2023 J1 League

The 2023 J1 League, also known as the for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st season of the J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. This was the ninth season of J1 League after being renamed from J. League Division 1.

Yokohama F. Marinos were the defending champions, having won their fifth J.League and seventh Japanese title previous season. Vissel Kobe won their first ever league title with one game to go.

Overview This season was the last as an 18 team-competition. At the end of season, only one club would be relegated to the J2 League as the number of clubs was 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. Shimizu S-Pulse and Júbilo Iwata, both from Shizuoka Prefecture, were relegated due to them finishing 17th and 18th respectively the previous season. Thus, this was the first Japanese top-flight season to not feature any team from the region.

Kyoto Sanga finished on 16th place, but won the promotion/relegation playoffs against Roasso Kumamoto 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: Albirex Niigata, 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

+Club Location Stadium CapacityPrevious season rankHokkaido Consadole Sapporo Hokkaido Sapporo Dome38,794J1 (10th)Kashima Antlers Ibaraki Prefecture Kashima Soccer Stadium 39,170 J1 (4th)Urawa Red Diamonds Saitama Prefecture Saitama Stadium 2002 62,010 J1 (9th)Kashiwa Reysol Chiba Prefecture Hitachi Kashiwa Stadium 15,109 J1 (7th)FC Tokyo Tokyo Ajinomoto Stadium 47,851 J1 (6th)Kawasaki Frontale Kanagawa Prefecture Todoroki Stadium 26,827 J1 (2nd)Yokohama F. Marinos Nissan Stadium 71,822 J1 (1st)Yokohama FCMitsuzawa Stadium15,444Shonan Bellmare Lemon Gas Stadium Hiratsuka 15,380 J1 (12th)Albirex NiigataNiigata PrefectureDenka Big Swan Stadium41,684Nagoya Grampus Aichi Prefecture Toyota Stadium 43,739 J1 (8th)Kyoto PrefectureSanga Stadium by Kyocera21,623J1 (16th)Gamba Osaka Osaka Prefecture Panasonic Stadium Suita 39,694 J1 (15th)Cerezo Osaka Yodoko Sakura Stadium 24,481 J1 (5th)Vissel Kobe Hyōgo Prefecture Noevir Stadium 28,996 J1 (13th)Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hiroshima Prefecture Edion Stadium 35,909 J1 (3rd)Avispa Fukuoka Fukuoka Prefecture Best Denki Stadium 21,562 J1 (14th)Sagan Tosu Saga Prefecture Ekimae Real Estate Stadium 24,130 J1 (11th)

Personnel and kits Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Front shirt sponsor Albirex Niigata Rikizo Matsuhashi Yuto Horigome Adidas Kameda Seika Avispa Fukuoka Shigetoshi Hasebe Tatsuki Nara Yonex Shin Nihon Seiyaku Cerezo Osaka Akio Kogiku Hiroshi Kiyotake Puma Yanmar FC Tokyo Peter Cklamovski Masato Morishige New Balance Mixi Gamba Osaka Dani Poyatos Takashi Usami Hummel Panasonic Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Mihailo Petrović Hiroki Miyazawa Mizuno Ishiya Kashima Antlers Daiki Iwamasa Shoma Doi Nike LIXIL Kashiwa Reysol Masami Ihara Taiyo Koga Yonex Hitachi Kawasaki Frontale Toru Oniki Kento Tachibanada 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 Shonan Bellmare Satoshi Yamaguchi Kazuki Oiwa Penalty RiPTy Urawa Red Diamonds Maciej Skorża Hiroki Sakai Nike Polus Vissel Kobe Takayuki Yoshida Hotaru Yamaguchi Asics Rakuten Mobile Yokohama FC Shuhei Yomoda Gabriel Puma Onodera Group Yokohama F. Marinos Kevin Muscat Takuya Kida Adidas Nissan

Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in the tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentUrawa Red Diamonds Ricardo RodríguezResigned5 November 2022Pre-season Maciej Skorża10 November 2022Gamba Osaka Hiroshi Matsuda23 November 2022 Dani Poyatos23 November 2022Kashiwa Reysol Nelsinho Baptista17 May 202316th Masami Ihara17 May 2023FC Tokyo Albert Puig14 June 202312th Takayoshi Amma14 June 2023 Takayoshi AmmaEnd of interim spell16 June 2023 Peter Cklamovski16 June 2023

Foreign players From the 2021 season, there are no limitations on signing foreign players, but clubs can only register up to five of them for a single matchday squad. Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Morocco, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Tunisia, Egypt, 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.

ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Player 5Player 6 Player 7Former player (s) Albirex Niigata Thomas Deng Danilo Gomes Gustavo Nescau Michael Fitzgerald Kazuyoshi Shimabuku Avispa Fukuoka Douglas Grolli Lukian Wellington Cerezo Osaka Jordy Croux Capixaba Léo Ceará Matej Jonjić Kim Jin-hyeon Yang Han-been FC Tokyo Adaílton Diego Oliveira Henrique Trevisan Jajá Silva Pedro Perotti Jakub Słowik Leandro Gamba Osaka Dawhan Juan Alano Zhang Aolin Neta Lavi Kwon Kyung-won Issam Jebali Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Lucas Fernandes Kim Gun-hee Milan Tučić Supachok Sarachat Gu Sung-yun Kashima Antlers Arthur Caíke Diego Pituca Blessing Eleke Kwoun Sun-tae Park Eui-jeong Kim Min-tae Kashiwa Reysol Bueno Diego Douglas Matheus Sávio Jay-Roy Grot Kawasaki Frontale Jesiel João Schmidt Leandro Damião Marcinho Bafétimbi Gomis Jung Sung-ryong Chanathip Songkrasin Kyoto Sanga Patric Gu Sung-yun Warner Hahn Alan Cariús Paulinho Bóia Michael Woud Nagoya Grampus Mitchell Langerak Thales Kasper Junker Mateus Naldinho Sagan Tosu Teddy Akumu Hwang Seok-ho Koh Bong-jo Ueom Ye-hoon Sanfrecce Hiroshima Douglas Vieira Ezequiel Marcos Júnior Pieros Sotiriou Nassim Ben Khalifa Jelani Reshaun Sumiyoshi Shonan Bellmare Tarik Elyounoussi Kim Min-tae Song Bum-keun Mikel Agu Urawa Red Diamonds Alexander Scholz José Kanté Alex Schalk Bryan Linssen Marius Høibråten Ekanit Panya David Moberg Karlsson Vissel Kobe Jean Patric Lincoln Matheus Thuler Phelipe Bálint Vécsei Juan Mata Stefan Mugoša Andrés Iniesta Sergi Samper Yokohama FC Gabriel Marcelo Ryan Mateus Moraes Mauricio Caprini Yuri Lara Svend Brodersen Nguyễn Công Phượng Saulo Mineiro Yokohama F. Marinos Anderson Lopes Eduardo Élber Yan Matheus Nam Tae-hee Marcos Júnior

League table

Results table

Season statistics Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals1 Anderson LopesYokohama F. Marinos22 Yuya OsakoVissel Kobe3 Kasper JunkerNagoya Grampus164 Diego OliveiraFC Tokyo155 Mao HosoyaKashiwa Reysol14 Yuma SuzukiKashima Antlers7 Yuki OhashiShonan Bellmare138 Yuya AsanoHokkaido Consadole Sapporo129 Léo CearáCerezo Osaka1110 PatricKyoto Sanga10 Yoichi NaganumaSagan Tosu Yoshinori MutoVissel Kobe Yuta ToyokawaKyoto Sanga Yuya YamagishiAvispa Fukuoka

Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Ref. Yuki OhashiShonan BellmareSagan Tosu5–1 (A)18 February 2023 Shuto Machino4Gamba Osaka4–1 (H)1 April 2023 Ryotaro ItoAlbirex NiigataAvispa Fukuoka3–2 (H)15 April 2023 Yuji OnoSagan TosuShonan Bellmare6–0 (A)24 June 2023 Notes 4 Player scored 4 goals (H) – Home team (A) – Away team

Top assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 ÉlberYokohama F. Marinos11 Yan Matheus3 Matheus SávioKashiwa Reysol10 Yoshinori MutoVissel Kobe Yuta HiguchiKashima Antlers6 Ryo HatsuseVissel Kobe8 Yuya Osako8 Kota MizunumaYokohama F. Marinos79 AdaíltonFC Tokyo6 Yasuto WakizakaKawasaki Frontale

Clean sheets RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Shusaku NishikawaUrawa Red Diamonds15 Tomoki HayakawaKashima Antlers3 Daiya MaekawaVissel Kobe144 Keisuke OsakoSanfrecce Hiroshima135 Mitchell LangerakNagoya Grampus10 Masaaki MurakamiAvispa Fukuoka Ryosuke KojimaAlbirex Niigata8 Kim Jin-hyeonCerezo Osaka79 Jun IchimoriYokohama F. Marinos6 Kenta MatsumotoKashiwa Reysol Jakub SłowikFC Tokyo Jung Sung-ryongKawasaki Frontale Park Il-gyuSagan Tosu

Discipline Player Most yellow cards: 10 Takuma Arano (Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo)

Most red cards: 2 Diego Pituca (Kashima Antlers) José Kanté (Urawa Red Diamonds) Hisashi Appiah Tawiah (Kyoto Sanga) Yoichi Naganuma (Sagan Tosu) Yugo Tatsuta (Kashiwa Reysol)

Club Most yellow cards: 64 FC Tokyo Most red cards: 6 Kawasaki Frontale

Awards Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthMonthly MVPGoal of the MonthReferencesManagerClubPlayerClubPlayerClubFebruary/March Takayuki YoshidaVissel Kobe Ryotaro ItoAlbirex Niigata Ryonosuke KabayamaSagan TosuApril Michael SkibbeSanfrecce Hiroshima Douglas VieiraSanfrecce Hiroshima Ryoma WatanabeFC TokyoMay Shuhei YomodaYokohama FC Yuya OsakoVissel Kobe Shunsuke MitoAlbirex NiigataJune Dani PoyatosGamba Osaka Yoshinori MutoVissel Kobe Takumu KawamuraSanfrecce HiroshimaJuly Shigetoshi HasebeAvispa Fukuoka Yuya OsakoVissel Kobe Ken IwaoUrawa Red DiamondsAugust Daiki IwamasaKashima Antlers Yuta HiguchiKashima Antlers Marcos JúniorSanfrecce HiroshimaSeptember Shigetoshi HasebeAvispa Fukuoka Kazuya KonnoAvispa Fukuoka Shunsuke MitoAlbirex NiigataOctober Satoshi YamaguchiShonan Bellmare Daiki TomiiShonan Bellmare Kota TawaratsumidaFC TokyoNovember/December Takayuki YoshidaVissel Kobe Yuya OsakoVissel Kobe Yuta ToyokawaKyoto Sanga

Annual awards AwardWinnerClubManager of the Year Shigetoshi HasebeAvispa FukuokaPlayer of the Year Yuya OsakoVissel KobeBest Young Player Shunsuke MitoAlbirex NiigataGoal of the Year Ryoma WatanabeFC Tokyo

Best XI Goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa (Urawa Red Diamonds) Defenders Alexander Scholz (Urawa Red Diamonds) Marius Høibråten (Urawa Red Diamonds) Seiya Maikuma (Cerezo Osaka) Gotoku Sakai (Vissel Kobe) Midfielders Atsuki Ito (Urawa Red Diamonds) Yasuto Wakizaka (Kawasaki Frontale) Hotaru Yamaguchi (Vissel Kobe) Forwards Anderson Lopes (Yokohama F. Marinos) Yuya Osako (Vissel Kobe) Yoshinori Muto (Vissel Kobe)

2023 J1 League

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