| Season | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Kawasaki Frontale 2ndJ2 title 3rdD2 title |
| Promoted | Kawasaki Frontale Omiya Ardija |
| Matches | 264 |
| Goals | 635 (2.41 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Juninho (37 goals) |
| Highest attendance | 20,062 (Round 10, Montedio vs.Vegalta) |
| Lowest attendance | 1,338 (Round 31, HollyHock vs.Bellmare) |
| Average attendance | 7,213 |
←2003 2005 → | |
The2004 J. League Division 2 season was the 33rd season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 6th season since the establishment ofJ2 League.
In this season, twelve clubs competed in the quadruple round-robin format. Starting this season, promotion slots increased to 2.5 slots. The top two received automatic promotion and the third-placed finisher advanced to the Pro/Rele Series for the promotion. There were no relegation to the third-tierJapan Football League.
The following twelve clubs participated in J. League Division 2 during 2004 season. Of these clubs, Vegalta Sendai and Kyoto Purple Sanga were relegated from Division 1 last season.


Twelve clubs played in quadruple round-robin format, a total of 44 games each. A club receives 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The clubs are ranked by points, and tie breakers are, in the following order:
A draw would be conducted, if necessary. However, if two clubs are tied at the first place, both clubs will be declared as the champions. The top two clubs will be promoted to J1, while the 3rd placed club plays a two-leggedPromotion/relegation series.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kawasaki Frontale(C, P) | 44 | 34 | 3 | 7 | 104 | 38 | +66 | 105 | Promotion to2005 J. League Division 1 |
| 2 | Omiya Ardija(P) | 44 | 26 | 9 | 9 | 63 | 38 | +25 | 87 | |
| 3 | Avispa Fukuoka | 44 | 23 | 7 | 14 | 56 | 41 | +15 | 76 | Promotion/relegation playoff |
| 4 | Montedio Yamagata | 44 | 19 | 14 | 11 | 58 | 51 | +7 | 71 | |
| 5 | Kyoto Purple Sanga | 44 | 19 | 12 | 13 | 65 | 53 | +12 | 69 | |
| 6 | Vegalta Sendai | 44 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 62 | 66 | −4 | 59 | |
| 7 | Ventforet Kofu | 44 | 15 | 13 | 16 | 51 | 46 | +5 | 58 | |
| 8 | Yokohama FC | 44 | 10 | 22 | 12 | 42 | 50 | −8 | 52 | |
| 9 | Mito HollyHock | 44 | 6 | 19 | 19 | 33 | 60 | −27 | 37 | |
| 10 | Shonan Bellmare | 44 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 39 | 64 | −25 | 36 | |
| 11 | Sagan Tosu | 44 | 8 | 11 | 25 | 32 | 66 | −34 | 35 | |
| 12 | Consadole Sapporo | 44 | 5 | 15 | 24 | 30 | 62 | −32 | 30 |
| Home \ Away | FRO | ARD | AVI | MON | SAN | VEG | VEN | YFC | HOL | BEL | SAG | CON |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kawasaki Frontale | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 5–0 | 3–2 | 6–0 | |
| Omiya Ardija | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | |
| Avispa Fukuoka | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | |
| Montedio Yamagata | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | |
| Kyoto Purple Sanga | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–4 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | |
| Vegalta Sendai | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–5 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | |
| Ventforet Kofu | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 6–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | |
| Yokohama FC | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | |
| Mito HollyHock | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | |
| Shonan Bellmare | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | |
| Sagan Tosu | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | |
| Consadole Sapporo | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Home \ Away | FRO | ARD | AVI | MON | SAN | VEG | VEN | YFC | HOL | BEL | SAG | CON |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kawasaki Frontale | 0–3 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 4–0 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 2–0 | |
| Omiya Ardija | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | |
| Avispa Fukuoka | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | |
| Montedio Yamagata | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | |
| Kyoto Purple Sanga | 2–6 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 4–2 | |
| Vegalta Sendai | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 4–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | |
| Ventforet Kofu | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | |
| Yokohama FC | 2–5 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | |
| Mito HollyHock | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | |
| Shonan Bellmare | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | |
| Sagan Tosu | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | |
| Consadole Sapporo | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
Kashiwa Reysol won on 4-0 on aggregate, and therefore both clubs remained in their respective leagues.
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vegalta Sendai | 356,359 | 18,751 | 12,023 | 16,198 | −25.4%† |
| 2 | Consadole Sapporo | 208,241 | 19,873 | 5,061 | 9,466 | −12.1%† |
| 3 | Kawasaki Frontale | 201,264 | 20,043 | 4,402 | 9,148 | +26.0%† |
| 4 | Avispa Fukuoka | 192,349 | 15,444 | 5,130 | 8,743 | +17.9%† |
| 5 | Kyoto Purple Sanga | 171,764 | 10,579 | 3,124 | 7,807 | −28.0%† |
| 6 | Montedio Yamagata | 141,246 | 20,062 | 2,964 | 6,420 | +46.9%† |
| 7 | Ventforet Kofu | 140,141 | 10,121 | 2,401 | 6,370 | +9.9%† |
| 8 | Omiya Ardija | 134,365 | 12,004 | 1,901 | 6,108 | +20.8%† |
| 9 | Shonan Bellmare | 103,208 | 9,879 | 2,711 | 4,691 | −0.8%† |
| 10 | Yokohama FC | 92,818 | 12,180 | 2,011 | 4,219 | +12.7%† |
| 11 | Mito HollyHock | 83,002 | 9,155 | 1,338 | 3,773 | +22.3%† |
| 12 | Sagan Tosu | 79,415 | 9,565 | 2,269 | 3,610 | +13.8%† |
| League total | 1,904,172 | 20,062 | 1,338 | 7,213 | −8.6%† |
Updated to games played on November 27, 2004
Source:J. League Division 2
Notes:
† Team played previous season in J1.