| Season | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 15 February – 29 November 2025 |
| Champions | Mito HollyHock (1st title) |
| Promoted | Mito HollyHock V-Varen Nagasaki JEF United Chiba |
| Relegated | Renofa Yamaguchi Roasso Kumamoto Ehime FC |
| Matches | 380 |
| Goals | 934 (2.46 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Matheus Jesus (19 goals) |
| Biggest home win | JEF United Chiba 5–1 Ehime FC (16 March) Iwaki FC 5–1 Roasso Kumamoto (1 June) Júbilo Iwata 5–1 Consadole Sapporo (12 July) |
| Biggest away win | Roasso Kumamoto 0–4 RB Omiya Ardija (2 March) Montedio Yamagata 0–4 Ventforet Kofu |
| Highest scoring | V-Varen Nagasaki 3–4 Iwaki FC (25 April) Montedio Yamagata 3–4 Vegalta Sendai (15 June) |
| Highest attendance | 49,991 JEF United Chiba 1–2RB Omiya Ardija (6 May 2025) |
| Lowest attendance | 2,610 Mito HollyHock 2–1Roasso Kumamoto (17 May 2025) |
| Total attendance | 3,377,480[1] |
| Average attendance | 8,888[1] |
←2024 | |
The2025 J2 League, also known as the2025Meiji YasudaJ2 League (Japanese:2025 明治安田J2リーグ,Hepburn:2025 Meiji Yasuda J2 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th season of theJ2 League, the second-tier Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1999. This was also the eleventh season of the league since its rebrand from J.League Division 2.
This was the last J.League season played in a whole calendar year from late winter to early winter, with the following season onwards played from summer to spring.
The league and match format were announced on 25 November 2024, with the season starts on 15 February 2025 and concluded on 29 November 2025.
Promotion play-off was held from 7 to 13 December 2025.
Tochigi SC,Kagoshima United andThespa Gunma were relegated to the2025 J3 League, finishing theprevious season as 18th, 19th and 20th placed, respectively, ended seven, one and five years stays in the second-tier, respectively.
Júbilo Iwata,Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo andSagan Tosu were relegated from the2024 J1 League, after one, eight and thirteen season in the top flight, respectively.
BothShimizu S-Pulse andYokohama FC are promoted to the2025 J1 League as champions and runners-up, respectively, of theprevious J2 League season.Shizuoka-based Shimizu will return in the top flight of Japanese football after two years absence, while Yokohama FC will make their immediate comeback to the J1. Joining them areFagiano Okayama, who finished 5th in 2024 and earned promotion after winning the promotion play-offs, thus making their first top flight appearance from next season.
2024 J3 League winnersOmiya Ardija, runners-upFC Imabari, and promotion play-off winnersKataller Toyama were both promoted from theJ3 League. Omiya are returning to the second-tier after one-year absence, Imabari makes their debut in the second-tier for this season and Kataller, who finished 3rd, earned promotion after winning the promotion play-offs, thus returning after 11 years absence.
From this season, Omiya Ardija changed their name toRB Omiya Ardija after they were acquired byRed Bull since 2025.
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in the table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo |  Mihailo Petrović[2] | End of contract | 4 December 2024 | Pre-season |  Daiki Iwamasa[3] | 12 December 2024 |
| Júbilo Iwata | Akinobu Yokouchi[4] | 11 December 2024 |  John Hutchinson[5] | 19 December 2024 | ||
| Ehime FC | Kiyotaka Ishimaru | Sacked | 21 May 2025 | 20th | Shinya Aono (Interim) | 21 May 2025[6] |
| Kataller Toyama | Michiharu Otagiri | Resigned | 27 May 2025 | 17th | Ryo Adachi | 27 May 2025[7] |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | Takahiro Shimotaira | Sacked | 17 June 2025[8] | 8th | Takuya Takagi | 22 June 2025 |
| Montedio Yamagata | Susumu Watanabe | 18 June 2025[9] | 17th | Jin Sato (interim) | 18 June 2025 | |
| Renofa Yamaguchi | Ryo Shigaki | 24 June 2025[10] | 18th | Genki Nakayama | 24 June 2025 | |
| Montedio Yamagata | Jin Sato (interim) | End of Interim | 25 June 2025 | 15th | Akinobu Yokouchi | 25 June 2025[11] |
| Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | Daiki Iwamasa | Sacked | 10 August 2025 | 11th | Shingo Shibata | 11 August 2025 |
| Oita Trinita | Tomohiro Katanosaka | 18 August 2025[12] | 16th | Minoru Takenaka | 18 August 2025[13] | |
| RB Omiya Ardija | Tetsu Nagasawa | 24 September 2025[14] | 8th | Yuki Miyazawa | 24 September 2025[15] | |
| Júbilo Iwata | John Hutchinson | 29 September 2025[16] | 8th | Takayoshi Amma | 29 September 2025[17] |
As of the 2024 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.[18] Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia and Qatar) are exempt from these restrictions.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mito HollyHock(C, P) | 38 | 20 | 10 | 8 | 55 | 34 | +21 | 70 | Promotion to theJ1 League |
| 2 | V-Varen Nagasaki(P) | 38 | 19 | 13 | 6 | 63 | 44 | +19 | 70 | |
| 3 | JEF United Chiba(O, P) | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 56 | 34 | +22 | 69 | Qualification for thepromotion play-offs |
| 4 | Tokushima Vortis | 38 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 45 | 24 | +21 | 65 | |
| 5 | Júbilo Iwata | 38 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 59 | 51 | +8 | 64 | |
| 6 | RB Omiya Ardija | 38 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 60 | 39 | +21 | 63 | |
| 7 | Vegalta Sendai | 38 | 16 | 14 | 8 | 47 | 36 | +11 | 62 | |
| 8 | Sagan Tosu | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 46 | 43 | +3 | 58 | |
| 9 | Iwaki FC | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 55 | 44 | +11 | 56 | |
| 10 | Montedio Yamagata | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 58 | 54 | +4 | 53 | |
| 11 | FC Imabari | 38 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 46 | 46 | 0 | 53 | |
| 12 | Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | 38 | 16 | 5 | 17 | 50 | 63 | −13 | 53 | |
| 13 | Ventforet Kofu | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 37 | 45 | −8 | 44 | |
| 14 | Blaublitz Akita | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 43 | 59 | −16 | 43 | |
| 15 | Fujieda MYFC | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 41 | 50 | −9 | 39 | |
| 16 | Oita Trinita | 38 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 27 | 44 | −17 | 38 | |
| 17 | Kataller Toyama | 38 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 34 | 49 | −15 | 37 | |
| 18 | Roasso Kumamoto(R) | 38 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 41 | 57 | −16 | 37 | Relegation to theJ3 League |
| 19 | Renofa Yamaguchi(R) | 38 | 7 | 15 | 16 | 36 | 47 | −11 | 36 | |
| 20 | Ehime FC(R) | 38 | 3 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 71 | −36 | 22 |
The usual format was applied in the 2025 season. Promotion play-offs, officially called theMeiji Yasuda Road To J1 Play-offs 2025[A] (Japanese:明治安田J1昇格プレーオフ2025), 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.[20]
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 3 | JEF United Chiba | 4 | |||||||
| 6 | RB Omiya Ardija | 3 | |||||||
| 3 | JEF United Chiba | 1 | |||||||
| 4 | Tokushima Vortis | 0 | |||||||
| 4 | Tokushima Vortis | 1 | |||||||
| 5 | Júbilo Iwata | 1 | |||||||
| JEF United Chiba | 4–3 | RB Omiya Ardija |
|---|---|---|
Carlinhos JR 71'D. Pacheco 77'M. Himeno 83'T. Kawano 87' | Report | T.Izumi 20' K. Sekiguchi 32'A. Silva 48' |
| JEF United Chiba | 1–0 | Tokushima Vortis |
|---|---|---|
| Carlinhos 69' | Report |
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[21][22] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Matheus Jesus | V-Varen Nagasaki | 19 |
| 2 | Marcus Índio | FC Imabari | 17 |
| 3 | Lucas Barcellos | Tokushima Vortis | 14 |
| 4 | Arata Watanabe | Mito HollyHock | 13 |
| 5 | Akira Silvano Disaro | Montedio Yamagata | 11 |
| Caprini | RB Omiya Ardija | ||
| 7 | Ren Komatsu | Blaublitz Akita | 10 |
| Tomoki Takamine | Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | ||
| Yuta Goke | Vegalta Sendai | ||
| Daichi Ishikawa | JEF United Chiba | ||
| Carlinhos Júnior | JEF United Chiba | ||
| Matheus Peixoto | Júbilo Iwata | ||
| Ota Yamamoto | Renofa Yamaguchi | ||
| Ryo Shiohama | Roasso Kumamoto |
| Month | Manager of the Month | Monthly MVP | Goal of the Month | Young Player of the Month | Save of the Month | References | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | ||
| February/March | Yoshiyuki Kobayashi | JEF United Chiba | Ren Komatsu | Blaublitz Akita | Akira Silvano Disaro | Montedio Yamagata | Rion Ichihara | RB Omiya Ardija | Tomoki Tagawa | Kataller Toyama | [23] |
| April | Yoshiro Moriyama | Vegalta Sendai | Arata Watanabe | Mito HollyHock | Issei Takahashi | JEF United Chiba | Ota Yamamoto | Renofa Yamaguchi | Taro Hamada | Oita Trinia | [24] |
| May | Naoki Mori | Mito HollyHock | Arata Watanabe | Mito HollyHock | Shunsuke Saito | Mito HollyHock | Taisei Abe | V-Varen Nagasaki | Takashi Kasahara | RB Omiya Ardija | [25] |
| June | Yoshiro Moriyama | Vegalta Sendai | Tomoki Takamine | Consadole Sapporo | Naoki Kumata | Iwaki FC | Keito Kumashiro | Roasso Kumamoto | Akihiro Hayashi | Vegalta Sendai | [26] |
| July | Naoki Mori | Mito HollyHock | Shunsuke Saito | Mito HollyHock | Chihiro Konagaya | Roasso Kumamoto | Nelson Ishiwatari | Iwaki FC |  Mun Kyung-gun | Oita Trinita | [27] |
| August | Takuya Takagi | V-Varen Nagasaki | Matheus Jesus | V-Varen Nagasaki | Shunsuke Saito | Mito HollyHock | Yumeki Yomoyama | FC Imabari |  José Aurelio Suárez | JEF United Chiba | [28] |
| September | Yoshiro Moriyama | Vegalta Sendai | Jun Nishikawa | Safain Tosu | Shunsuke Saito | Mito HollyHock | Shion Shinkawa | Sagan Tosu | Masato Sasaki | Iwaki FC | [29] |
| October | Yuzo Tamura | Iwaki FC | Lucas Barcellos | Tokushima Vortis | Akira Silvano Disaro | Montedio Yamagata | Yuki Kajiura | FC Imabari | Takashi Kasahara | RB Omiya Ardija | [30] |
| November/December | Ryo Adachi | Kataller Toyama | Shoma Doi | Montedio Yamagata | Ayumu Kameda | Kataller Toyama | Ota Yamamoto | Renofa Yamaguchi | Masaaki Goto | V-Varen Nagasaki | [31] |
