2022 Japan Football League

The was the ninth season having a fourth-tier status in Japanese football, and the 24th season since the establishment of Japan Football League. The slogan for this season was "Enchant with a different play!" The matches were mostly broadcast/streamed live at Japan Football League's channel. The league's awards, not held since 2020 due to special measures regarding COVID-19, was held on 6 December 2022.

League structure and organisation Iwaki FC won the league for the first time in their history, after joining the league only two seasons ago. So, they were promoted and joined J3 for the 2022 season. Then, sixteen clubs featured in this season of Japan Football League. FC Kariya were relegated after losing the playoff against Criacao Shinjuku, who were duly promoted to the JFL after qualifying in the top two spots of the 45th Regional Play-off Series. Honda Lock kept their stay at JFL, as despite having finished 16th last season, they won their playoff match against FC Ise-Shima to avoid relegation to the Regional Leagues.

As of November 2022, there were six teams eligible for promotion to the J3 League, as the only way teams from JFL can be promoted to the J3, is by having a license (the same applies for teams being promoted from J3 to J2, and from J2 to J1). Up from none to 2 teams could be promoted from the Japan Football League, or relegated to the Regional Leagues, depending on the circumstances.

The league is played under a round-robin format, with the 16 teams playing home-and-away matches against each other, playing in total 30 matches across the competition, starting from 13 March and ending on 20 November. It features the usual point-earning format, with 3 points for winning, 1 for drawing, and no points for losing.

Regarding the breaks during the match, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the JFL continued to follow FIFA's recommendation of a maximum of 5 available substitutions, and 3 substitution windows per team in each match (excluding the half-time). The teams are allowed a water break at each half of the matches regardless of the WBGT on the matchday. The decision to have or not to have a water break is up to whose teams are playing the match.

Participating clubs The teams which possess promotion-enabler licenses are highlighted in green in the following table.

Club name Home town StadiumCapacityPosition NotesCriacao Shinjuku Shinjuku-ku, TokyoAGF Field2,800 Winners of KSL and 45th RPS 100 Year Plan status. J3 license application was declined by J.League. J3 Licenses - Honda FC Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Honda Miyakoda Soccer Stadium2,506 JFL (2nd) Miyazaki, Miyazaki Hinata Athletic Stadium20,000 JFL (16th) Kochi United Kōchi, Kōchi Kōchi Haruno Athletic Stadium25,000 JFL (13th) 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders.Maruyasu Okazaki Okazaki, Aichi Okazaki Ryūhoku Stadium5,000 JFL (14th) Kagura Shimane Matsue, Shimane Matsue Municipal Athletic Stadium24,000 JFL (5th) Renamed from "Matsue City FC"MIO Biwako Shiga Kusatsu, Shiga Higashiōmi Nunobiki Green Stadium5,060 JFL (12th) 100 Year Plan status applicantsNara Club All cities/towns in Nara Rohto Field Nara30,600 JFL (10th) 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders Higashiōsaka, OsakaHanazono Rugby Stadium 2nd Ground1,722 JFL (7th) 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders; renamed from "F.C. Osaka" Aomori, Aomori Kakuhiro Group Athletic Stadium20,809 JFL (9th) 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders Sony Sendai Tagajō, Miyagi Miyagi Seikyō Megumino Soccer Stadium10,000 JFL (6th) Suzuka Point Getters Suzuka, Mie AGF Suzuka Athletic Stadium1,450 JFL (4th) Former J3 license holders Hirakata, Osaka Hirakata Municipal Athletic Stadium2,500 JFL (8th) Tokyo Musashino United Musashino, Tokyo Musashino Municipal Athletic Stadium5,188 JFL (15th) Veertien Mie All cities/towns in Mie Asahi Gas Energy Tōin Stadium5,142 JFL (11th) 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders Verspah Oita Yufu, Beppu & Ōita, Ōita Shōwa Denkō Soccer/Rugby Field4,700 JFL (3rd) 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders.

Personnel and kits Club Manager CaptainKit manufacturerCriacao Shinjuku Ichiro NaruyamaYu Yonehara gym masterHonda FC Hiroyuki AbeYuki Kusumoto Umbro Yosuke Miyaji Daichi Takahara UmbroKagura Shimane Noriaki Sanenobu Keishiro Sato soccer junkyKochi United SC Takafumi Yoshimoto Tsubasa Yokotake ATHLETAMaruyasu Okazaki Hiroyasu Ibata Eitaro Tsunoi ATHLETAMIO Biwako Shiga Hiroshi Otsuki Ippei Kokuryo JOGARBOLANara Club Julián Marín Bazalo Yuki Kotani Squadra Shinya Tsukahara Shusuke Sakamoto bonera Kei ShibataNobuhisa Urata UmbroSony Sendai FC Jun SuzukiRen Yoshino UmbroSuzuka Point Getters Yasutoshi Miura Koji Hashimoto ATHLETAFC Tiamo Hirakata Yoshizumi Ogawa Shota Inoue JOGARBOLATokyo Musashino United FC Hiroki YodaDaichi Kobayashi YonexVeertien Mie Yasuhiro HiguchiKenshiro Tanioku LwondVerspah Oita Takashi Yamahashi Hirohito Shinohara YASUDA

Foreign players ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Player 5Player 6 Criacao Shinjuku Hwang Song-su Honda FC Honda Lock Kagura Shimane Kochi United Yoo Jong-min Tando Velaphi Maruyasu Okazaki MIO Biwako Shiga Cho Hyeong-in Nara Club Arnau Riera FC Osaka Efrain Rintaro Gabriel Pires Luiz Fernando Kim Soo-han Woo Sang-ho ReinMeer Aomori Halef Pitbull Sony Sendai Suzuka Point Getters Vinícius Faria Kim Tae-woo TIAMO Hirakata João Siqueira Yuri Messias Noah Fortune Emeka Basil Tokyo Musashino United Ko Kyung-te Ryang Hyon-ju Veertien Mie Kim Song-sun Verspah Oita

League table

Nara Club and FC Osaka have been promoted to J3 League, so there will be no relegation from the 2022 JFL.

Season statistics

Top scorers . RankPlayerClubGoals 1 Hayato Asakawa Nara Club 16 2 Hiroki Maeda Verspah Oita 14 Himan Morimoto Tiamo Hirakata Tatsuma Sakai Maruyasu Okazaki 5 Kaito Miyake Suzuka Point Getters 13 Shota Tamura Veertien Mie

Hat-tricks As of 20 November 2022. +NameForAgainstResultDateTatsuma Sakai3Maruyasu OkazakiSuzuka Point Getters4–220 March 2022Tomoki Hino4Honda LockKagura Shimane5–13 April 2022Yuhi Hayashi3Maruyasu OkazakiKochi United5–33 July 2022Daiki Kawato3Tokyo Musashino UnitedCriacao Shinjuku4–231 July 2022Himan Morimoto3Tiamo HirakataHonda Lock3–020 November 2022

Awards The awards were announced and presented on 6 December 2022.

Team awards AwardTeamFair Play Award Honda LockSpecial Prize Criacao Shinjuku

Individual awards AwardWinnerTeamBest Player (MVP) Hayato Asakawa Nara ClubTop Scorer (16 goals) Hayato Asakawa Nara ClubRookie of the Year Ryusei Kusakari Honda FCBest Manager Award Julián Marín Bazalo Nara ClubSpecial Award Kazuyoshi Miura Suzuka Point GettersFighting Spirit Award Takanori Kanamori Tokyo Musashino UnitedExcellent Referee Award Koki Yasukawa –

Team of the Year Goalkeeper (GK)Defenders (DF)Midfielders (MF)Forwards (FW) Arnau Riera (Nara Club) Hayato Horiuchi (Honda FC) Shusuke Sakamoto (FC Osaka) Wataru Ise (Nara Club) Kazuya Mima (FC Osaka) Yuya Suzuki (Honda FC) Rikuto Kubo (FC Osaka) Kazuki Matsumoto (Honda FC) Ryusei Kusakari (Honda FC) Hayato Asakawa (Nara Club) Tatsuma Sakai (Maruyasu Okazaki)

2022 Japan Football League

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