The 2023 J1 League, also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the 31st season of the

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the ...

, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1993.

Yokohama F. Marinos is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club competes in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Having won the J-League title four times an ...

are the defending champions, having won their fifth J.League and seventh

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

title in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...

in the final match of the season.

Overview

Only one club will be relegated to the

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Ya ...

at the end of the season, as the number of clubs will be expanded from 18 to 20 clubs from the 2024 season.

Changes from the previous season

There were two teams relegated last season to the

2023 J2 League The 2023 J2 League, also known as the for sponsorship reasons, will be the 25th season of the J2 League, the second-tier Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1999. Overview This is the last se ...

Shimizu S-Pulse is a professional Japanese football club. Located in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, S-Pulse currently competes in the J2 League (J2). The club was formed in 1991 as a founding member of the J.League (''"Original Ten"''), which bega ...

and

Júbilo Iwata is a professional Japanese association football team that currently play in the J2 League. The team name ''Júbilo'' means 'joy' in Spanish and Portuguese. The team's hometown is Iwata, Shizuoka prefecture and they play at Yamaha Stadium. For ...

, both from

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the north ...

, were relegated due to them finishing 17th and 18th respectively the previous season. Thus, this is the first Japanese top-flight season to not feature any team from the region.

Kyoto Sanga is a Japanese professional football club based in Kyoto. "Sanga" comes from the Sanskrit word '' sangha'', a term meaning "group" or "club" and often used to denote the Buddhist priesthood, associating the club with Kyoto's many Buddhist te ...

finished on 16th place, but won the promotion/relegation playoffs against

Roasso Kumamoto is a Japanese football club based in Kumamoto, the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture. The club currently plays in the J2 League, which is the second tier of football in the country. ''Roasso'' is a portmanteau of the Italian words ''rosso'' a ...

and thus retained their top league status. Had Roasso won, it would have been their first ever promotion to the top-flight. Two teams were promoted from the

2022 J2 League The 2022 J2 League, also known as the for sponsorship reasons, was the 24th season of the J2 League, the second-tier Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1999. Clubs Personnel and kits ...

Albirex Niigata is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. From 2023, Albirex will be playing on the J1 League, coming back to the fi ...

, who won the title and returned to J1 after a five-year absence, and Yokohama FC, who finished second, returning to the J1 after just a season playing on the J2 League.

Participating clubs

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Transfers

The winter transfer window will go from 6 January to 31 March, while the summer transfer window will go from 21 July to 18 August.

Foreign players

From the 2021 season, there is no limitations on signing foreign players, but clubs could only register up to five of them for a single matchday squad. Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Qatar) were exempted from these restrictions. *Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window. *Player's name in ''italics'' indicates the player has Japanese nationality in addition to their FIFA nationality, holds the nationality of a J.League partner nation, or is exempt from being treated as a foreign player due to having been born in Japan and being enrolled in, or having graduated from an approved type of school in the country.

League table

Results table

Season statistics

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

;Notes *⁵ Player scored 5 goals *(H) – Home team *(A) – Away team

Top assists

Clean sheets

Discipline

Player

* Most yellow cards: 1 **''28 players'' * Most red cards: 1 **

Jesiel Jesiel Cardoso Miranda (born 3 May 1994), simply known as Jesiel, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Japanese club Kawasaki Frontale as a centre back. Club career Born in São Paulo, Jesiel started his youth career with the ...

(Kawasaki Frontale)

Club

* Most yellow cards: 4 **Yokohama FC * Most red cards: 1 **Kawasaki Frontale

Awards

Monthly awards

References

External links

English official website

Japanese official website

J.League Data Site

J.League Data Site
{{Japanese Club Football, group=first J1 League seasons 1 Japan Japan