Japanese football league system Information & Japanese football league system Links at HealthHaven.com

The Japanese football league system is organized in a pyramidal shape just like the football league systems in the world.

The leagues are, as expected, bound by the principle of promotion and relegation; however, there are stringent criteria for promotion from the JFL to J2, which demands a club being backed by the town itself including the local government, a community of fans, corporate sponsors rather than a parent company or a corporation. There is no relegation provision from J2 to the JFL at the moment, since J2 is currently in the process of expansion, thus promotion to it is partially economic in nature. However, once the J2 reaches 22 clubs, relegation between J2 and JFL will start.

[edit] Overview

The top two levels of the Japanese football league system are operated by J. League, which consists of J. League Division 1 (J1) and J. League Division 2. All of the clubs in J. League are professional.

The third level, Japan Football League (JFL), is organized by the Japan Football Association, and is a semi-professional league consisting of amateur, professional, and university clubs from all over Japan.

At the fourth and fifth levels, nine parallel regional leagues are operated by nine different regional football associations. Some have multiple divisions. The regional associations are divided by political or geographical boundaries.

At the sixth level and below, parallel prefectural leagues are hosted by each of the 46 different prefectural football associations, again divided by political or geographical boundaries. Some have multiple divisions.

Level(s)	League(s)/Division(s)
I	J. League Division 1 (J1) 18 clubs
II	J. League Division 2 (J2) 18 clubs
III	Japan Football League 18 clubs
IV/V	9 Regional Leagues 121 clubs (2009 season) Hokkaido (6clubs) Tohoku 1st (8clubs) \| Tohoku 2nd north (8clubs) \| Tohoku 2nd south (8clubs) Kanto 1st (8clubs) \| Kanto 2nd (8clubs) Tokai 1st (8clubs) \| Tokai 2nd (8clubs) Hokushin'etsu 1st (8clubs) \| Hokushin'etsu 2nd (8clubs) Kansai 1st (8clubs) \| Kansai 2nd (8clubs) Chugoku (10clubs) Shikoku (8clubs) Kyushu (9clubs)
VI+	46 Prefectural Leagues & 4 Block Leagues of Hokkaido many clubs Dōhoku block (north) \| Dōtō block (east) \| Dōō block (central) \| Dōnan block (south) Aomori \| Iwate \| Miyagi \| Akita \| Yamagata \| Fukushima Ibaraki \| Tochigi \| Gunma \| Saitama \| Chiba \| Tokyo \| Kanagawa Gifu \| Shizuoka \| Aichi \| Mie Niigata \| Toyama \| Ishikawa \| Fukui \| Yamanashi \| Nagano Shiga \| Kyoto \| Osaka \| Hyogo \| Nara \| Wakayama Tottori \| Shimane \| Okayama \| Hiroshima \| Yamaguchi Tokushima \| Kagawa \| Ehime \| Kochi Fukuoka \| Saga \| Nagasaki \| Kumamoto \| Ōita \| Miyazaki \| Kagoshima \| Okinawa

[edit] Structure

[edit] Level I & II: J. League

J. League governs the top two level of Japanese football pyramid and it consists of a total of 36 football clubs. All 36 clubs in J. League are fully professional and are divided into two divisions, J. League Division 1 (J1) and J. League Division 2 (J2). Eighteen (18) clubs make up the top flight and have access to the Asian premier football competition, AFC Champions League. Division 2 also has 18 clubs; however, this number is expected to increase to 22 in the near future.

[edit] J. League Division 1 (18 Clubs)

Asian Qualification: Currently through the league games, the J. League champions, runner-ups and third-places are allowed to qualify to the AFC Champions League. The other means of qualification is the Emperor's Cup; however this also gives clubs below level I the possibility of qualification. If one or more of the top three have already qualified through other means (i.e. Emperor's Cup Winners, ACL Defending Champions), the league 4th place receives the final qualification spot.

Relegation (to J2): Currently, 3 clubs are relegated to J. League Division 2. The bottom three clubs (16th, 17th and 18th places) are automatically relegated.

[edit] J. League Division 2 (18 Clubs)

Promotion (to J1): Three clubs have access to promotion. The champions, runners-up, and third-place finishers of the Division 2 are guaranteed, given that they meet all the Division 1 criteria (In the past, no club have been denied promotion due to this).

Relegation (to JFL): None

[edit] Level III: Japan Football League (18 Clubs)

The Japan Football League (JFL) is the third level in the Japanese football pyramid, and is known as the highest level for amateur club football. Unlike J. League, JFL is governed by Japan Football Association (JFA). It consists of amateur clubs such as university teams and company football clubs. Some professional clubs do exist as well. Usually these professional clubs are eyeing promotion to the professional league, J. League. Due to presence of these professional clubs, in reality the league has the semi-professional status.

Promotion (to J2): Clubs in JFL must meet following criteria to receive promotion to the professional league.

Have J. League Associate Membership
Finish in the top four in JFL.
Pass the final inspection by the J. League professional committee

Relegation (to Regional Leagues): The number varies from 0 to 3 depending on number of clubs promoted to the J. League Division 2 and/or number of club disbanded. Depending on the number, the teams ranked 17th and 18th at the end of the season are automatically relegated to Regional Leagues. The team ranked 16th may have to face promotion/relegation series to survive the relegation. Clubs will be relegated to their designated Regional League (i.e. a club from Tokyo will relegate to Kanto League, even if the promoted club is not from Kanto League).

[edit] Level IV/V: 9 Japanese Regional Leagues

In the modern Japan, the country is divided into 9 different regions. From North to South they are Hokkaido, Touhoku, Kantou, Tokai, Hokushin-etsu (Hokuriku+Shin-etsu), Kansai, Shikoku, Chugoku, and Kyushu. Each region have its own football league, and they make up 9 parallel football leagues governed by designated regional FAs. Hokkaido, Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu Regional Leagues have only one division, whereas others have two divisions. On top of that, Touhoku Division 2 is divided into Division 2 North and Division 2 South. Because of difference in the structures, each region has its own promotion and relegation regulation between the divisions.

Promotion (to JFL): At the end of the year, champions and some runners-up from the 9 Regional Leagues qualify to the All Japan Regional Football Promotion League Series. The winners of the tournament and runners-up receive promotion to JFL. The 3rd-placed club receives promotion/relegation series match against JFL club ranked 16th or direct promotion depending on number of clubs promoted to J2 and clubs disbanded.
Relegation (to Prefectural Leagues): Different regulations for each Regional Leagues

[edit] Level VI+: 46 Prefectural Leagues & Hokkaido Blocks

Under the 9 regions, there are 47 prefectures. Hokkaido is by itself is a prefecture, thus the leagues in Hokkaido does not have a prefectural league and rather divided into 4 blocks (North, Central, East, and South); however, all other 46 prefectures has Prefectural leagues. Most if not all, of these leagues have multi-divisions.

Promotion (to Regional League): Different regulations for each Regional Leagues.
Relegation (to Municipal Leagues)

[edit] External links

Japan Football League page
Structure (in English)
Japanese Non-League news (in English)
2008 Japan Regional Promotion Playoff Series
Regional Leagues (all in Japanese):

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