| Season | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 24 February – 10 November 2024 |
| Champions | Shimizu S-Pulse 1st J2 League title |
| Promoted | Shimizu S-Pulse Yokohama FC Fagiano Okayama |
| Relegated | Tochigi SC Kagoshima United Thespa Gunma |
| Matches | 380 |
| Goals | 946 (2.49 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Hiiro Komori (23 goals) |
| Biggest home win | JEF United Chiba 8–0Tochigi SC (3 April 2024) |
| Biggest away win | Roasso Kumamoto 0–6Iwaki FC (17 March 2024) |
| Highest scoring | JEF United Chiba 8–0Tochigi SC (3 April 2024) |
| Highest attendance | 55,598 Shimizu S-Pulse 1–1Yokohama FC (28 September 2024)[1] |
| Lowest attendance | 1,255 Thespa Gunma 0–2Oita Trinita (3 April 2024)[1] |
| Total attendance | 2,913,415[2] |
| Average attendance | 7,667[3] |
←2023 2025 → All statistics correct as of 17:00, 10 November 2024 (UTC). | |
The2024 J2 League, also known as the2024Meiji YasudaJ2 League (Japanese:2024 明治安田J2リーグ,Hepburn:2024 Meiji Yasuda J2 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of theJ2 League, the second-tier Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1999. It was the tenth season of the league since its rebrand from J.League Division 2.
For the first time since2011, the number of the clubs in the league decreased from 22 to 20.[4]
This season, there were three automatic relegation spots to theJ3 League (one more than the 2023 season) and two clubs gained automatic promotion to theJ1 League. Like the previous season, the winner of the J2 promotion play-off were promoted to the top tier.
The league and match format was announced on 19 December 2023. The league began on 23 February and ended on 10 November in a round-robin format of 38 matches.[5]
The J1 promotion play-off semi-finals took place on 1 December with the final taking place on 7 December.[6]
Zweigen Kanazawa andOmiya Ardija were relegated to the2024 J3 League, finishing the previousJ2 League season as 21st and 22nd-placed teams, respectively.
Yokohama FC were the sole team to be relegated from theJ1 League, after only one season in the top flight.
BothMachida Zelvia andJúbilo Iwata are promoted to theJ1 League as champions and runners-up, respectively, of theprevious J2 League season.Tokyo-based Machida will make their debut in the top flight of Japanese football, while Júbilo will make their immediate comeback to the J1. Joining the duo areTokyo Verdy, who finished 3rd in 2023 and earned promotion after winning the promotion play-offs, thus making their first top flight appearance since2008.
J3 winnersEhime FC and runners-upKagoshima United were both promoted from theJ3 League. Ehime are returning to the second-tier following two seasons in the J3 League and Kagoshima United will be playing only their second J2 season after five years absence.
From this season, Thespakusatsu Gunma changed their name toThespa Gunma.[7]
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in the table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tochigi SC |  Yu Tokisaki | Resigned | 6 November 2023[8] | Pre-season | Makoto Tanaka | 5 December 2023[9] |
| Oita Trinita | Takahiro Shimotaira | 10 November 2023[10] | Tomohiro Katanosaka | 30 November 2023[11] | ||
| Vegalta Sendai | Takafumi Hori | 13 November 2023[12] | Yoshiro Moriyama | 27 November 2023[13] | ||
| Renofa Yamaguchi |  Juan Esnáider | 13 November 2023[14] | Ryo Shigaki | 5 December 2023[15] | ||
| V-Varen Nagasaki |  Fábio Carille | Contract terminated[a] | 15 February 2024[18] | Takahiro Shimotaira | 15 February 2024[19] | |
| Tokushima Vortis | Tatsuma Yoshida | Sacked | 31 March 2024[20] | 20th | Kosaku Masuda | 7 May 2024[21] |
| Mito HollyHock | Yoshimi Hamasaki | 4 May 2024[22] | 19th | Naoki Mori | 9 May 2024[23] | |
| Thespa Gunma | Tsuyoshi Otsuki | 6 May 2024[24] | 20th | Akira Muto | 8 May 2024[25] | |
| Tochigi SC | Makoto Tanaka | 14 May 2024[26] | 19th | Shinji Kobayashi | 15 May 2024[27] | |
| Kagoshima United | Yasuaki Oshima | 27 May 2024[28] | 18th | Tetsuya Asano | 29 May 2024[29] | |
| Ventforet Kofu | Yoshiyuki Shinoda | 2 July 2024[30] | 14th | Shinji Otsuka | 2 July 2024[31] |
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.[32] 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 | Shimizu S-Pulse(C, P) | 38 | 26 | 4 | 8 | 68 | 38 | +30 | 82 | Promotion to the2025 J1 League |
| 2 | Yokohama FC(P) | 38 | 22 | 10 | 6 | 60 | 27 | +33 | 76 | |
| 3 | V-Varen Nagasaki | 38 | 21 | 12 | 5 | 74 | 39 | +35 | 75 | Qualification for thepromotion play-offs |
| 4 | Montedio Yamagata | 38 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 55 | 36 | +19 | 66 | |
| 5 | Fagiano Okayama(O, P) | 38 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 48 | 29 | +19 | 65 | |
| 6 | Vegalta Sendai | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 50 | 44 | +6 | 64 | |
| 7 | JEF United Chiba | 38 | 19 | 4 | 15 | 67 | 48 | +19 | 61 | |
| 8 | Tokushima Vortis | 38 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 42 | 44 | −2 | 55 | |
| 9 | Iwaki FC | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 53 | 41 | +12 | 54 | |
| 10 | Blaublitz Akita | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 36 | 35 | +1 | 54 | |
| 11 | Renofa Yamaguchi | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 43 | 44 | −1 | 53 | |
| 12 | Roasso Kumamoto | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 53 | 62 | −9 | 46 | |
| 13 | Fujieda MYFC | 38 | 14 | 4 | 20 | 38 | 57 | −19 | 46 | |
| 14 | Ventforet Kofu | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 54 | 57 | −3 | 45 | |
| 15 | Mito HollyHock | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 39 | 51 | −12 | 44 | |
| 16 | Oita Trinita | 38 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 33 | 47 | −14 | 43 | |
| 17 | Ehime FC | 38 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 41 | 69 | −28 | 40 | |
| 18 | Tochigi SC(R) | 38 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 33 | 57 | −24 | 34 | Relegation to the 2025J3 League |
| 19 | Kagoshima United(R) | 38 | 7 | 9 | 22 | 35 | 59 | −24 | 30 | |
| 20 | Thespa Gunma(R) | 38 | 3 | 9 | 26 | 24 | 62 | −38 | 18 |
The usual format was applied in the 2024 season. Promotion play-offs, officially called the2024 J.League Road To J1 Play-offs[A] (Japanese:2024 J1昇格プレーオフ), 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.[34]
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 3 | V-Varen Nagasaki | 1 | |||||||
| 6 | Vegalta Sendai | 4 | |||||||
| 5 | Fagiano Okayama | 2 | |||||||
| 6 | Vegalta Sendai | 0 | |||||||
| 4 | Montedio Yamagata | 0 | |||||||
| 5 | Fagiano Okayama | 3 | |||||||
| Month | Manager of the Month | Monthly MVP | Goal of the Month | Young Player of the Month | References | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | ||
| February/March | Takashi Kiyama | Fagiano Okayama | Gleyson | Fagiano Okayama | Matheus Jesus | V-Varen Nagasaki | Hayato Tanaka | V-Varen Nagasaki | [36][37][38][39] |
| April | Takahiro Shimotaira | V-Varen Nagasaki | Koya Kitagawa | Shimizu S-Pulse | Kento Hashimoto | Tokushima Vortis | Tsubasa Kasayanagi | V-Varen Nagasaki | [40][41][42][43] |
| May | Yoshiro Moriyama | Vegalta Sendai | Motohiko Nakajima | Vegalta Sendai | Shinya Yajima | Shimizu S-Pulse | Harumi Minamino | Tochigi SC | [44][45][46][47] |
| June | Shuhei Yomoda | Yokohama FC | Akito Fukumori | Yokohama FC | Taishi Taguchi | JEF United Chiba | Yusei Ozaki | Ehime FC | [48][49][50][51] |
| July | Kosaku Masuda | Tokushima Vortis | Ryota Nagaki | Tokushima Vortis | Ken Yamura | Fujieda MYFC | Kota Kawano | Renofa Yamaguchi | [52][53][54][55] |
| August | Shuhei Yomoda | Yokohama FC | Shoma Doi | Montedio Yamagata | Pereira | Oita Trinita | Kenshin Yasuda | Oita Trinita | [56][57][58][59] |
| September | Susumu Watanabe | Montedio Yamagata | Hiiro Komori | JEF United Chiba | Daiki Watari | Tokushima Vortis | Taisei Abe | V-Varen Nagasaki | [60] |
| October | Yoshiyuki Kobayashi | JEF United Chiba | Matheus Jesus | V-Varen Nagasaki | Ken Yamura | Fujieda MYFC | Toua Suenaga | Renofa Yamaguchi | [61] |
| November/December | Tadahiro Akiba | Shimizu S-Pulse | Leo Takae | Montedio Yamagata | Daichi Ishikawa | Roasso Kumamoto | Yusei Yashiki | Oita Trinita | [62] |
