The 2017 J1 League (known as the 2017 Meiji Yasuda J1 League (2017 明治安田生命J1リーグ) for sponsorship reasons) was the 25th season of the

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. This was third season of J1 League as renamed from J. League Division 1. The season began on 25 February 2017 and ended on 2 December. Fixtures for the 2017 season were announced on 26 January 2017.

Kashima Antlers The are a professional association football, football club based in Kashima, Ibaraki, Japan. They currently play in the J1 League, the top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The club has financial backing from Mercari, a Japanese ...

were the defending champions.

Consadole Sapporo is a Japanese professional football club based in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido. They will play in the 2025 J2 League, the second tier league of Japanese football, after relegation from the J1 League at conclusion of th ...

Shimizu S-Pulse is a Japanese professional association football, football club located in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka (city), Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture. S-Pulse is going to compete in the J1 League for the 2025 Season, after winning promotio ...

and

Cerezo Osaka is a Japanese professional football club based in Osaka. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Cerezo'' (Spanish for cherry blossom) is also the flower of the city of Osak ...

entered as the three promoted teams from the 2016 J2 League. The league was won by Kawasaki Frontale, winning their first major title while in J1 and 40 years after their first season in the Japanese top division.

Clubs

A total of 18 clubs participated in this season, including 15 sides from the 2016 season and three promoted from the 2016 J2 League. These included the two top teams;

and

from the J2 League, and the winners of the play-offs;

. The three promoted clubs replace

Nagoya Grampus ; formerly known as is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, and have for all but one season since the inauguration of the league, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture an ...

Shonan Bellmare is a Japanese professional football club based in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Hiratsuk ...

and Avispa Fukuoka. Former J1 League champion Nagoya Grampus were relegated to the J2 League for the first time in their history.

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Foreign players

The total number of foreign players is restricted to five per club. For matchday squad registration, a club can register up to four foreign players, but a maximum of three can be from outside the AFC. Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, and Qatar) are exempt from these club registration and matchday squad registration restrictions. *Players name in bold indicate players that were registered during the mid-season transfer window. *Players name in ''ITALICS'' indicate players that were out of squad or left their respective clubs during the mid-season transfer window.

Results

League table

Positions by round

Results table

Season statistics

Top scorers

''As of matches played on December 2nd, 2017.''

Top assists

''As of matches played on December 2nd, 2017.''

Hat-tricks

;Note (H) – Home; (A) – Away

Attendances

References

{{2017 in Asian Football (AFC) J1 League seasons 1

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...