The 2022 J1 League, also known as the for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th season of the J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. This was eighth season of J1 League as renamed from J. League Division 1.
Kawasaki Frontale were the defending champions, having won their fourth and second consecutive title in 2021 with four rounds to play. Yokohama F. Marinos reclaimed the trophy, winning its fifth J.League and seventh Japanese title on the final day of the season. Brazilian forward Thiago Santana scored 14 goals for Shimizu S-Pulse, the least number of goals from a player who became the league top scorer and the first to also suffer relegation in the same season.
Overview Due to 2022 FIFA World Cup, the league began from February to November 2022.
Changes from the previous season There were four teams instead of two relegated last season to 2022 J2 League due to impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic to made up the decision of no relegation in the 2020 season, which saw the number of teams rise to 20. They were Tokushima Vortis, Oita Trinita, Vegalta Sendai, and Yokohama FC.
Two teams were promoted from the 2021 J2 League: Júbilo Iwata, who won the title and returned to J1 after a two-year absence, and Kyoto Sanga who finished second, returning to J1 after 11 seasons.
Clubs
+Club Location Stadium Capacity Previous season rankHokkaido Consadole Sapporo Hokkaido Sapporo Dome41,484J1 (10th)Kashima Antlers Ibaraki Prefecture Kashima Soccer Stadium 40,728 J1 (4th)Urawa Red Diamonds Saitama Prefecture Saitama Stadium 2002 63,700 J1 (6th)Kashiwa Reysol Chiba Prefecture Hitachi Kashiwa Stadium 15,900 J1 (15th)FC Tokyo Tokyo Ajinomoto Stadium 49,970 J1 (9th)Yokohama F. MarinosKanagawa Prefecture Nissan Stadium 72,327 J1 (2nd)Kawasaki Frontale Todoroki Stadium 26,232 J1 (1st)Shonan Bellmare Lemon Gas Stadium Hiratsuka 18,500 J1 (16th)Shimizu S-Pulse Shizuoka PrefectureIAI Stadium Nihondaira 20,339 J1 (14th)Júbilo IwataYamaha Stadium15,165Nagoya Grampus Aichi Prefecture Toyota Stadium 45,000 J1 (5th)Kyoto PrefectureSanga Stadium by Kyocera21,600Gamba Osaka Osaka Prefecture Panasonic Stadium Suita 39,694 J1 (13th)Cerezo Osaka Yanmar Stadium 47,853 J1 (12th)Vissel Kobe Hyōgo Prefecture Noevir Stadium 30,132 J1 (3rd)Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hiroshima Prefecture Edion Stadium 36,894 J1 (11th)Avispa Fukuoka Fukuoka Prefecture Best Denki Stadium 21,562 J1 (8th)Sagan Tosu Saga Prefecture Ekimae Real Estate Stadium 24,130 J1 (7th)
Personnel and kits Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Main shirt sponsor Avispa Fukuoka Shigetoshi Hasebe Hiroyuki Mae Yonex Shin Nihon Seiyaku Cerezo Osaka Akio Kogiku Hiroshi Kiyotake Puma Yanmar FC Tokyo Albert Puig Masato Morishige New Balance Mixi Gamba Osaka Hiroshi Matsuda Shu Kurata Umbro Panasonic Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Mihailo Petrović Hiroki Miyazawa Mizuno Ishiya Júbilo Iwata Hiroki Shibuya Kosuke Yamamoto Admiral Yamaha Kashima Antlers Daiki Iwamasa Shoma Doi Nike LIXIL Kashiwa Reysol Nelsinho Baptista Hidekazu Otani Yonex Hitachi Kawasaki Frontale Toru Oniki Shogo Taniguchi Puma Fujitsu Kyoto Sanga Cho Kwi-jae Temma Matsuda Puma Kyocera Nagoya Grampus Kenta Hasegawa Sho Inagaki Mizuno Toyota Sagan Tosu Kenta Kawai Naoyuki Fujita New Balance Kimura Information Technology Sanfrecce Hiroshima Michael Skibbe Sho Sasaki Nike EDION Shimizu S-Pulse Zé Ricardo Valdo Puma Suzuyo Shonan Bellmare Satoshi Yamaguchi Kazuki Oiwa Penalty Meldia Urawa Red Diamonds Ricardo Rodriguez Shusaku Nishikawa Nike Polus Vissel Kobe Takayuki Yoshida Andrés Iniesta Asics Rakuten Yokohama F. Marinos Kevin Muscat Takuya Kida Adidas Nissan
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in the tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentSanfrecce Hiroshima Kentaro SawadaEnd of interim spell5 December 2021 Michael Skibbe25 November 2021Gamba Osaka Masanobu Matsunami Tomohiro Katanosaka23 December 2021Kashima Antlers Naoki SomaEnd of contract René Weiler10 December 2021FC Tokyo Shinichi MorishitaEnd of interim spell Albert PuigNagoya Grampus Massimo FiccadentiEnd of contract9 December 2021 Kenta Hasegawa9 December 2021Sagan Tosu Kim Myung-hwiResigned20 December 2021 Kenta Kawai24 December 2021Júbilo Iwata Masakazu Suzuki25 December 2021 Akira Ito25 December 2021Vissel Kobe Atsuhiro MiuraSacked20 March 202216th Lluís Planagumà (caretaker)21 March 2022 Lluís PlanagumàEnd of caretaker spell8 April 202217th Miguel Ángel Lotina8 April 2022Shimizu S-Pulse Hiroaki HiraokaSacked30 May 202216th Yoshiyuki Shinoda (caretaker)30 May 2022 Yoshiyuki ShinodaEnd of caretaker spell7 June 2022 Zé Ricardo7 June 2022Vissel Kobe Miguel Ángel LotinaSacked29 June 202218th Takayuki Yoshida29 June 2022Kashima Antlers René WeilerMutual consent7 August 20224th Daiki Iwamasa8 August 2022Gamba Osaka Tomohiro KatanosakaSacked17 August 202217th Hiroshi Matsuda17 August 2022Júbilo Iwata Akira Ito18th Hiroki Shibuya
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 midseason 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.
ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Player 5Player 6 Player 7Player 8Former player (s) Avispa Fukuoka Jordy Croux Douglas Grolli Lukian John Mary Juanma Cerezo Osaka Adam Taggart Bruno Mendes Jean Patric Matej Jonjić Kim Jin-hyeon Chaowat Veerachat Đặng Văn Lâm FC Tokyo Adaílton Diego Oliveira Henrique Trevisan Leandro Luiz Phellype Jakub Słowik Bruno Uvini Gamba Osaka Dawhan Juan Alano Leandro Pereira Patric Wellington Silva Kwon Kyung-won Ju Se-jong Shin Won-ho Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Douglas Oliveira Gabriel Xavier Lucas Fernandes Milan Tučić Kim Gun-hee Supachok Sarachat Júbilo Iwata Dudu Pacheco Ricardo Graça Fabián González Alexei Koșelev Kashima Antlers Arthur Caíke Bueno Diego Pituca Everaldo Blessing Eleke Kim Min-tae Kwoun Sun-tae Juan Alano Kashiwa Reysol Dodi Douglas Matheus Sávio Rodrigo Angelotti Emerson Santos Kim Seung-gyu Kawasaki Frontale Jesiel João Schmidt Leandro Damião Marcinho Jung Sung-ryong Chanathip Songkrasin Kyoto Sanga Alan Cariús Mendes Paulinho Bóia Quenten Martinus Michael Woud Origbaajo Ismaila Peter Utaka Nagoya Grampus Mitchell Langerak Léo Silva Mateus Naldinho Tiago Pagnussat Jakub Świerczok Sagan Tosu Diego Hwang Seok-ho Park Il-gyu Park Keon-woo Ueom Ye-hoon Joan Oumari Taiga Son Sanfrecce Hiroshima Douglas Vieira Ezequiel Pieros Sotiriou Nassim Ben Khalifa Júnior Santos Shimizu S-Pulse Carlinhos Júnior Renato Augusto Ronaldo Thiago Santana Valdo Yago Pikachu Benjamin Kololli Oh Se-hun Shonan Bellmare Wellington Mikel Agu Tarik Elyounoussi Urawa Red Diamonds Alexander Scholz Kasper Junker Alex Schalk Bryan Linssen David Moberg Karlsson Vissel Kobe Matheus Thuler Stefan Mugoša Andrés Iniesta Bojan Krkić Sergi Samper Lincoln Yokohama F. Marinos Anderson Lopes Eduardo Élber Léo Ceará Marcos Júnior Yan Matheus
League table
Results table
Promotion–relegation playoffs In the playoffs, officially called the 2022 J.League J1/J2 Play-offs (), the 16th-placed team of the J1 League (Kyoto Sanga) faced the winners of the J2 League promotion playoffs. Should they lose, the J2 team would be promoted in their place for the 2023 J1 League. Fagiano Okayama, Roasso Kumamoto, Oita Trinita, and Montedio Yamagata qualified for the promotion playoffs as they finished between third and sixth in the 2022 J2 League.
In the first two rounds of the playoffs, if the score was tied after 90 minutes, no extra time was played and the winners were the team with the higher finish in the J2 League (i.e. the home team). In the final match at the J1 team's home, if the score was tied after 90 minutes, no extra time would be played, and both teams stay at their respective leagues.
First round
Second round
Final
Kyoto Sanga remained in J1 League. Roasso Kumamoto remained in J2 League.
Season statistics Scoring
Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Thiago SantanaShimizu S-Pulse142 Shuto MachinoShonan Bellmare133 AdaíltonFC Tokyo12 MarcinhoKawasaki Frontale Akihiro Ienaga6 Anderson LopesYokohama F. Marinos11 Léo Ceará8 Ayase UedaKashima Antlers10 Takuma NishimuraYokohama F. Marinos Yuya YamagishiAvispa Fukuoka
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Kasper JunkerUrawa Red DiamondsYokohama F. Marinos3–3 (H)18 May 2022 Léo CearáYokohama F. MarinosShimizu S-Pulse5–3 (A)2 July 2022 MarcinhoKawasaki FrontaleAvispa Fukuoka4–1 (A)20 August 2022 Ryoma WatanabeFC TokyoCerezo Osaka4–0 (H)12 October 2022
Top assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 Yasuto WakizakaKawasaki Frontale10 Yuma SuzukiKashima Antlers3 Gakuto NotsudaSanfrecce Hiroshima8 Makoto Mitsuta Yuta HiguchiKashima Antlers6 Akito FukutaSagan Tosu7 Reon YamaharaShimizu S-Pulse8 Anderson LopesYokohama F. Marinos6 Carlinhos JúniorShimizu S-Pulse MarcinhoKawasaki Frontale Thiago SantanaShimizu S-Pulse Ken IwaoUrawa Red Diamonds Kota MizunumaYokohama F. Marinos Teruhito Nakagawa Tomoya KoyamatsuKashiwa Reysol
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Jakub SłowikFC Tokyo142 Mitchell LangerakNagoya Grampus13 Yohei TakaokaYokohama F. Marinos4 Jung Sung-ryongKawasaki Frontale12 Park Il-gyuSagan Tosu6 Keisuke OsakoSanfrecce Hiroshima117 Kosei TaniShonan Bellmare10 Shusaku NishikawaUrawa Red Diamonds Takanori SugenoHokkaido Consadole Sapporo10 Kim Jin-hyeonCerezo Osaka9
Discipline Player Most yellow cards: 7 Diego Pituca (Kashima Antlers) Dodi (Kashiwa Reysol) Hisashi Appiah Tawiah (Kyoto Sanga) Yuji Takahashi (Kashiwa Reysol) Juanma (Avispa Fukuoka)
Most red cards: 1 44 players
Club Most yellow cards: 54 Kashiwa Reysol
Most red cards: 4 Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Júbilo Iwata Shonan Bellmare
Awards Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthMonthly MVPGoal of the MonthReferencesManagerClubPlayerClubPlayerClubFebruary/March Toru OnikiKawasaki Frontale Ayase UedaKashima Antlers Yuki SanetoYokohama F. MarinosApril Michael SkibbeSanfrecce Hiroshima Peter UtakaKyoto Sanga DawhanGamba OsakaMay Kevin MuscatYokohama F. Marinos Seiya MaikumaCerezo Osaka Matheus SávioKashiwa ReysolJune Satoshi YamaguchiShonan Bellmare Kota MizunumaYokohama F. Marinos Gakuto NotsudaSanfrecce HiroshimaJuly Kevin MuscatYokohama F. Marinos Léo CearáYokohama F. Marinos EveraldoKashima AntlersAugust Michael SkibbeSanfrecce Hiroshima Akihiro IenagaKawasaki Frontale MateusNagoya GrampusSeptember Kevin MuscatYokohama F. Marinos Tomoki IwataYokohama F. Marinos Takumu KawamuraSanfrecce HiroshimaOctober/November Toru OnikiKawasaki Frontale MarcinhoKawasaki Frontale Yuki KobayashiVissel Kobe
Annual awards Award Winner Club Manager of the Year Michael Skibbe Sanfrecce Hiroshima Player of the Year Tomoki Iwata Yokohama F. Marinos Best Young Player Mao Hosoya Kashiwa Reysol Goal of the Year Takumu Kawamura Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Best XI Goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka (Yokohama F. Marinos) Defenders Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale) Miki Yamane (Kawasaki Frontale) Tomoki Iwata (Yokohama F. Marinos) Ryuta Koike (Yokohama F. Marinos) Midfielders Akihiro Ienaga (Kawasaki Frontale) Yasuto Wakizaka (Kawasaki Frontale) Kota Mizunuma (Yokohama F. Marinos) Forwards Marcinho (Kawasaki Frontale) Élber (Yokohama F. Marinos) Thiago Santana (Shimizu S-Pulse)
See also Japan Football Association (JFA) 2022–23 WE League season 2022 Gamba Osaka season 2022 Júbilo Iwata season 2022 Kashima Antlers season