The 2022 J3 League, referred to as the for sponsorship reasons, was the 9th season of J3 League under its current name.
Iwaki FC won the J3 title for the first time in their history, in their debut campaign at the J3 League, just a year after being promoted from the JFL. They were promoted to the 2023 J2 League alongside Fujieda MYFC, who narrowly promoted with one point off the 3rd-placed team. Both teams won promotion for the J2 League for the first time.
Overview
After no relegations from the J2 League in 2020, in 2021 there were four relegations and the number of teams in the 2022 J3 League increased from 15 to 18.
This is first and last season as 18 teams for 2022.
This is last season to not feature relegation in 2022. From 2023, relegation from the J3 League to the JFL will be made possible.
Changes from the previous season
Promoted from 2021 JFLPromoted to 2022 J2 LeagueRelegated from 2021 J2 LeagueIwaki FCRoasso KumamotoIwate Grulla MoriokaSC SagamiharaEhime FC Giravanz Kitakyushu Matsumoto Yamaga
The 4 teams relegated from J2 League in 2021 were: SC Sagamihara, Ehime FC, Giravanz Kitakyushu and Matsumoto Yamaga.
Roasso Kumamoto and Iwate Grulla Morioka were promoted to J2 League.
Iwaki FC was promoted from 2021 JFL as champions of that division. Fukushima team are making their debut in the J3 League after obtaining a J.League License, to enable their promotion from the JFL.
Participating clubs
Club nameHome townStadiumCapacityLast seasonLicenceAzul Claro NumazuNumazuAshitaka Stadium5,104J3 (14th)J3Ehime FCAll cities/towns in EhimeNingineer Stadium21,401 J2 (20th) RelegatedJ1Fujieda MYFCCities/towns in Shizuoka PrefectureFujieda Soccer Field13,000J3 (10th)J2Fukushima UnitedFukushimaToho Stadium21,000J3 (5th)J1Gainare TottoriAll cities/towns in TottoriAxis Bird Stadium16,033J3 (12th)J2All cities/towns in GifuGifu Nagaragawa Stadium26,109J3 (6th)J1Giravanz KitakyushuKitakyushu, FukuokaMikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu15,066 J2 (21st) Relegated J1FC ImabariImabariArigato Service Dream Stadium5,241J3 (11th)J2Iwaki FCIwaki and Futaba District, FukushimaArigato Service Dream Stadium5,000 Promoted from JFL J2Kagoshima UnitedKagoshimaShiranami Stadium19,934J3 (7th)J1Kamatamare SanukiAll cities/towns in KagawaPikara Stadium30,099J3 (15th)J2Kataller ToyamaAll cities/towns in ToyamaToyama Athletic Stadium28,494J3 (5th)J1Matsumoto YamagaCities/towns in NaganoSunpro Alwin20,396 J2 (22nd) RelegatedJ1Nagano ParceiroNaganoNagano U Stadium15,491J3 (9th)J2SC SagamiharaSagamiharaGion Stadium15,300 J2 (19th) RelegatedJ2Tegevajaro MiyazakiMiyazaki & Shintomi, MiyazakiUnilever Stadium Shintomi5,357J3 (3rd)J3Vanraure HachinohePrifoods Stadium5,200J3 (13th)J2YSCC YokohamaYokohamaNippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium15,454J3 (8th)J2
Personnel and kits Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturerAzul Claro Numazu Kazuhito Mochizuki (caretaker) Takuya Sugai PenaltyEhime FC Kiyotaka Ishimaru Takanori Maeno MizunoFujieda MYFC Daisuke Sudo Masahiko Sugita Gol.Fukushima United Toshihiro Hattori Hiroto Morooka HummelGainare Tottori Kim Jong-song Koki Ishii Soccer JunkyFC Gifu Yuji Yokoyama Yōsuke Kashiwagi RazzoliGiravanz Kitakyushu Kenichi Amano Taiga Maekawa PenaltyFC Imabari Kazuaki Hashikawa Keishi Kusumi AsicsIwaki FC Hiromasa Suguri Yuto Yamashita Under ArmourKagoshima United Naoto Otake Kenta Hirose AnguaKamatamare Sanuki Toshihiro Nishimura Takaharu Nishino AthletaKataller Toyama Michiharu Otagiri Yohei Nishibe GoldwinMatsumoto Yamaga Hiroshi Nanami Hayumu Tanaka AdidasNagano Parceiro Yuki Richard Stalph Takuma Mizutani PenaltySC Sagamihara Norihiro Satsukawa Hiroki Mizumoto Gol.Tegevajaro Miyazaki Yasushi Takasaki Kenji Dai YonexVanraure Hachinohe Ryo Shigaki Naoyuki Yamada HummelYSCC Yokohama Kei Hoshikawa Kento Dodate Bonera
Managerial changes TeamOutgoingExit datePositionIncomingIncoming dateAnnounced onDeparted onAnnounced onArrived on FC GifuToshiya MiuraResigned5 May 20225 May 202214thYuji Yokoyama5 May 20226 May 2022 SC SagamiharaTakuya TakagiSacked20 May 202220 May 202215thNorihiro Satsukawa23 May 202224 May 2022 YSCC YokohamaKenji NakadaSacked25 May 202225 May 202218thKei Hoshikawa26 May 202226 May 2022 Vanraure HachinoheMasahiro KuzunoSacked13 June 202213 June 202217thRyo Shigaki13 June 202213 June 2022 Azul Claro NumazuMasataka ImaiSacked23 August 202223 August 202217thKazuhito Mochizuki23 August 202223 August 2022 Kataller ToyamaNobuhiro IshizakiSacked19 September 202219 September 20225thMichiharu Otagiri19 September 202219 September 2022
Foreign players From the 2021 season onwards, 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 Azul Claro Numazu Hadi Fayyadh Bùi Ngọc Long Nguyễn Văn Sơn Nguyễn Ngọc Hậu Ehime FC Fujieda MYFC Kauan Pedro Henrique Fukushima United Gainare Tottori Mun In-ju FC Gifu Freire Henik Ono Cholhwan Giravanz Kitakyushu FC Imabari Marcus Índio Mohamed Adam Park Soo-bin Lee Do-hyung Ralf Seuntjens Filip Piszczek Iwaki FC Kagoshima United Weslley Frank Romero Kamatamare Sanuki Ismael Dunga Kataller Toyama Arthur Silva Gabriel Nascimento Luís Henrique Matheus Leiria Chen Binbin Matsumoto Yamaga Lucão Paulinho Víctor Ibáñez Nagano Parceiro Ryu Nugraha Kim Min-ho SC Sagamihara Eduardo Kunde Agenor Tegevajaro Miyazaki Vanraure Hachinohe YSCC Yokohama Au Yeung Yiu Chung Han Yong-gi Shunkun Tani Promise Ugochukwu Loris Tinelli
League table
Stadiums Primary venues used in the 2022 J3 League season: Azul Claro NumazuEhime FCFujieda MYFCFukushima UnitedGainare TottoriFC GifuAshitaka Park StadiumNingineer StadiumFujieda Soccer StadiumAxis Bird StadiumCapacity: 5,104Capacity: 21,401Capacity: 5,056Capacity: 6,464Capacity: 16,310Capacity: 11,999Giravanz KitakyushuFC ImabariIwaki FCKagoshima UnitedKamatamare SanukiKataller ToyamaShiranami StadiumPikara StadiumToyama StadiumCapacity: 15,300Capacity: 5,063Capacity: 5,063Capacity: 12,606Capacity: 22,338Capacity: 18,588Matsumoto YamagaNagano ParceiroSC SagamiharaTegevajaro MiyazakiVanraure HachinoheYSCC YokohamaSunpro AlwinNagano U StadiumSagamihara Gion StadiumUnilever Stadium ShintomiPrifoods StadiumNippatsu Mitsuzawa StadiumCapacity: 20,000Capacity: 15,515Capacity: 15,300Capacity: 5,354Capacity: 5,124Capacity: 15,440
Season statistics Goal contributions Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Ryo AritaIwaki FC172 Kosuke FujiokaFC Gifu163 Koki AritaKagoshima United15 Daichi IshikawaGainare Tottori5 Yuki OkadaTegevajaro Miyazaki14
Top assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 Yudai TokunagaTegevajaro Miyazaki122 Riku SagaIwaki FC93 Akiyuki YokoyamaFujieda MYFC84 Ikki KawasakiKamatamare Sanuki7 Takashi KondoEhime FC Yuji KimuraKagoshima United
Discipline Player Most yellow cards: 8 Kento Dodate (YSCC Yokohama)
Most red cards: 1 Naoki Sato (Azul Claro Numazu) Kenshiro Suzuki (Azul Claro Numazu) Takashi Akiyama (Fujieda MYFC) Nobuyuki Kawashima (Fujieda MYFC) Kazuki Dohana (Fukushima United) Takumi Baba (Gainare Tottori) Koshiro Itohara (Gainare Tottori) Takumi Fujitani (FC Gifu) Freire (FC Gifu) Marcus Índio (FC Imabari) Yuji Kimura (Kagoshima United) Frank Romero (Kagoshima United) Rei Yonezawa (Kagoshima United) Akira Ando (Matsumoto Yamaga) Hiroshi Azuma (Nagano Parceiro) Hayate Sugii (Nagano Parceiro) Ryoma Ishida (SC Sagamihara) Shunsuke Ueda (Tegevajaro Miyazaki) Masanobu Komaki (Vanraure Hachinohe) Kento Dodate (YSCC Yokohama) Riku Furuyado (YSCC Yokohama)
Club Most yellow cards: 58 (YSCC Yokohama)
Most red cards: 3 (Kagoshima United)
Awards Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthMonthly MVPGoal of the MonthReferencesManagerClubPlayerClubPlayerClubFebruary/March Toshihiro HattoriFukushima United Hiroki HiguchiFukushima United Kazaki NakagawaFC ImabariApril Hiroshi NanamiMatsumoto Yamaga Ayumu YokoyamaMatsumoto Yamaga Yuya TakazawaGiravanz KitakyushuMay Naoto OtakeKagoshima United Koki AritaKagoshima United Yuki OshitaniFujieda MYFCJune Nobuhiro IshizakiKataller Toyama Hiroto IwabuchiIwaki FC Yohei OnoKataller ToyamaJuly Daisuke SudoFujieda MYFC Tojiro KuboFujieda MYFC Daisuke MatsuiYSCC YokohamaAugust Hiromasa SuguriIwaki FC Ryo AritaIwaki FC Shota SuzukiIwaki FCSeptember Daisuke SudoFujieda MYFC Kei UchiyamaFujieda MYFC Loris TinelliYSCC YokohamaOctober/November Hiromasa SuguriIwaki FC Ryo AritaIwaki FC Marcus ÍndioFC Imabari
References
External links Official website, JLeague.jp