| Season | 2018 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 23 February – 1 December |
| Champions | Kawasaki Frontale (2nd title) |
| Relegated | Kashiwa Reysol V-Varen Nagasaki |
| AFC Champions League | Kawasaki Frontale Sanfrecce Hiroshima Kashima Antlers Urawa Red Diamonds |
| Matches | 306 |
| Goals | 813 (2.66 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Jô (Nagoya Grampus) (24 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Frontale vConsadole 7–0 (15 September) |
| Biggest away win | Vegalta vMarinos 2–8 (16 July) |
| Highest scoring | Vegalta vMarinos 2–8 (16 July) |
| Longest winning run | 9 –Gamba Osaka (Matchday 25–33) |
| Longest unbeaten run | 12 –Consadole Sapporo (Matchday 25–34) |
| Longest winless run | 15 –Nagoya Grampus (Matchday 3–17) |
| Longest losing run | 8 –Nagoya Grampus (Matchday 4–11) |
| Highest attendance | 55,689 –Reds vVissel (23 September, Matchday 27) |
| Lowest attendance | 6,189 –S-Pulse vV-Varen (11 April, Matchday 7) |
| Total attendance | 5,833,538 |
| Average attendance | 19,064 |
←2017 2019 → | |
The2018 J1 League, also known as the2018Meiji Yasuda J1 League (2018 明治安田生命Ｊ１リーグ,2018 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J1 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season ofJ1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. This was fourth season of J1 League as renamed from J. League Division 1.
Kawasaki Frontale were the defending champions.
A total of 18 clubs contested the league. The2017 J2 League championShonan Bellmare and the winner of the promotion play-offsNagoya Grampus returned to the top flight a year after being relegated from J1 in the2016 season.V-Varen Nagasaki, J2 runner-up in 2017, played in theJ1 League for the first time.
| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yokohama F. Marinos |  Erick Mombaerts | 1 January 2018[16] |  Ange Postecoglou | 19 December 2017[17] |
| Urawa Red Diamonds |  Takafumi Hori | 2 April 2018[18] |  Oswaldo de Oliveira | 19 April 2018[19] |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Takahiro Shimotaira | 13 May 2018 | Nozomu Kato | 13 May 2018[20] |
| Gamba Osaka | Levir Culpi | 23 July 2018[21] | Tsuneyasu Miyamoto | 23 July 2018 |
| Vissel Kobe | Takayuki Yoshida | 17 Sep 2018[22] |  Juan Manuel Lillo | 4 Oct 2018[23] |
| Sagan Tosu |  Massimo Ficcadenti | 17 Oct 2018 |  Kim Myung-hwi | 17 Oct 2018 |
The total number of foreign players is restricted to five per club. Clubs can register up to four foreign players for a single match-day squad, of which a maximum of three are allowed from nations outside theAsian Football Confederation (AFC). Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran and Qatar) are exempt from these restrictions.
Players marked inbold indicate players that were registered during the mid-season transfer window.Players marked inITALICS indicate players that were out of squad or left their respective clubs during the mid-season transfer window.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kawasaki Frontale(C) | 34 | 21 | 6 | 7 | 57 | 27 | +30 | 69 | Qualification for theChampions League group stage |
| 2 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 34 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 47 | 35 | +12 | 57 | Qualification for theChampions League play-off round |
| 3 | Kashima Antlers | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 50 | 39 | +11 | 56 | |
| 4 | Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | 34 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 48 | 48 | 0 | 55 | |
| 5 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 51 | 39 | +12 | 51 | Qualification for theChampions League group stage[a] |
| 6 | FC Tokyo | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 39 | 34 | +5 | 50 | |
| 7 | Cerezo Osaka | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 39 | 38 | +1 | 50 | |
| 8 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 56 | 48 | +8 | 49 | |
| 9 | Gamba Osaka | 34 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 41 | 46 | −5 | 48 | |
| 10 | Vissel Kobe | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 45 | 52 | −7 | 45 | |
| 11 | Vegalta Sendai | 34 | 13 | 6 | 15 | 44 | 54 | −10 | 45 | |
| 12 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 34 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 56 | 56 | 0 | 41 | |
| 13 | Shonan Bellmare | 34 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 38 | 43 | −5 | 41 | |
| 14 | Sagan Tosu | 34 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 29 | 34 | −5 | 41 | |
| 15 | Nagoya Grampus | 34 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 52 | 59 | −7 | 41 | |
| 16 | Júbilo Iwata(O) | 34 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 35 | 48 | −13 | 41 | Qualification for theRelegation play-off |
| 17 | Kashiwa Reysol(R) | 34 | 12 | 3 | 19 | 47 | 54 | −7 | 39 | Relegation toJ2 League |
| 18 | V-Varen Nagasaki(R) | 34 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 39 | 59 | −20 | 30 |
| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kawasaki Frontale | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Kashima Antlers | 12 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | 16 | 11 | 15 | 11 | 15 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 6 | 13 | 13 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| FC Tokyo | 6 | 14 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 6 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 12 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| Gamba Osaka | 14 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
| Vissel Kobe | 6 | 15 | 14 | 8 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 10 |
| Vegalta Sendai | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 6 | 16 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 12 |
| Shonan Bellmare | 3 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 |
| Sagan Tosu | 6 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 |
| Nagoya Grampus | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 |
| Júbilo Iwata | 18 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 16 |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 16 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 14 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | 15 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| Leader and qualification toAFC Champions League Group stage | |
| Qualification toAFC Champions League qualifying play-off | |
| Qualification toRelegation play-off | |
| Relegation toJ2 League |
| Home \ Away | ANT | BEL | CER | CON | FMA | FRO | GAM | GRA | JUB | RED | REY | SSP | SAG | SFR | TOK | VVN | VEG | VIS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kashima Antlers | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 6–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Shonan Bellmare | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 0–2 | 2–1 | — | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 3–0 | 4–4 | 1–2 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 5–2 | 5–2 | 1–2 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 7–0 | 2–0 | — | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 5–3 |
| Gamba Osaka | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | — | 2–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Nagoya Grampus | 4–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | — | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–4 | 2–3 | 1–2 |
| Júbilo Iwata | 3–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–6 | — | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–2 |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 4–0 | — | 3–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 5–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 0–0 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 |
| Sagan Tosu | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| FC Tokyo | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 5–2 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | — | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–5 | — | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Vegalta Sendai | 0–3 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–8 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 |
| Vissel Kobe | 0–5 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | — |
2018 J.League J1/J2 Play-Offs (2018 J1参入プレーオフ)
| Júbilo Iwata | 2–0 | Tokyo Verdy |
|---|---|---|
Ogawa 41' (pen.)Taguchi 80' | Report |
Júbilo Iwata stays in J1 League and Tokyo Verdy remains in J2 League.
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diego Oliveira | FC Tokyo | V-Varen Nagasaki | 2–5 (A) | 8 April 2018 |
 Hugo Vieira | Yokohama F. Marinos | Shonan Bellmare | 4–4 (H) | 21 April 2018 |
| Sho Ito | Yokohama F. Marinos | Vegalta Sendai | 2–8 (A) | 18 July 2018 |
| Jô | Nagoya Grampus | Gamba Osaka | 4–1 (H) | 5 August 2018 |
| Fabrício | Urawa Red Diamonds | Júbilo Iwata | 4–0 (H) | 15 August 2018 |
| Jô | Nagoya Grampus | Urawa Red Diamonds | 4–1 (H) | 26 August 2018 |
| Musashi Suzuki | V-Varen Nagasaki | Nagoya Grampus | 4–3 (A) | 15 September 2018 |
(H) – Home; (A) – Away
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 603,534 | 55,689 | 21,250 | 35,502 | +5.8%† |
| 2 | FC Tokyo | 449,388 | 44,801 | 13,425 | 26,432 | −0.2%† |
| 3 | Nagoya Grampus | 419,218 | 43,579 | 9,297 | 24,660 | +60.5%† |
| 4 | Gamba Osaka | 399,242 | 35,242 | 11,824 | 23,485 | −3.3%† |
| 5 | Kawasaki Frontale | 394,709 | 24,677 | 17,113 | 23,218 | +5.0%† |
| 6 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 370,401 | 41,686 | 8,688 | 21,788 | −9.9%† |
| 7 | Vissel Kobe | 367,716 | 26,603 | 9,015 | 21,630 | +18.4%† |
| 8 | Kashima Antlers | 330,376 | 33,647 | 7,672 | 19,434 | −5.0%† |
| 9 | Cerezo Osaka | 319,782 | 34,303 | 8,165 | 18,811 | −10.3%† |
| 10 | Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | 309,798 | 34,250 | 6,729 | 18,223 | −1.1%† |
| 11 | Júbilo Iwata | 263,060 | 31,375 | 8,047 | 15,474 | −5.2%† |
| 12 | Vegalta Sendai | 261,943 | 19,152 | 13,158 | 15,408 | +4.5%† |
| 13 | Sagan Tosu | 255,004 | 22,669 | 7,138 | 15,000 | +5.7%† |
| 14 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 254,844 | 20,109 | 6,193 | 14,991 | −0.8%† |
| 15 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 243,874 | 21,997 | 7,344 | 14,346 | +2.2%† |
| 16 | Shonan Bellmare | 206,039 | 15,351 | 8,002 | 12,120 | +43.4%† |
| 17 | Kashiwa Reysol | 193,833 | 14,208 | 9,255 | 11,402 | +6.3%† |
| 18 | V-Varen Nagasaki | 190,827 | 15,975 | 6,579 | 11,225 | +88.9%† |
| League total | 5,833,538 | 55,689 | 6,193 | 19,064 | +1.0%† |
Updated to games played on 1 December 2018
Source:J. League Data
Notes:
† Promoted from J2.
| 2018 J.League Best XI |
| Award | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Manager of the Year |  Mihailo Petrović | Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo |
| Most Valuable Player | Akihiro Ienaga | Kawasaki Frontale |
| Rookie of the Year | Hiroki Abe | Kashima Antlers |
