| Founded | 1977; 49 years ago (1977) |
|---|---|
| Region | Japan |
| Confederation | AFC (Asia) |
| Number of clubs | 12 |
| Promotion to |
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| Current champions | Asuka FC (1st title) (2024) |
| Most championships |
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| Current:2026 Japanese Regional Football Champions League | |
TheJapanese Regional Champions League (Japanese:全国地域サッカーチャンピオンズリーグ,Zenkoku Chiiki Sakkā Championzu Rīgu), known before 2016 asJapan Regional Football League Competition, is a nationwideplay-off tournament meant as a transition for Japanesefootball clubs competing inregional leagues to theJapan Football League.
Until 1976, the main entrance route for regional clubs to theJapan Soccer League was theAll Japan Senior Football Championship, acup competition. In 1977, to test clubs in a league environment before entrance to the league, theJapan Football Association devised this tournament.
In 1984 and 1985 more promotion places were added due to the JSL, expanding its divisions. In 1992 it began promoting clubs to theformer JFL's second division and, from 1994 to 1998, to its single division. In 1999 and 2000 it added extra promotion places due to the formation and expansion of the new JFL.
Yamaha Motors (Júbilo Iwata) are, thus far, the only Regional Series champions to later becomeFirst Division champions. They are also the only club to retain the title, as they failed to be promoted in their first attempt due to losing a playoff series. Since 1980 every champion has been automatically promoted, exceptions being in 1993 (Nippon Denso/FC Kariya lost a playoff) and in 2002 (Ain Foods requested not to be promoted as they lacked the resources to compete at the national level).
Until 2009, the number of places in the tournament was 16, distributed as follows:
As of 2024, the regional leagues runners-up are no longer eligible, and the All Japan University Football Association is no longer allowed to make recommendations, reducing the number of places to 12.
The clubs are grouped in three groups of four teams, playing at a centralised venue (no home-and-away format is followed). The winners of each group and the best-ranked runners-up qualifies for the final round.
As of 2025, the four remaining teams plays in the same round-robin format, with all four teams being on a single group. The group winner guarantees promotion for theJapan Football League, whereas the second-placed team plays a promotion/relegation match against the 15th-placed JFL club. If the group winner can't or don't want to join the JFL, the group runners-up goes on to the promotion/relegation match against the bottom-ranked the JFL club. If the group runners-up or both group winners and runners-up are not eligible or don't want to join the JFL, there will be no promotion/relegation match.
Teams inbold were promoted.
Source:JFA
Clubs inbold compete in the J.League (any division) in the2025 season. Clubs initalics no longer exist. A dagger (†) indicates clubs thatmoved away from the region after winning the title.
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