 |
|
| Founded | 1992 |
|---|---|
| Country | Japan |
| Confederation | AFC |
| Number of teams | 18 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | J2 League (since 1998) |
| Domestic cup(s) | Emperor’s Cup Fuji Xerox Super Cup |
| League cup(s) | YBC Levain Cup |
| International cup(s) | AFC Champions League |
| Current champions | Kawasaki Frontale (3rd title) (2020) |
| Most championships | Kashima Antlers (8 titles) |
| Top goalscorer | Yoshito Ōkubo (179 goals) |
| TV partners | DAZN (all matches), NHK BS1 (some matches) |
| Website | www.jleague.jp |
| 2020 J1 League | |
| Team | Winner |
| Kashima Antlers | 8 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 4 |
| Júbilo Iwata | 3 |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 3 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | 3 |
| Gamba Osaka | 2 |
| Tokyo Verdy | 2 |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 1 |
| Nagoya Grampus | 1 |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 1 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 0 |
| Vegalta Sendai | 0 |
| FC Tokyo | 0 |
| Year | Champions | Runners-up | Leading goalscorer | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan Soccer League (1965–1971) | ||||
| 1965 | Toyo Industries | Yawata Steel | Mutsuhiko Nomura (Hitachi) | 15 |
| 1966 | Toyo Industries | Yawata Steel | Aritatsu Ogi (Toyo Industries) | 14 |
| 1967 | Toyo Industries | Furukawa Electric | Takeo Kimura (Furukawa Electric) | 15 |
| 1968 | Toyo Industries | Yanmar Diesel | Kunishige Kamamoto (Yanmar Diesel) | 14 |
| 1969 | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | Toyo Industries | Hiroshi Ochiai (Mitsubishi Motors) | 12 |
| 1970 | Toyo Industries | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | Kunishige Kamamoto (Yanmar Diesel) | 16 |
| 1971 | Yanmar Diesel | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | Kunishige Kamamoto (Yanmar Diesel) | 11 |
| Japan Soccer League Division 1 (1972–1992) | ||||
| 1972 | Hitachi SC | Yanmar Diesel | Akira Matsunaga (Hitachi) | 12 |
| 1973 | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | Hitachi SC | Akira Matsunaga (Hitachi) | 11 |
| 1974 | Yanmar Diesel | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | Kunishige Kamamoto (Yanmar Diesel) | 21 |
| 1975 | Yanmar Diesel | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | Kunishige Kamamoto (Yanmar Diesel) | 17 |
| 1976 | Furukawa Electric | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | Kunishige Kamamoto (Yanmar Diesel) | 15 |
| 1977 | Fujita Industries | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | Carvalho (Fujita Industries) | 23 |
| 1978 | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | Yanmar Diesel | Kunishige Kamamoto (Yanmar Diesel) Carvalho (Fujita Industries) | 15 |
| 1979 | Fujita Industries | Yomiuri SC | Ruy Ramos (Yomiuri) | 14 |
| 1980 | Yanmar Diesel | Fujita Industries | Hiroyuki Usui (Hitachi) | 14 |
| 1981 | Fujita Industries | Yomiuri SC | Hiroshi Yoshida (Furukawa Electric) | 14 |
| 1982 | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | Yanmar Diesel | Hiroyuki Usui (Hitachi) | 13 |
| 1983 | Yomiuri SC | Nissan Motors | Ruy Ramos (Yomiuri) | 10 |
| 1984 | Yomiuri SC | Nissan Motors | Tetsuya Totsuka (Yomiuri) | 14 |
| 1985–86 | Furukawa Electric | NKK SC | Hiroshi Yoshida (Furukawa Electric) | 16 |
| 1986–87 | Yomiuri SC | NKK SC | Toshio Matsuura (NKK) | 17 |
| 1987–88 | Yamaha Motors | NKK SC | Toshio Matsuura (NKK) | 11 |
| 1988–89 | Nissan Motors | ANA SC | Adílson (Yamaha Motors) | 11 |
| 1989–90 | Nissan Motors | Yomiuri SC | Renato (Nissan Motors) | 17 |
| 1990–91 | Yomiuri SC | Nissan Motors | Tetsuya Totsuka (Yomiuri) Tsuyoshi Kitazawa (Honda Motor) Renato (Nissan Motors) | 10 |
| 1991–92 | Yomiuri SC | Nissan Motors | Toninho (Yomiuri) | 18 |
| J.League (1993–1998) | ||||
| 1992 | Transition period; top flight clubs only play the J.League Cup , but Japan Football League plays inaugural season | |||
| 1993 | Verdy Kawasaki Yasutaro Matsuki | Kashima Antlers | Ramón Díaz (Yokohama Marinos) | 28 |
| 1994 | Verdy Kawasaki Yasutaro Matsuki | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Frank Ordenewitz (JEF United Ichihara) | 30 |
| 1995 | Yokohama F. Marinos Hiroshi Hayano | Verdy Kawasaki | Masahiro Fukuda (Urawa Red Diamonds) | 32 |
| 1996 | Kashima Antlers João Carlos da Silva | Nagoya Grampus Eight | Kazuyoshi Miura (Verdy Kawasaki) | 23 |
| 1997 | Júbilo Iwata Takashi Kuwahara | Kashima Antlers | Patrick Mboma (Gamba Osaka) | 25 |
| 1998 | Kashima Antlers José Mário de Almeida Barros | Júbilo Iwata | Masashi Nakayama (Júbilo Iwata) | 36 |
| J.League Division 1 (1999–2014) | ||||
| 1999 | Júbilo Iwata Takashi Kuwahara | Shimizu S-Pulse | Hwang Sun-Hong (Cerezo Osaka) | 24 |
| 2000 | Kashima Antlers Toninho Cerezo | Yokohama F. Marinos | Masashi Nakayama (Júbilo Iwata) | 20 |
| 2001 | Kashima Antlers Toninho Cerezo | Júbilo Iwata | Will (Consadole Sapporo) | 20 |
| 2002 | Júbilo Iwata Takeshi Okada | Yokohama F. Marinos | Naohiro Takahara (Júbilo Iwata) | 26 |
| 2003 | Yokohama F. Marinos Takeshi Okada | Júbilo Iwata | Ueslei (Nagoya Grampus Eight) | 22 |
| 2004 | Yokohama F. Marinos Takeshi Okada | Urawa Red Diamonds | Emerson (Urawa Red Diamonds) | 27 |
| 2005 | Gamba Osaka Akira Nishino | Urawa Red Diamonds | Araújo (Gamba Osaka) | 33 |
| 2006 | Urawa Red Diamonds Guido Ulrich Buchwald | Kawasaki Frontale | Washington (Urawa Red Diamonds) Magno Alves (Gamba Osaka) | 26 |
| 2007 | Kashima Antlers Oswaldo de Oliveira Filho | Urawa Red Diamonds | Juninho (Kawasaki Frontale) | 22 |
| 2008 | Kashima Antlers Oswaldo de Oliveira Filho | Kawasaki Frontale | Marquinhos (Kashima Antlers) | 21 |
| 2009 | Kashima Antlers Oswaldo de Oliveira Filho | Kawasaki Frontale | Ryoichi Maeda (Júbilo Iwata) | 20 |
| 2010 | Nagoya Grampus Dragan Stojković | Gamba Osaka | Joshua Kennedy (Nagoya Grampus) Ryoichi Maeda (Júbilo Iwata) | 17 |
| 2011 | Kashiwa Reysol Nélson "Nelsinho" Baptista | Nagoya Grampus | Joshua Kennedy (Nagoya Grampus) | 19 |
| 2012 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hajime Moriyasu | Vegalta Sendai | Hisato Satō (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) | 22 |
| 2013 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hajime Moriyasu | Yokohama F. Marinos | Yoshito Ōkubo (Kawasaki Frontale) | 26 |
| 2014 | Gamba Osaka Kenta Hasegawa | Urawa Red Diamonds | Yoshito Ōkubo (Kawasaki Frontale) | 18 |
| J1 League (2015–present) | ||||
| 2015 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hajime Moriyasu | Gamba Osaka | Yoshito Ōkubo (Kawasaki Frontale) | 23 |
| 2016 | Kashima Antlers Masatada Ishii | Urawa Red Diamonds | Leandro ( Vissel Kobe ) Peter Utaka (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) | 19 |
| 2017 | Kawasaki Frontale Toru Oniki | Kashima Antlers | Yū Kobayashi (Kawasaki Frontale) | 23 |
| 2018 | Kawasaki Frontale Toru Oniki | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Jô (Nagoya Grampus) | 24 |
| 2019 | Yokohama F. Marinos Ange Postecoglou | FC Tokyo | Teruhito Nakagawa (Yokohama F. Marinos) Marcos Júnior (Yokohama F. Marinos) | 15 |
| 2020 | Kawasaki Frontale Toru Oniki | Gamba Osaka | Michael Olunga (Kashiwa Reysol) | 25 |
| 2021 |