September | Takeshi Oki | Roasso Kumamoto | Hiroya Matsumoto | Zweigen Kanazawa | Kazuma Takai | Renofa Yamaguchi | |
| October/November | Hiroshi Jofuku | Tokyo Verdy | Koki Ogawa | Yokohama FC | Ryotaro Ito | Albirex Niigata | |