| Season | 2022 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 18 February – 5 November |
| Champions | Yokohama F. Marinos 5th J1 title 7thJapanese title |
| Relegated | Shimizu S-Pulse Júbilo Iwata |
| Champions League | Yokohama F. Marinos Kawasaki Frontale Urawa Red Diamonds |
| Matches | 306 |
| Goals | 769 (2.51 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Thiago Santana (14 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Sagan Tosu 5–0Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo (19 March 2022) Sagan Tosu 5–0FC Tokyo (26 June 2022) |
| Biggest away win | Júbilo Iwata 0–6 Urawa Red Diamonds (13 August 2022) |
| Highest scoring | Kashiwa Reysol 3–6 FC Tokyo (27 August 2022) |
| Longest winning run | 6 matches Yokohama F. Marinos |
| Longest unbeaten run | 9 matches Yokohama F. Marinos |
| Longest winless run | 11 matches Vissel Kobe |
| Longest losing run | 4 matches Gamba Osaka Júbilo Iwata Vissel Kobe |
| Highest attendance | 56,131[1] Shimizu S-Pulse 3–5 Yokohama F. Marinos (2 July 2022) |
| Lowest attendance | 3,988[1] Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2–0 Yokohama F. Marinos (6 April 2022) |
| Total attendance | 4,384,401[1] |
| Average attendance | 14,328[1] |
←2021 2023 → | |
The2022 J1 League, also known as the2022Meiji YasudaJ1 League (Japanese:2022 明治安田生命J1リーグ,Hepburn:2022 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J1 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th season of theJ1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. This was eighth season of J1 League as renamed from J. League Division 1.
Kawasaki Frontale were the defending champions, having won their fourth and second consecutive title in2021 with four rounds to play.[2]Yokohama F. Marinos reclaimed the trophy, winning its fifth J.League and seventhJapanese title on the final day of the season.[3][4] Brazilian forwardThiago Santana scored 14 goals forShimizu S-Pulse, the least number of goals from a player who became theleague top scorer and the first to also suffer relegation in the same season.
Due to2022 FIFA World Cup, the league began from February to November 2022.
There were four teams instead of two relegated last season to2022 J2 League due toimpacts related to theCOVID-19 pandemic to made up the decision of no relegation in the2020 season,[5] which saw the number of teams rise to 20.[6] They wereTokushima Vortis,Oita Trinita,Vegalta Sendai, andYokohama FC.
Two teams were promoted from the2021 J2 League:Júbilo Iwata, who won the title and returned to J1 after a two-year absence, andKyoto Sanga who finished second, returning to J1 after 11 seasons.
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in the table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima |  Kentaro Sawada[7] | End of interim spell | 5 December 2021 | Pre-season |  Michael Skibbe[8] | 25 November 2021 |
| Gamba Osaka | Masanobu Matsunami[9] | Tomohiro Katanosaka[10] | 23 December 2021 | |||
| Kashima Antlers | Naoki Soma[11] | End of contract |  René Weiler[12] | 10 December 2021 | ||
| FC Tokyo | Shinichi Morishita[13] | End of interim spell |  Albert Puig[14] | |||
| Nagoya Grampus |  Massimo Ficcadenti[15] | End of contract | 9 December 2021 | Kenta Hasegawa[16] | 9 December 2021 | |
| Sagan Tosu |  Kim Myung-hwi[17] | Resigned | 20 December 2021 | Kenta Kawai[18] | 24 December 2021 | |
| Júbilo Iwata | Masakazu Suzuki[19] | 25 December 2021 | Akira Ito[20] | 25 December 2021 | ||
| Vissel Kobe | Atsuhiro Miura[21] | Sacked | 20 March 2022 | 16th | Lluís Planagumà (caretaker)[22] | 21 March 2022 |
| Lluís Planagumà | End of caretaker spell | 8 April 2022 | 17th | Miguel Ángel Lotina[23] | 8 April 2022 | |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Hiroaki Hiraoka[24] | Sacked | 30 May 2022 | 16th | Yoshiyuki Shinoda (caretaker)[24] | 30 May 2022 |
| Yoshiyuki Shinoda | End of caretaker spell | 7 June 2022 |  Zé Ricardo[25] | 7 June 2022 | ||
| Vissel Kobe | Miguel Ángel Lotina[26] | Sacked | 29 June 2022 | 18th | Takayuki Yoshida[27] | 29 June 2022 |
| Kashima Antlers | René Weiler[28][29] | Mutual consent | 7 August 2022 | 4th | Daiki Iwamasa[30] | 8 August 2022 |
| Gamba Osaka | Tomohiro Katanosaka[31] | Sacked | 17 August 2022 | 17th | Hiroshi Matsuda[31] | 17 August 2022 |
| Júbilo Iwata | Akira Ito[32] | 18th | Hiroki Shibuya[33] |
From the 2021 season, there is no limitations on signing foreign players, but clubs could only register up to five of them for a single matchday squad.[34] Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Qatar) were exempted from these restrictions.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yokohama F. Marinos(C) | 34 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 70 | 35 | +35 | 68 | Qualification for theAFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Kawasaki Frontale | 34 | 20 | 6 | 8 | 65 | 42 | +23 | 66 | |
| 3 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 34 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 52 | 41 | +11 | 55 | |
| 4 | Kashima Antlers | 34 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 47 | 42 | +5 | 52 | |
| 5 | Cerezo Osaka | 34 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 46 | 40 | +6 | 51 | |
| 6 | FC Tokyo | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 46 | 43 | +3 | 49 | |
| 7 | Kashiwa Reysol | 34 | 13 | 8 | 13 | 43 | 44 | −1 | 47 | |
| 8 | Nagoya Grampus | 34 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 30 | 35 | −5 | 46 | |
| 9 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 34 | 10 | 15 | 9 | 48 | 39 | +9 | 45 | Qualification for theAFC Champions League play-off round[a] |
| 10 | Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 45 | 55 | −10 | 45 | |
| 11 | Sagan Tosu | 34 | 9 | 15 | 10 | 45 | 44 | +1 | 42 | |
| 12 | Shonan Bellmare | 34 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 31 | 39 | −8 | 41 | |
| 13 | Vissel Kobe | 34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 35 | 41 | −6 | 40 | |
| 14 | Avispa Fukuoka | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 29 | 38 | −9 | 38 | |
| 15 | Gamba Osaka | 34 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 33 | 44 | −11 | 37 | |
| 16 | Kyoto Sanga(O) | 34 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 30 | 38 | −8 | 36 | Qualification forrelegation playoffs |
| 17 | Shimizu S-Pulse(R) | 34 | 7 | 12 | 15 | 44 | 54 | −10 | 33 | Relegation to theJ2 League |
| 18 | Júbilo Iwata(R) | 34 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 32 | 57 | −25 | 30 |
| Home \ Away | ANT | AVI | BEL | CER | CON | FMA | FRO | GAM | GRA | JBI | KSA | RED | REY | SAG | SFR | SSP | TOK | VIS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kashima Antlers | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 4–1 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 4–4 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Avispa Fukuoka | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 5–1 | 0–1 |
| Shonan Bellmare | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | 0–2 | 1–5 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | — | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 4–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–6 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | — | 4–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 1–4 | 5–2 | 2–1 | — | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Gamba Osaka | 1–3 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | — | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Nagoya Grampus | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Júbilo Iwata | 3–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–0 | 0–6 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Kyoto Sanga | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | — | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 2–2 | — | 4–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | — | 1–4 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 3–6 | 3–1 |
| Sagan Tosu | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | — | 2–2 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 0–2 |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 5–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–5 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 2–2 | — | 0–3 | 0–0 |
| FC Tokyo | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | — | 3–1 |
| Vissel Kobe | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | — |
In the playoffs, officially called the 2022 J.League J1/J2 Play-offs (Japanese:2022 J1参入プレーオフ), the 16th-placed team of the J1 League (Kyoto Sanga) faced the winners of the J2 League promotion playoffs. Should they lose, the J2 team would be promoted in their place for the 2023 J1 League.Fagiano Okayama,Roasso Kumamoto,Oita Trinita, andMontedio Yamagata qualified for the promotion playoffs as they finished between third and sixth in the2022 J2 League.
In the first two rounds of the playoffs, if the score was tied after 90 minutes, no extra time was played and the winners were the team with the higher finish in the J2 League (i.e. the home team). In the final match at the J1 team's home, if the score was tied after 90 minutes, no extra time would be played, and both teams stay at their respective leagues.[36]
| First round 30 October | Second round 6 November | Final 13 November | |||||||||||
| J2(3) | Fagiano Okayama | 0 | |||||||||||
| J1(16) | Kyoto Sanga | 1 | |||||||||||
| J2(6) | Montedio Yamagata | 3 | |||||||||||
| J2(6) | Montedio Yamagata | 2 | J2(4) | Roasso Kumamoto | 1 | ||||||||
| J2(4) | Roasso Kumamoto | 2 | |||||||||||
| J2(4) | Roasso Kumamoto | 2 | |||||||||||
| J2(5) | Oita Trinita | 2 | |||||||||||
| 30 October 2022 (2022-10-30) | Roasso Kumamoto | 2–2 | Oita Trinita | Kumamoto |
| 13:07 | Report (EN) Report (JA) | Stadium:Egao Kenko Stadium Attendance: 13,818 Referee: Koichiro Fukushima |
| 30 October 2022 (2022-10-30) | Fagiano Okayama | 0–3 | Montedio Yamagata | Okayama |
| 14:03 | Report (EN) Report (JA) |
| Stadium:City Light Stadium Attendance: 11,854 Referee: Hayato Shimizu |
| 6 November 2022 (2022-11-06) | Roasso Kumamoto | 2–2 | Montedio Yamagata | Kumamoto |
| 13:09 | Report (EN) Report (JA) | Stadium:Egao Kenko Stadium Attendance: 11,429 Referee:Jumpei Iida |
| 13 November 2022 (2022-11-13) | Kyoto Sanga | 1–1 | Roasso Kumamoto | Kameoka |
| 13:06 | Toyokawa 39' | Report (EN) Report (JA) | Iyoha 68' | Stadium:Sanga Stadium by Kyocera Attendance: 18,207 Referee:Ryuji Sato |
Kyoto Sanga remained in J1 League.Roasso Kumamoto remained in J2 League.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[37][38] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thiago Santana | Shimizu S-Pulse | 14 |
| 2 | Shuto Machino | Shonan Bellmare | 13 |
| 3 | Adaílton | FC Tokyo | 12 |
| Marcinho | Kawasaki Frontale | ||
| Akihiro Ienaga | |||
| 6 | Anderson Lopes | Yokohama F. Marinos | 11 |
| Léo Ceará | |||
| 8 | Ayase Ueda | Kashima Antlers | 10 |
| Takuma Nishimura | Yokohama F. Marinos | ||
| Yuya Yamagishi | Avispa Fukuoka |
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Kasper Junker | Urawa Red Diamonds | Yokohama F. Marinos | 3–3 (H)[39][40] | 18 May 2022 |
| Léo Ceará | Yokohama F. Marinos | Shimizu S-Pulse | 5–3 (A)[41][42] | 2 July 2022 |
| Marcinho | Kawasaki Frontale | Avispa Fukuoka | 4–1 (A)[43][44] | 20 August 2022 |
| Ryoma Watanabe | FC Tokyo | Cerezo Osaka | 4–0 (H)[45][46] | 12 October 2022 |
| Rank | Player | Club | Assists[47][38] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yasuto Wakizaka | Kawasaki Frontale | 10 |
| Yuma Suzuki | Kashima Antlers | ||
| 3 | Gakuto Notsuda | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 8 |
| Makoto Mitsuta | |||
| Yuta Higuchi | Kashima Antlers | ||
| 6 | Akito Fukuta | Sagan Tosu | 7 |
| Reon Yamahara | Shimizu S-Pulse | ||
| 8 | Anderson Lopes | Yokohama F. Marinos | 6 |
| Carlinhos Júnior | Shimizu S-Pulse | ||
| Marcinho | Kawasaki Frontale | ||
| Thiago Santana | Shimizu S-Pulse | ||
| Ken Iwao | Urawa Red Diamonds | ||
| Kota Mizunuma | Yokohama F. Marinos | ||
| Teruhito Nakagawa | |||
| Tomoya Koyamatsu | Kashiwa Reysol |
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets[48] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jakub Słowik | FC Tokyo | 14 |
| 2 |  Mitchell Langerak | Nagoya Grampus | 13 |
| Yohei Takaoka | Yokohama F. Marinos | ||
| 4 | Jung Sung-ryong | Kawasaki Frontale | 12 |
| Park Il-gyu | Sagan Tosu | ||
| 6 | Keisuke Osako | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 11 |
| 7 | Kosei Tani | Shonan Bellmare | 10 |
| Shusaku Nishikawa | Urawa Red Diamonds | ||
| Takanori Sugeno | Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | ||
| 10 | Kim Jin-hyeon | Cerezo Osaka | 9 |
Diego Pituca (Kashima Antlers)Dodi (Kashiwa Reysol)Hisashi Appiah Tawiah (Kyoto Sanga)Yuji Takahashi (Kashiwa Reysol)Juanma (Avispa Fukuoka)| Month | Manager of the Month | Monthly MVP | Goal of the Month | References | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | ||
| February/March | Toru Oniki | Kawasaki Frontale | Ayase Ueda | Kashima Antlers | Yuki Saneto | Yokohama F. Marinos | [53][54][55] |
| April | Michael Skibbe | Sanfrecce Hiroshima |  Peter Utaka | Kyoto Sanga | Dawhan | Gamba Osaka | [56][57][58] |
| May | Kevin Muscat | Yokohama F. Marinos | Seiya Maikuma | Cerezo Osaka | Matheus Sávio | Kashiwa Reysol | [59][60][61] |
| June | Satoshi Yamaguchi | Shonan Bellmare | Kota Mizunuma | Yokohama F. Marinos | Gakuto Notsuda | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | [62][63][64] |
| July | Kevin Muscat | Yokohama F. Marinos | Léo Ceará | Yokohama F. Marinos | Everaldo | Kashima Antlers | [65][66][67] |
| August | Michael Skibbe | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Akihiro Ienaga | Kawasaki Frontale | Mateus | Nagoya Grampus | [68][69][70] |
| September | Kevin Muscat | Yokohama F. Marinos | Tomoki Iwata | Yokohama F. Marinos | Takumu Kawamura | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | [71][72] |
| October/November | Toru Oniki | Kawasaki Frontale | Marcinho | Kawasaki Frontale | Yuki Kobayashi | Vissel Kobe | [73] |
| Award | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Manager of the Year | Michael Skibbe[74] | Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
| Player of the Year | Tomoki Iwata[74] | Yokohama F. Marinos |
| Best Young Player | Mao Hosoya[74] | Kashiwa Reysol |
| Goal of the Year | Takumu Kawamura[74] | Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
| Best XI[74] | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Yohei Takaoka (Yokohama F. Marinos) | |||||||||||
| Defenders | Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale) | Miki Yamane (Kawasaki Frontale) | Tomoki Iwata (Yokohama F. Marinos) | Ryuta Koike (Yokohama F. Marinos) | ||||||||
| Midfielders | Akihiro Ienaga (Kawasaki Frontale) | Yasuto Wakizaka (Kawasaki Frontale) | Kota Mizunuma (Yokohama F. Marinos) | |||||||||
| Forwards | Marcinho (Kawasaki Frontale) | Élber (Yokohama F. Marinos) | Thiago Santana (Shimizu S-Pulse) | |||||||||
