List of Japanese football champions


Japanese League
Japan Soccer League
Japan Soccer League Division 1
J.League
J.League Division 1
J1 League
Country
Japan
Founded
1965
Number of Teams
18
Current Champions
Yokohama F. Marinos
Most successful club
Kashima Antlers and Sanfrecce Hiroshima

The Japanese football champions are the winners of the top league in Japan, the Japan Soccer League from 1965 to 1992 and the J1 League since then.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Tokyo Verdy are the only teams that have won the title four times in a row. Notice that from 1985 to 1992 Japanese football adjusted to the "fall-spring" season schedule but after establishment of J.League switched back to "spring-fall" scheme.
Teams in bold have completed the double of the title and the Emperor's Cup in the same season. In 1985 no double was possible due to the season's timeframe change; thus, the doubles completed between then and 1992 are won in the middle of the season.

Japan Soccer League (1965–1971)

Numbers in parentheses indicate number of wins at the date. Leading goalscorer's nationality is at the time of award and does not necessarily indicate the national team played for.
YearChampions
Runners-upThird placeLeading goalscorerGoals
1965
Toyo IndustriesYawata SteelFurukawa Electric Mutsuhiko Nomura 15
1966
Toyo Industries Yawata SteelFurukawa Electric Aritatsu Ogi 14
1967
Toyo Industries Furukawa ElectricMitsubishi Heavy Industries Takeo Kimura 15
1968
Toyo Industries Yanmar DieselMitsubishi Heavy Industries Kunishige Kamamoto 14
1969
Mitsubishi Heavy IndustriesToyo IndustriesYawata Steel Hiroshi Ochiai 12
1970
Toyo Industries Mitsubishi Heavy IndustriesHitachi SC Kunishige Kamamoto 16
1971
Yanmar DieselMitsubishi Heavy IndustriesNippon Steel Kunishige Kamamoto 11

Japan Soccer League Division 1 (1972–1992)

J.League (1993–1998)

In 1992, professional J.League was established. All teams elected to it stripped themselves of corporate identities and adopted their own names. From 1993 to 2005, and in 2015 and 2016, the league was contested in an Apertura and Clausura manner, thus the "runners-up" for these seasons are actually the winners of one of these tournaments which lost to the winners of the playoff. The "third places" are the highest-scoring teams in the aggregate table which were not involved in the playoff. If there was no playoff due to the champions winning both stages, the third place is the second-best points earning team who are not the champions.

J.League Division 1 (1999–2014)

Top flight becomes J.League Division 1 in 1999.
YearChampions
Runners-upThird placeLeading goalscorerGoals
1999
Júbilo Iwata Shimizu S-PulseKashiwa Reysol Hwang Sun-Hong 24
2000
Kashima Antlers Yokohama F. MarinosKashiwa Reysol Masashi Nakayama 20
2001
Kashima Antlers Júbilo IwataJEF United Ichihara Will 20
2002
Júbilo Iwata Yokohama F. MarinosGamba Osaka Naohiro Takahara 26
2003
Yokohama F. Marinos Júbilo IwataJEF United Chiba Ueslei 22
2004
Yokohama F. Marinos Urawa Red DiamondsGamba Osaka Emerson 27
2005
Gamba OsakaUrawa Red DiamondsKashima Antlers Araújo 33
2006
Urawa Red Diamonds Kawasaki FrontaleGamba Osaka Washington
Magno Alves 		26
2007
Kashima Antlers Urawa Red DiamondsGamba Osaka Juninho 22
2008
Kashima Antlers Kawasaki FrontaleNagoya Grampus Marquinhos 21
2009
Kashima Antlers Kawasaki FrontaleGamba Osaka Ryoichi Maeda 20
2010
Nagoya GrampusGamba OsakaCerezo Osaka Joshua Kennedy
Ryoichi Maeda 		17
2011
Kashiwa Reysol Nagoya GrampusGamba Osaka Joshua Kennedy 19
2012
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Vegalta SendaiUrawa Red Diamonds Hisato Satō 22
2013
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Yokohama F. MarinosKawasaki Frontale Yoshito Ōkubo 26
2014
Gamba Osaka Urawa Red DiamondsKashima Antlers Yoshito Ōkubo 18

J1 League (2015–present)

The league was renamed to J1 League in 2015.
YearChampions
Runners-upThird placeLeading goalscorerGoals
2015
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Gamba OsakaUrawa Red Diamonds Yoshito Ōkubo 23
2016
Kashima Antlers Urawa Red DiamondsKawasaki Frontale Leandro
Peter Utaka 		19
2017
Kawasaki FrontaleKashima AntlersCerezo Osaka Yū Kobayashi 23
2018
Kawasaki Frontale Sanfrecce HiroshimaKashima Antlers Jô 24
2019
Yokohama F. Marinos FC TokyoKashima Antlers Teruhito Nakagawa
Marcos Júnior 		15

Total titles won

Thirteen clubs have been champions, though only ten have won the title since the establishment of J. League. Of these ten, Kashima Antlers, Gamba Osaka, Nagoya Grampus and Kawasaki Frontale have never been Japan Soccer League champions.
All Japanese champion clubs still exist and are competing in the J. League; however, some may have moved from their Japan Soccer League locations they won the title at, or may have cut off ties with their original parent company.
Years in italic indicate Japan Soccer League seasons. Clubs in bold compete in Division 1 as of the 2020 season; clubs in italic no longer exist.
ClubWinnersRunners-upWinning SeasonsRunners-up Seasons
Sanfrecce Hiroshima831965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 2012, 2013, 20151969, 1994, 2018
Kashima Antlers831996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2008, 2009, 20161993, 1997, 2017
Tokyo Verdy741983, 1984, 1986–87, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1993, 19941979, 1981, 1989–90, 1995
Yokohama F. Marinos671988–89, 1989–90, 1995, 2003, 2004, 20191983, 1984, 1990–91, 1991–92, 2000, 2002, 2013
Urawa Red Diamonds5111969, 1973, 1978, 1982, 20061970, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2014, 2016
Cerezo Osaka441971, 1974, 1975, 19801968, 1972, 1978, 1982
Júbilo Iwata431987–88, 1997, 1999, 20021998, 2001, 2003
Shonan Bellmare311977, 1979, 19811980
Kawasaki Frontale232017, 20182006, 2008, 2009
Gamba Osaka222005, 20142010, 2015
JEF United Chiba211976, 19851967
Kashiwa Reysol211972, 20111973
Nagoya Grampus1220101996, 2011
NKK SC031985, 1986–87, 1987–88
Nippon Steel Yawata021965, 1966
Yokohama Flügels011988–89
Shimizu S-Pulse011999
Vegalta Sendai012012
FC Tokyo012019

Wins by region

This is a breakdown by Japanese region, as clubs have moved cities before and even during the J.League period. Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Júbilo Iwata, Yokohama F. Marinos, Cerezo Osaka and Nagoya Grampus are the only champion clubs who have always been based in their respective cities.
Note that JFA divides Japan into nine regions opposing to more traditional eight, splitting Chūbu into Hokushin'etsu and Tōkai. See Japanese Regional Leagues for further detail.
RegionNumber of titlesClubs
Kantō35Kashima Antlers, Tokyo Verdy, Yokohama F. Marinos, Urawa Red Diamonds, Shonan Bellmare, JEF United Chiba, Kashiwa Reysol, Kawasaki Frontale
Chūgoku8Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Kansai6Cerezo Osaka, Gamba Osaka
Tōkai5Júbilo Iwata, Nagoya Grampus