Statistics of Japan Soccer League for the 1986–87 season.
First Division Despite moving to Kashiwa, Chiba and a soccer-specific stadium of their own, Hitachi did not adjust well and were relegated in bottom place, the first drop for the former champions. Matsushita, despite having more victories than relegation rivals Yamaha, had more losses as well and thus joined Hitachi.
Second Division Sumitomo returned to the top flight at the first time of asking, followed by Toyota Motors, who had been struggling since their 1977 relegation and came close to dropping out of the League. TDK and the Kyoto Police Dept. team went back to the regional divisions; TDK would not return to the second tier until 2021.
First stage
East
West
Second stage
Promotion Group
Relegation Group
East
West
9th-16th Place Playoff PosEastScoreWest9–10Fujitsu3-3(PK4-2)Nippon Steel11–12ANA Yokohama4-2Kawasaki Steel13–14Toho Titanium3-0NTT Kansai15–16TDK5-0Kyoto Prefectural Police
References Japan - List of final tables (RSSSF)