# 2015 Emperor's Cup

The 95th Emperor's Cup (第95回天皇杯全日本サッカー選手権大会) was the regular edition of the annual Japanese national cup tournament, which was held from 29 August 2015 to its final on 1 January 2016.
The winners, Gamba Osaka, qualified to the group stage of the 2016 AFC Champions League.

## Calendar

| Round | Date | Matches | Clubs | New entries this round |
| First round | 29, 30 August | 36 | 47+1+2+22 → 36 | 47 prefectural cup winners 1 JFL Apertura winner 22 J2 clubs 2 second and playoff winners from the 2014 J2 |
| Second round | 5, 6, 9 September | 24 | 36+12 → 24 | 12 J1 clubs (except 4 J1 seeded teams) |
| Third round | 10, 11, 14 October | 12 | 24 → 12 | |
| Fourth round | 11, 14, 15 November | 8 | 12+4 → 8 | 4 J1 seeded teams including: 2 ACL Quarter-finals Participants Top 2 teams of J1 1st stage |
| Quarterfinals | 26 December | 4 | 8 → 4 | |
| Semifinals | 29 December | 2 | 4 → 2 | |
| Final | 1 January 2016 | 1 | 2 → 1 | |

## Participating clubs

88 clubs competed in the tournament. The 18 clubs from 2015 J1 League and 22 clubs from 2015 J2 League received a bye to the second round of the tournament. The other 47 teams earned berths by winning their respective prefectural cup tournaments, and entered from the first round along with the JFL seeded team, the Apertura Champion.
| 2015 J1 League all clubs | 2015 J2 League all clubs | 2015 Japan Football League Apertura Champion | 47 prefectural tournament winners | 47 prefectural tournament winners |
| Albirex Niigata Kashima Antlers Shonan Bellmare Montedio Yamagata Yokohama F. Marinos Kawasaki Frontale Gamba Osaka Nagoya Grampus Urawa Red Diamonds Kashiwa Reysol Shimizu S-Pulse Sagan Tosu Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Tokyo Vegalta Sendai Ventforet Kofu Vissel Kobe Matsumoto Yamaga | Avispa Fukuoka Omiya Ardija Consadole Sapporo Ehime FC Fagiano Okayama FC Gifu Giravanz Kitakyushu Mito HollyHock JEF United Chiba Júbilo Iwata Kamatamare Sanuki Zweigen Kanazawa Cerezo Osaka Roasso Kumamoto Kyoto Sanga Thespakusatsu Gunma Tochigi SC Oita Trinita Tokyo Verdy V-Varen Nagasaki Tokushima Vortis Yokohama FC | Vanraure Hachinohe | Hokkaido: Sapporo University Aomori: ReinMeer Aomori Iwate: Grulla Morioka Miyagi: Sendai University Akita: Blaublitz Akita Yamagata: Yamagata University Fukushima: Fukushima United FC Ibaraki: Ryutsu Keizai University Tochigi: Tochigi Uva FC Gunma: Tonan Maebashi Saitama: Tokyo International University Chiba: Juntendo University Tokyo: FC Machida Zelvia Kanagawa: Toin University of Yokohama Yamanashi: Nirasaki Astros Nagano: AC Nagano Parceiro Niigata: Japan Soccer College Toyama: Toyama Shinjo Club Ishikawa: Hokuriku University Fukui: Saurcos Fukui Shizuoka: Fujieda MYFC Aichi: FC Maruyasu Okazaki Mie: Yokkaichi University Gifu: FC Gifu Second | Shiga: MIO Biwako Shiga Kyoto: Ritsumeikan University Osaka: FC Osaka Hyōgo: Kwansei Gakuin University Nara: Nara Club Wakayama: Arterivo Wakayama Tottori: Gainare Tottori Shimane: Matsue City FC Okayama: Fagiano Okayama Next Hiroshima: Hiroshima University of Economics Yamaguchi: Renofa Yamaguchi FC Kagawa: Tadotsu FC Tokushima: Tokushima University Hippocrates Ehime: FC Imabari Kōchi: Kōchi University Fukuoka: Fukuoka University Saga: Saga Lixil Nagasaki: Mitsubishi Nagasaki SC Kumamoto: Tokai University Ōita: Verspah Oita Miyazaki: J.FC Miyazaki Kagoshima: Kagoshima United FC Okinawa: FC Ryukyu |