The 2018 J1 League, also known as the for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of
J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1993.
Kawasaki Frontale
is a Japanese professional football club based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium, in Nakahara ...
were the defending champions.
2018 season clubs
A total of 18 clubs contested the league. The
2017 J2 League champion
Shonan Bellmare and the winner of the promotion play-offs
Nagoya Grampus
(formerly known as ) is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and founded as the company team of the Toyota, Toyota Motor Corp. in 1939 ...
returned to the top flight a year after being relegated from J1 in the
2016 season.
V-Varen Nagasaki, J2 runner-up in 2017, played in the
J1 League for the first time.
*
Personnel and kits
Managerial changes
Foreign players
The total number of foreign players is restricted to five per club. Clubs can register up to four foreign players for a single match-day squad, of which a maximum of three are allowed from nations outside the
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly i ...
(AFC). Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran and Qatar) are exempt from these restrictions.
Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
Results
League table
Positions by round
Results table
Promotion–Relegation Playoff
2018 J.League J1/J2 Play-Offs (2018 J1参入プレーオフ)
Júbilo Iwata remains in J1 League.
Tokyo Verdy remains in J2 League.
Season statistics
Top scorers
.
Top assists
Hat-tricks
;Note
(H) – Home ; (A) – Away
Attendances
Awards
References
{{2018 in Asian Football (AFC)
J1 League seasons
1
Japan