Blaublitz Akita
On 26 February Blaublitz Akita and Zweigen Kanazawa were granted J. League associate membership status, bringing the number of such clubs to six, an all-time high mark for the league. On 20 August YSCC Yokohama's application was also granted by J. League, further increasing associate members count to seven. It raised again to 10 members after another J. League board session on 16 September, when applications of Fukushima United, FC Ryukyu and Fujieda MYFC were approved.