The 2023 J2 League, also known as the for sponsorship reasons, was the 25th season of the J2 League, the second-tier Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1999.
Overview This was the last season to be played with 22 participating clubs, as the number of clubs was reduced to 20 from the 2024 season.
FC Ryukyu and Iwate Grulla Morioka were relegated to the 2023 J3 League, finishing the previous J2 League season as 21st and 22nd-placed team, respectively.
Relegated from J1, both Shimizu S-Pulse and Júbilo Iwata were the only Shizuoka-based J1 teams last season. Now, they return to J2 after spending six and one season, respectively, at the top flight.
J3 winners Iwaki FC and runners-up Fujieda MYFC were both promoted from the J3 League. Both teams make their debut in J2 League, with Iwaki being promoted to the J2 just a season after being promoted to J3.
For the first time ever since the 2004 season, three teams from the same prefecture participate in the J2 League, as Shimizu S-Pulse, Júbilo Iwata and Fujieda MYFC are all based on Shizuoka Prefecture.
Participating clubs
Club nameHometownStadiumCapacityPrevious season rankLicenseBlaublitz AkitaAkitaSoyu Stadium20,125J2 (12th)J1Fagiano OkayamaAll cities/towns in OkayamaCity Light Stadium20,000J2 (3rd)J1Fujieda MYFCCities/towns in Shizuoka PrefectureFujieda Soccer Stadium13,000 J3 (2nd)J1Iwaki FCIwaki and Futaba District, FukushimaIwaki Green Field5,600 J3 (1st)J1JEF United ChibaChiba & Ichihara, ChibaFukuda Denshi Arena18,500J2 (10th)J1Júbilo IwataIwata, ShizuokaYamaha Stadium15,156 J1 (18th)J1Machida ZelviaMachida, TokyoMachida Athletic Stadium10,600J2 (15th)J1Mito HollyHockAll cities/towns in central and northern IbarakiK's denki Stadium Mito12,000J2 (13th)J1Montedio YamagataAll cities/towns in YamagataND Soft Stadium20,315J2 (6th)J1Oita TrinitaŌita PrefectureShowa Denko Dome Oita40,000J2 (5th)J1Omiya ArdijaSaitama, SaitamaNACK5 Stadium Omiya15,500J2 (19th)J1Renofa YamaguchiAll cities/towns in YamaguchiYamaguchi Ishin Park Stadium20,000J2 (16th)J1Roasso KumamotoKumamoto, KumamotoEgao Kenko Stadium32,000J2 (4th)J1Shimizu S-PulseShizuokaIAI Stadium Nihondaira20,339 J1 (17th)J1Thespakusatsu GunmaAll cities/towns in GunmaShoda Shoyu Stadium Gunma15,253J2 (20th)J1Tochigi SCUtsunomiya, TochigiKanseki Stadium Tochigi25,244J2 (17th)J1Tokushima VortisTokushima PrefecturePocarisweat Stadium20,441J2 (8th)J1All cities/towns in TokyoAjinomoto Stadium49,970J2 (9th)J1V-Varen NagasakiAll cities/towns in Nagasaki PrefectureNagasaki Athletic Stadium20,246J2 (11th)J1Vegalta SendaiMiyagi PrefectureYurtec Stadium Sendai19,694J2 (7th)J1Ventforet KofuAll cities/towns in Yamanashi PrefectureYamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium17,000J2 (18th)J1Zweigen KanazawaAll cities/towns in IshikawaIshikawa Kanazawa Stadium20,000J2 (14th)J1
Personnel and kits Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturerMain shirt sponsorBlaublitz Akita Ken Yoshida Ryutaro Iio AthletaTDKFagiano Okayama Takashi Kiyama Yasutaka Takagi PenaltyGROPFujieda MYFC Daisuke Sudo Masahiko Sugita Gol.Seikan Kensa CenterIwaki FC Yuzo Tamura Yuto Yamashita Under ArmourBHCJEF United Chiba Yoshiyuki Kobayashi Daisuke Suzuki HummelFuji ElectricJúbilo Iwata Akinobu Yokouchi Yuto Suzuki AdmiralYamahaMachida Zelvia Go Kuroda Masayuki Okuyama AdidasCyberAgentMito HollyHock Yoshimi Hamasaki Takumi Kusumoto soccer junkyK's HoldingsMontedio Yamagata Susumu Watanabe Shuto Minami PenaltyABeamOita Trinita Takahiro Shimotaira Tsukasa Umesaki PumaDaihatsu KyushuOmiya Ardija Masato Harasaki Yutaro Hakamata Under ArmourNTT DocomoRenofa Yamaguchi Juan Esnáider Kensuke Sato FintauprRoasso Kumamoto Takeshi Oki Rei Hirakawa PumaHirataShimizu S-Pulse Tadahiro Akiba Yoshinori Suzuki PumaSuzuyoThespakusatsu Gunma Tsuyoshi Otsuki Hajime Hosogai KelmeCainzTochigi SC Yu Tokisaki Sho Sato AthletaTKCTokushima Vortis Tatsuma Yoshida Yoichiro Kakitani MizunoOtsuka Pharmaceutical(Pocari Sweat)Tokyo Verdy Hiroshi Jofuku Koki Morita AthletaNicigasV-Varen Nagasaki Fábio Carille Shunya Yoneda UmbroJapanetVegalta Sendai Takafumi Hori Yuta Koide AdidasIris OhyamaVentforet Kofu Yoshiyuki Shinoda Hidehiro Sugai MizunoHakubakuZweigen Kanazawa Masaaki Yanagishita Yuto Shirai HummelHokkoku Shimbun
Managerial changes Team Outgoing Exit date Position in table Incoming Incoming date Announced on Departed on Announced on Arrived on Shimizu S-Pulse Zé Ricardo Sacked3 April 2023 19th Tadahiro Akiba4 April 2023 Montedio Yamagata Peter Cklamovski4 April 2023 18th Susumu Watanabe5 April 2023 Renofa Yamaguchi Yoshihiro Natsuka Resigned9 May 2023 18th Genki Nakayama (interim)10 May 2023 Omiya Ardija Naoki Soma19 May 2023 22nd Masato Harasaki20 May 2023 Renofa Yamaguchi Genki Nakayama End of interim spell 29 May 2023 7 June 2023 19th Juan Esnáider 29 May 2023 8 June 2023 Iwaki FC Hiromasa Suguri Sacked14 June 2023 21st Yuzo Tamura15 June 2023 Vegalta Sendai Akira Ito Sacked12 July 2023 13th Takafumi Hori13 July 2023 Tokushima Vortis Beñat Labaien Sacked22 August 2023 19th Tatsuma Yoshida23 August 2023
Foreign players As of the 2023 season, there are no more restrictions on a number of signed foreign players, but clubs can only register up to five foreign players for a single match-day squad. Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia and Qatar) are exempt 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, 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 school in the country.
ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Player 5Player 6Player 7Player 8Left mid-season Blaublitz Akita Fagiano Okayama Lucão Tiago Alves Han Eui-kwon Stefan Mauk Jordy Buijs Fujieda MYFC Kauan Pedro Henrique Anderson Chaves Naldinho Iwaki FC Nélson Machado JEF United Chiba Mendes Dudu Júbilo Iwata Ricardo Graça Dudu Pacheco Fabián González Ri Kyong-su Machida Zelvia Erik Ademilson Mitchell Duke Jang Min-gyu Nedeljko Stojišić Byron Vásquez Mito HollyHock Jefferson Tabinas Montedio Yamagata Dellatorre Tiago Alves Oita Trinita Matheus Pereira Matheus Teixeira Derlan Samuel Omiya Ardija Rodrigo Angelotti Kaique Jakub Świerczok Renofa Yamaguchi Renan Sílvio Choi Hyun-chan Kim Byeom-yong Roasso Kumamoto Shimizu S-Pulse Carlinhos Júnior Thiago Santana Renato Augusto Ronaldo Benjamin Kololli Oh Se-hun Thespakusatsu Gunma Tochigi SC Juninho Rafael Costa Leandro Pereira Origbaajo Ismaila Tokushima Vortis Elsinho José Aurelio Suárez Luismi Quezada Hyon Rio Cacá Oriola Sunday Tokyo Verdy Matheus Vidotto Pratama Arhan Byron Vásquez Mario Engels V-Varen Nagasaki Caio César Edigar Junio Valdo Marcos Guilherme Matheus Jesus Juanma Carlos Gutiérrez Luka Radotić Clayson Kaique Cristiano Vegalta Sendai Foguinho Ewerton Kim Tae-hyeon Heo Yong-joon Ryang Yong-gi Ventforet Kofu Eduardo Mancha Cristiano Lucas Macedo Peter Utaka Michael Woud Getúlio Zweigen Kanazawa Léo Bahia Jefferson Baiano Park Jun-seo Taiga Son
League table
Play-offs The usual format was applied in the 2023 season. Promotion play-offs, officially called the 2023 J.League Road To J1 Play-offs (), was held from the semi-finals, where the match-ups were previously semi-determined. Based on the J2 placements at the end of the regular season, the third-placed team played against the sixth-placed, while the fourth-placed team played against the fifth-placed. The winners of the semi-finals played the final, with the winners promoted to the J1.
If a match was tied in the play-offs, the team with the higher rank won. The rank order was: J2's third, fourth, fifth, and sixth-placed teams.
For the 2023 season, three teams were to be promoted to the 2024 J1 League with no relegation playoffs between the leagues.
Semi-finals
Final
Season statistics Goal contributions Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Juanma DelgadoV-Varen Nagasaki262 ErikMachida Zelvia183 Carlinhos JúniorShimizu S-Pulse154 Hiiro KomoriJEF United Chiba13 Kaito MoriTokushima Vortis Tiago AlvesMontedio Yamagata Ryo WatanabeFujieda MYFC
Top assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 Takashi InuiShimizu S-Pulse10 Yuto SuzukiJúbilo Iwata3 Rei HirakawaRoasso Kumamoto9 Ryo SatoThespakusatsu Gunma Hidetoshi TakedaMito HollyHock
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Matheus VidottoTokyo Verdy232 Shuichi GondaShimizu S-Pulse193 Masatoshi KushibikiThespakusatsu Gunma164 Kentaro KakoiBlaublitz Akita145 Go HatanoV-Varen Nagasaki11 William PoppMachida Zelvia José Aurelio SuárezTokushima Vortis
Discipline Player Most yellow cards: 11 Juanma Delgado (V-Varen Nagasaki) Most red cards: 2 Ryo Endo (Iwaki FC) So Nakagawa (Fujieda MYFC) Pereira (Oita Trinita) Kotaro Yamahara (Fujieda MYFC) Club Most yellow cards: 69 (V-Varen Nagasaki) Most red cards: 7 (Fujieda MYFC)
Awards Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthMonthly MVPGoal of the MonthRefs.ManagerClubPlayerClubPlayerClubFebruary/March Go KurodaMachida Zelvia ErikMachida Zelvia Akira Silvano DisaroShimizu S-PulseApril Fábio CarilleV-Varen Nagasaki Juanma DelgadoV-Varen Nagasaki Shunta ArakiMachida ZelviaMay Go KurodaMachida Zelvia Kaito MoriTokushima Vortis Shunya YonedaV-Varen NagasakiJune Akinobu YokouchiJúbilo Iwata ErikMachida Zelvia Kaito UmedaMito HollyHockJuly Yuzo TamuraIwaki FC Hiroto IwabuchiIwaki FC Takashi InuiShimizu S-PulseAugust Tadahiro AkibaShimizu S-Pulse Yoshinori SuzukiShimizu S-Pulse Keita NakamuraV-Varen NagasakiSeptember Yoshiyuki KobayashiJEF United Chiba Taishi TaguchiJEF United Chiba Junya SuzukiMachida ZelviaOctober Hiroshi JofukuTokyo Verdy Zento UnoMachida Zelvia Kazaki NakagawaFujieda MYFCNovember Akinobu YokouchiJúbilo Iwata Masaya MatsumotoJúbilo Iwata Hikaru NakaharaTokyo Verdy
Attendances
See also National association Japan Football Association (JFA) League Japanese association football league system J.League 2023 J1 League
2023 J3 League 2023 Japan Football League
Cup
2023 Emperor's Cup (national open cup)
References
External links Official website on jleague.co