| Season | 2021 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 27 February – 5 December |
| Champions | Júbilo Iwata 1st J2 title 3rdD2 title |
| Promoted | Júbilo Iwata Kyoto Sanga |
| Relegated | SC Sagamihara Ehime FC Giravanz Kitakyushu Matsumoto Yamaga |
| Matches | 462 |
| Goals | 1,102 (2.39 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Lukian (22 goals) |
| Highest attendance | 14,759 |
| Lowest attendance | 559 (excluding matches playedbehind closed doors) |
| Total attendance | 1,806,409 |
| Average attendance | 3,910 |
←2020 2022 → | |
The2021 J2 League, also known as the2021Meiji YasudaJ2 League (2021 明治安田生命J2リーグ,2021 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J2 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 23rd season ofJ2 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1999. The league started on 27 February 2021 and ended on 5 December.[1]
With no relegations fromJ1 League, the second division hosted the same number of teams, since there were also no relegations toJ3 League in 2020, but there were two promotions from the third division. This year, though, saw four relegations to J3 to match the four relegations fromJ1.
Tokushima Vortis left the second division after six seasons, coming back to J1, this time winning the title and topping the table in 2020. Despite losing in the last match against rivals and runners-upAvispa Fukuoka, both clubs assured themselves of the promotion to J1 with one game still to be played.[2]
Meanwhile, inJ3 League, two teams won promotion to J2:Blaublitz Akita stormed their way to J2, winning their second title in J3, but this time also getting promoted to J2 (unlike what happened in2017, when they won, but did not hold a J2 license; this was their first appearance in the second tier since1986). In the last match of the season,SC Sagamihara overcameNagano Parceiro and clinched their first promotion ever, leaving the third division after seven seasons.[3]
| Team | Outgoing | Manner | Exit date | Position in table | Incoming | Incoming date | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Announced on | Departed on | Announced on | Arrived on | ||||||
| Ehime FC |  Shigenari Izumi | Resigned | 4 April 2021 | 4 April 2021 | 22nd | Noritada Saneyoshi | 7 April 2021 | 7 April 2021 | [12][5] |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | Takayuki Yoshida | Demoted to Assistant Coach | 3 May 2021 | 3 May 2021 | 11th | Kazuki Sato (Caretaker) | 3 May 2021 | 4 May 2021 | [13] |
| V-Varen Nagasaki | Kazuki Sato | End of term | 3 May 2021 | 6 May 2021 | 15th | Hiroshi Matsuda | 3 May 2021 | 6 May 2021 | [14] |
| FC Ryukyu | Yasuhiro Higuchi | Sacked | 20 October 2021 | 20 October 2021 | 8th | Tetsuhiro Kina | 20 October 2021 | 20 October 2021 | [15][16] |
As of 2021 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.[17] Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia and Qatar) are exempt from these restrictions.
Unlike last season, J. League has then decided to have four relegations to balance the number of teams in place for the 2022 season. While in 2020 no relegation was in place, 2021 saw four teams dropped to J3, re-establishing the number of teams in the third division to at least 17.[19]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Júbilo Iwata(C, P) | 42 | 27 | 10 | 5 | 75 | 42 | +33 | 91 | Promotion toJ1 League |
| 2 | Kyoto Sanga(P) | 42 | 24 | 12 | 6 | 59 | 31 | +28 | 84 | |
| 3 | Ventforet Kofu | 42 | 23 | 11 | 8 | 65 | 38 | +27 | 80 | |
| 4 | V-Varen Nagasaki | 42 | 23 | 9 | 10 | 69 | 44 | +25 | 78 | |
| 5 | Machida Zelvia | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 64 | 38 | +26 | 72 | |
| 6 | Albirex Niigata | 42 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 61 | 40 | +21 | 68 | |
| 7 | Montedio Yamagata | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 61 | 49 | +12 | 68 | |
| 8 | JEF United Chiba | 42 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 48 | 36 | +12 | 66 | |
| 9 | FC Ryukyu | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 57 | 47 | +10 | 65 | |
| 10 | Mito HollyHock | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 59 | 50 | +9 | 59 | |
| 11 | Fagiano Okayama | 42 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 40 | 36 | +4 | 59 | |
| 12 | Tokyo Verdy | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 62 | 66 | −4 | 58 | |
| 13 | Blaublitz Akita[a] | 42 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 41 | 53 | −12 | 47 | |
| 14 | Tochigi SC | 42 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 37 | 51 | −14 | 45 | |
| 15 | Renofa Yamaguchi | 42 | 10 | 13 | 19 | 37 | 51 | −14 | 43 | |
| 16 | Omiya Ardija | 42 | 9 | 15 | 18 | 51 | 56 | −5 | 42 | |
| 17 | Zweigen Kanazawa | 42 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 39 | 60 | −21 | 41 | |
| 18 | Thespakusatsu Gunma | 42 | 9 | 14 | 19 | 35 | 56 | −21 | 41 | |
| 19 | SC Sagamihara[a](R) | 42 | 8 | 14 | 20 | 33 | 54 | −21 | 38 | Relegation toJ3 League |
| 20 | Ehime FC(R) | 42 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 38 | 67 | −29 | 35 | |
| 21 | Giravanz Kitakyushu(R) | 42 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 35 | 66 | −31 | 35 | |
| 22 | Matsumoto Yamaga(R) | 42 | 7 | 13 | 22 | 36 | 71 | −35 | 34 |
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yoshiaki Takagi | Albirex Niigata | Tokyo Verdy | 7–0 (H)[21][22] | 27 March 2021 |
 Peter Utaka | Kyoto Sanga | Giravanz Kitakyushu | 6–1 (H) | 17 April 2021 |
| Kunitomo Suzuki | Matsumoto Yamaga | Ventforet Kofu | 3–3 (H) | |
| Koki Kiyotake | FC Ryukyu | Matsumoto Yamaga | 4–0 (H) | 26 June 2021 |
| Kaina Yoshio | Machida Zelvia | Ehime FC | 5–0 (H) | 27 June 2021 |
| Asahi Uenaka | V-Varen Nagasaki | Montedio Yamagata | 5–1 (H) | 14 September 2021 |
 Edigar Junio | V-Varen Nagasaki | Machida Zelvia | 3–3 (A) | 18 September 2021 |
| Vinícius Araújo4 | Montedio Yamagata | Giravanz Kitakyushu | 4–0 (H) | 5 December 2021 |
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