The 2023 J3 League, referred to as the for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th season of the J3 League under its current name.
Changes from the previous season Promoted from 2022 JFLPromoted to 2023 J2 LeagueRelegated from 2022 J2 LeagueNara ClubFC OsakaIwaki FCFujieda MYFCFC RyukyuIwate Grulla Morioka
Iwaki FC and Fujieda MYFC were promoted to the J2 League after being champions and runners-up of last season's J3.
FC Ryukyu and Iwate Grulla Morioka were relegated from the J2 League after relatively short stints at the 2nd division, with Ryukyu spending four seasons, and Iwate spending just a single season. The clubs finished as 21st and 22nd-placed team at the 2022 J2 League, respectively.
Nara Club and FC Osaka were promoted to the J3 League after being respectively, champions and runners-up of last season's JFL. Both teams are making their debut in the J3 League after obtaining a J.League License, to enable their promotion from the JFL.
This season is the first of the J3 League to have 20 teams, seeing an increase from last season's 18 teams. About the number of teams, there will be no future changes, as the J.League confirmed that from 2024, all the three professional leagues would have 20 teams in each.
Overview Promotion and relegation This season was the first to feature promotion/relegation from the Japan Football League, enabling the possibility for teams to be relegated from the J3. The system of promotion/relegation between the leagues can be determined by the eligibility (Promotion to J3 requires a J.League license) of the JFL's champions and runners-up for the season.
If only the JFL champions holds a license, there will be automatic promotion/relegation with the J3's 20th-placed team. If only the JFL runners-up holds a license, there will be promotion/relegation play-offs with the J3's 20th-placed team. If both the JFL champions and runners-up hold a license, there will be automatic promotion/relegation between the JFL champions and the J3's 20th-placed team, and promotion/relegation play-offs with the J3's 19th-placed team. If both the JFL champions and runners-up do not hold a license, no promotion/relegation between J3 and JFL will take place.
The dates and the host teams of the promotion/relegation play-off were pre-determined by the J.League. In case it happens, it will be played in two legs on 9 and 16 December, with the J3 team hosting the second leg.
Participating clubs
Club nameHome townStadiumCapacityLast seasonLicenceAzul Claro NumazuNumazuAshitaka Stadium5,104J3 (15th)J2Ehime FCAll cities/towns in EhimeNingineer Stadium21,401J3 (7th)J1Fukushima UnitedFukushimaToho Stadium21,000J3 (11th)J1Gainare TottoriAll cities/towns in TottoriAxis Bird Stadium16,033J3 (12th)J2All cities/towns in GifuGifu Nagaragawa Stadium26,109J3 (14th)J1Giravanz KitakyushuKitakyushu, FukuokaMikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu15,066J3 (13th)J1FC ImabariImabariImabari Satoyama Stadium5,316J3 (5th)J2Iwate Grulla MoriokaAll cities/towns in IwateIwagin Stadium & Kitakami Stadium4,946 J2 (22nd; Relegated)J1Kagoshima UnitedKagoshimaShiranami Stadium19,934J3 (3rd)J1Kamatamare SanukiAll cities/towns in KagawaPikara Stadium30,099J3 (17th)J1Kataller ToyamaAll cities/towns in ToyamaToyama Athletic Stadium28,494J3 (6th)J1Matsumoto YamagaCities/towns in NaganoSunpro Alwin20,396J3 (4th)J1Nagano ParceiroNaganoNagano U Stadium15,491J3 (8th)J2Nara ClubAll cities/towns on NaraRohto Field Nara30,600 JFL (1st; Promoted)J2FC OsakaHigashiōsaka, OsakaHanazono Rugby Stadium27,346 JFL (2nd; Promoted)J3FC RyukyuAll cities/towns in OkinawaTapic Kenso Hiyagon Stadium12,270 J2 (21st; Relegated)J1SC SagamiharaSagamiharaGion Stadium15,300J3 (18th)J2Tegevajaro MiyazakiMiyazaki & Shintomi, MiyazakiUnilever Stadium Shintomi5,357J3 (9th)J2Vanraure HachinohePrifoods Stadium5,200J3 (10th)J2YSCC YokohamaYokohamaNippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium15,454J3 (16th)J2
Personnel and kits Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturerMain shirt sponsorAzul Claro Numazu Masashi Nakayama Takuya Sugai PenaltyUsuiEhime FC Kiyotaka Ishimaru Kenta Tokushige JogarbolaNingineer NetworkFukushima United Mitsumasa Yoda Shun Obu HummelToho BankGainare Tottori Kohei Masumoto () Koki Ishii Soccer JunkySan-in Godo BankFC Gifu Yusaku Ueno Yoshihiro Shoji RazzoliHot StaffGiravanz Kitakyushu Kazuaki Tasaka Ryosuke Tada PenaltyTotoFC Imabari Naoto Kudo Keishi Kusumi AsicsUnicharmIwate Grulla Morioka Tetsuji Nakamikawa Atsutaka Nakamura KelmeNovaKagoshima United Yasuaki Oshima Kenta Hirose AnguaSatsuma ShimabijinKamatamare Sanuki Atsushi Yoneyama AnguaRexxamKataller Toyama Michiharu Otagiri Kosei Wakimoto GoldwinYKK APMatsumoto Yamaga Masahiro Shimoda Akira Ando AdidasEpsonNagano Parceiro Riki Takagi Takuya Akiyama PenaltyHoktoNara Club Julián Marín Bazalo Yuki Kotani SquadraDaiwa HouseFC Osaka Ryo Shigaki Shusuke Sakamoto boneraOM-XFC Ryukyu Kim Jong-song Ryunosuke Noda sfidaGMO CoinSC Sagamihara Kazuyuki Toda Akihiko Takeshige Gol.GionTegevajaro Miyazaki Mitsuo Kato Kenji Dai YonexEnatsu Shoji HoldingsVanraure Hachinohe Nobuhiro Ishizaki Naoyuki Yamada HummelAtmixYSCC Yokohama Kazuki Kuranuki Kento Dodate BoneraSanshin
Managerial changes Team Outgoing Exit date Position in table Incoming Incoming date Announced on Departed on Announced on Arrived on FC Ryukyu Kazuki Kuranuki Sacked16 May 17th Tetsuhiro Kina16 May Gainare Tottori Kim Jong-song Sacked19 June 18th Kohei Masumoto (interim)20 June Fukushima United Toshihiro Hattori Sacked12 July 18th Mitsumasa Yoda18 July FC Imabari Riki Takagi Sacked15 August 6th Naoto Kudo16 August Kagoshima United Naoto Otake Sacked22 August 5th Yasuaki Oshima23 August Nagano Parceiro Yuki Richard Stalph Sacked27 August 15th Riki Takagi30 August YSCC Yokohama Kei Hoshikawa Sacked28 August 18th Kazuki Kuranuki30 August Giravanz Kitakyushu Kazuaki Tasaka Resigned5 September 20th Shinji Kobayashi5 September FC Ryukyu Tetsuhiro Kina Sacked15 September 18th Kim Jong-song15 September Iwate Grulla Morioka Yoshika Matsubara Sacked19 September 14th Tetsuji Nakamikawa20 September Tegevajaro Miyazaki Hiroshi Matsuda Sacked26 September 17th Mitsuo Kato27 September
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 summer 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 6Left mid-season Azul Claro Numazu Igor Gabriel Mikhael Akatsuka Raul Sudati Shunkun Tani Ehime FC Ben Duncan Fukushima United Gainare Tottori Mun In-ju FC Gifu Ono Cholhwan Giravanz Kitakyushu Koh Seung-jin Mikel Agu Eduardo de Queiroz Melo Ikechukwu Eboko FC Imabari Marcus Índio Jon Ander Serantes Park Soo-bin Ralf Seuntjens Filip Piszczek Dudu Iwate Grulla Morioka Cristiano Douglas Oliveira Au Yeung Yiu Chung Jang Hyun-soo Kenneth Otabor Ri Yong-jik Kagoshima United Weslley Kamatamare Sanuki Kataller Toyama Arthur Silva Gabriel Nascimento Matheus Leiria Matsumoto Yamaga Lucas Rian Paulinho Víctor Ibáñez Nagano Parceiro Ryu Nugraha Kim Min-ho Nara Club Arnau Riera FC Osaka Woo Sang-ho Efrain Rintaro João Victor Maykon Douglas Jean Marie Dongou FC Ryukyu Kelvin Cho Eun-su Jeon Ji-wan Danny Carvajal Sadam Sulley SC Sagamihara Tegevajaro Miyazaki Vanraure Hachinohe Oriola Sunday YSCC Yokohama Carlos Arroyo Loris Tinelli Promise Ugochukwu
League table
Stadiums Primary venues to be used in the 2023 J3 League season: Azul Claro NumazuEhime FCFukushima UnitedGainare TottoriFC GifuGiravanz KitakyushuFC ImabariAshitaka Park StadiumNingineer StadiumToho StadiumAxis Bird StadiumGifu Nagaragawa StadiumCapacity: 10,000Capacity: 21,401Capacity: 21,000Capacity: 16,310Capacity: 11,999Capacity: 15,300Capacity: 5,316Iwate Grulla MoriokaKagoshima UnitedKamatamare SanukiKataller ToyamaMatsumoto YamagaNagano ParceiroNara ClubIwagin StadiumShiranami StadiumPikara StadiumToyama StadiumSunpro AlwinNagano U StadiumRohto Field NaraCapacity: 4,946Capacity: 12,606Capacity: 22,338Capacity: 18,588Capacity: 20,000Capacity: 15,515Capacity: 30,600FC OsakaFC RyukyuSC SagamiharaTegevajaro MiyazakiVanraure HachinoheYSCC YokohamaAll J3 stadiumsHanazono Rugby StadiumTapic Kenso Hiyagon StadiumSagamihara Gion StadiumUnilever Stadium ShintomiPrifoods StadiumNippatsu Mitsuzawa StadiumCapacity: 27,346Capacity: 12,270Capacity: 15,300Capacity: 5,354Capacity: 5,124Capacity: 15,440
Season statistics Goal contributions Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Ren KomatsuMatsumoto Yamaga192 Hayato AsakawaNara Club163 Noah Kenshin BrowneAzul Claro Numazu12 Riki MatsudaEhime FC5 Sho FukudaYSCC Yokohama11 Ryunosuke NodaFC Ryukyu Masashi WadaIwate Grulla Morioka
Top assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 Yusuke KikuiMatsumoto Yamaga9 Marcus ÍndioFC Imabari Shunsuke MotegiEhime FC4 Kaili ShimboIwate Grulla Morioka85 Noah Kenshin BrowneAzul Claro Numazu7 Nao EguchiKamatamare Sanuki Kotaro TokunagaAzul Claro Numazu
Clean sheets RankPlayerClub1 Tatsunari NagaiFC Osaka162 Kenta TannoIwate Grulla Morioka123 Jun KodamaYSCC Yokohama9 Shinji OkadaNara Club Yusuke TaniguchiVanraure Hachinohe
Discipline Player Most yellow cards: 11 Takahiro Nakazato (YSCC Yokohama) Most red cards: 2 Ayumu Matsumoto (FC Gifu) Marcus Índio (FC Imabari)
Club Most yellow cards: 65 (FC Ryukyu) Most red cards: 4 (FC Gifu)
Awards Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthMonthly MVPGoal of the MonthReferencesManagerClubPlayerClubPlayerClubFebruary/March Yoshika MatsubaraIwate Grulla Morioka Tsuyoshi MiyaichiIwate Grulla Morioka KelvinFC RyukyuApril Julián Marín BazaloNara Club Hayato AsakawaNara Club Ren KomatsuMatsumoto YamagaMay Naoto OtakeKagoshima United Sho FukudaYSCC Yokohama Rio YoshitakeSC SagamiharaJune Yusako UenoFC Gifu Yoji SasakiKataller Toyama Haruto ShiraiFC RyukyuJuly Kiyotaka IshimaruEhime FC Shumpei FukahoriEhime FC Takahiro KitsuiFC OsakaAugust Mitsumasa YodaFukushima United Charles NdukaFC Gifu Shunsuke TanimotoEhime FCSeptember Yasuaki OshimaKagoshima United Takahiro KitsuiFC Osaka Nobuyuki Shiina Kataller ToyamaOctober Kazuki KuranukiYSCC Yokohama Rei YonezawaKagoshima United Yuma Funabashi AC Nagano ParceiroNovember/December Nobuhiro IshizakiVanraure Hachinohe Matheus LeiriaKataller Toyama Tatsuma SakaiNara Club
See also National association Japan Football Association (JFA) League Japanese association football league system J.League 2023 J1 League 2023 J2 League
2023 Japan Football League
Cup
2023 Emperor's Cup (national open cup)
References
External links Official website, JLeague.jp