Emperor's Cup

Founded	1921
Region	Japan
Number of teams	88
Current champions	Gamba Osaka
Website	JFA
Emperor's Cup 2009

Urawa Red Diamonds vs. Gamba Osaka, January 1, 2007

The Emperor's Cup All-Japan Soccer Championship Tournament (天皇杯全日本サッカー選手権大会, Tennōhai Zen Nippon Sakkā Senshuken Taikai^?), commonly known as The Emperor's Cup (天皇杯, Tennōhai^?) or The Emperor's Cup Soccer (サッカー天皇杯, Sakkā Tennōhai^?), is a Japanese football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football tournament in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J. League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, Japan Soccer League. Before World War II, teams could qualify not only from Japan proper but also from Korea, Taiwan, and sometimes Manchuria.

[edit] Format

As it is a competition to decide the "best football team in Japan," the cup is now open to every member club of the Japan Football Association, from J1 and J2 (J. League Divisions 1 and 2) down to teams from the JFL, regional leagues, and top college and high school teams from around the country. The Emperor's Cup is one of two well-known national football tournaments named after a monarch (the other is Spain's Copa del Rey).

The holder can wear a Yatagarasu emblem (the ordinary winner wears one, the E letter and the purple line above the bird, the league-cup double winner can wear the gold star and line above the Yatagarasu) and obtains an AFC Champions League spot for the next season.

Since the creation of the J. League in 1992, the professional teams have dominated the competition, although doubles, once common in the JSL, have become very rare. However, because the Emperor's Cup is contested in a knockout tournament format, the opportunity for "giant-killers" from the amateur ranks upsetting a top J. League squad is a very real possibility. A major upset almost occurred in the 2003/04 competition, when Funabashi Municipal High School took the 2003 J. League champion Yokohama F. Marinos to a penalty shootout. [1] Waseda University was the last non-league winner of the Emperor's Cup, in 1966.

The knockout phase of the competition begins towards the end of the year. In 2006, 48 teams took part in the first two rounds - the winner from each of the 47 prefectural championships and the collegiate champion. The top team in the JFL standings and all thirteen J2 teams joined in the 3rd round. Finally, the eighteen J1 teams joined in the 4th round, making a total of 80 participating teams.

Since 1969, the Emperor's Cup final has been played on New Year's Day of the following year at the National Olympic Stadium in Tokyo and is regarded as the traditional closing match of the season. However, for the purposes of qualification to the AFC Champions League, the competition is considered the beginning of the season. For example, the Emperor's Cup winner for the 2005 season was crowned on January 1, 2006, and the winner participates in the 2007 tournament.

In November 2007, the JFA announced that the ACL 2009 spot would be given to the 2008 season's winner (crowned on January 1, 2009), not to the 2007 winner. In any case, the 2007 winner, Kashima Antlers, had already completed a double, thus the runner-ups Sanfrecce Hiroshima would have qualified, but they were relegated to J2 in the same season.

[edit] Past Emperor's Cup winners

Teams in italics indicate non-top flight clubs after 1965.

[edit] Top-performing clubs

[edit] Other Emperor's Cups

The Emperor's Cup term is used for many national championships in other sports. Like the football prize, most of them are knockout tournaments, except for professional sumo where the trophy is awarded for winning a round-robin Grand Sumo Tournament.

• Kendo
• Kyudo
• Judo - All-Japan Judo Championships
• Softball
• Basketball - All Japan Basketball Championships
• Volleyball - Emperor's Cup and Empress's Cup All Japan Volleyball Championship
• Professional Sumo
• Amateur Sumo
• Tennis
• Soft Tennis
• Table Tennis
• Amateur Wrestling
• Track & Field (students only)
• Swimming (students only)