| Season | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 23 February – 8 December |
| Champions | Vissel Kobe 2nd J1 title 2ndJapanese title |
| Relegated | Júbilo Iwata Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Sagan Tosu |
| Champions League Elite | Vissel Kobe Sanfrecce Hiroshima Machida Zelvia |
| Champions League Two | Gamba Osaka |
| Matches | 380 |
| Goals | 1,013 (2.67 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Anderson Lopes (24 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Vissel Kobe 6–1 Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo (30 March 2024) Machida Zelvia 5–0Tokyo Verdy (19 May 2024) Shonan Bellmare 5–0 Júbilo Iwata (14 July 2024) |
| Biggest away win | Kyoto Sanga 0–5 Sanfrecce Hiroshima (19 May 2024) |
| Highest scoring | Kawasaki Frontale 4–5 Júbilo Iwata (1 March 2024) Tokyo Verdy 4–5 Kawasaki Frontale (30 November 2024) |
| Longest winning run | 7 matches Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
| Longest unbeaten run | 11 matches Kashima Antlers Sanfrecce Hiroshima Tokyo Verdy |
| Longest winless run | 12 matches Sagan Tosu |
| Longest losing run | 8 matches Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo |
| Highest attendance | 57,885 FC Tokyo 2–0Albirex Niigata (13 July 2024)[1] |
| Lowest attendance | 5,240 Machida Zelvia 1–2 Sanfrecce Hiroshima (3 April 2024)[1] |
| Total attendance | 7,734,871[1] |
| Average attendance | 20,355[1] |
←2023 2025 → | |
The2024 J1 League, also known as the2024Meiji Yasuda J1 League (Japanese:2024 明治安田J1リーグ,Hepburn:2024 Meiji Yasuda J1 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd season ofJ1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. This was the tenth season of the league since its rebrand from J.League Division 1.
Vissel Kobe were the defendingchampions, having won their first ever league title with one match to spare in theprevious season.[2] They retained their league title on the last matchday.[3]
For the first time since2021, the number of the clubs in the league increased from 18 to 20. At the end of season, three clubs were relegated to theJ2 League for the 2025 season, without relegation play-offs between J1 and J2 clubs.[4]
Only one club was relegated to the2024 J2 League. Due to the re-introduction of 20 clubs league format,Yokohama FC became the sole team going down to the second division, after just one season in the J1 League. They have been replaced by three teams promoted from the2023 J2 League. The first club promoted wasTokyo-basedMachida Zelvia, debuting in the J1 as the J2 champions following a seven-year run in the Japanese second tier.[5][6] Another automatic promotion spot was obtained byJúbilo Iwata, who made a swift comeback after just a single season absence by finishing second, thus marking the return of a team fromShizuoka in the Japanese first division since2022.[7] The last promotion spot was earned byTokyo Verdy, returning to the top flight for the first time since2008 by finishing third in the J2 League and later won thepromotion play-offs. This brings back theTokyo derby between Verdy andFC Tokyo in the J1 for the first time since that season as well as the first season in which three clubs from the capital city are competing at the highest tier of Japanese football system.[8][9]
The league and match format was announced on 19 December 2023. The league began on 23 February and ended on 8 December; it was played in adouble round-robin format with 38 fixtures in total.[10]
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in the table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kashima Antlers |  Daiki Iwamasa[11] | End of contract | 4 December 2023 | Pre-season |  Ranko Popović[12] | 21 December 2023 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos |  Kevin Muscat[13] | Resigned | 6 December 2023 | Harry Kewell[14] | 31 December 2023 | |
| Urawa Red Diamonds |  Maciej Skorża[15] | 23 December 2023 |  Per-Mathias Høgmo[16] | 23 December 2023 | ||
| Yokohama F. Marinos | Harry Kewell[17] | Sacked | 16 July 2024 | 12th |  John Hutchinson (interim)[17] | 16 July 2024 |
| Sagan Tosu | Kenta Kawai[18] | 9 August 2024 | 19th | Kosuke Kitani[18] | 9 August 2024 | |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Per-Mathias Høgmo | 26 August 2024[19] | 13th | Nobuyasu Ikeda (interim)[20] | 27 August 2024 | |
| Nobuyasu Ikeda (interim) | End of interim spell | 1 September 2024 | 12th | Maciej Skorża[21] | 1 September 2024 | |
| Kashima Antlers | Ranko Popović | Sacked | 6 October 2024[22][23] | 4th | Masaki Chugo[24] | 9 October 2024 |
From the 2021 season, there are no limitations on signing foreign players, but clubs can only register up to five of them for a single matchday squad.[25] Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Morocco, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia) were exempted from these restrictions.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vissel Kobe(C) | 38 | 21 | 9 | 8 | 61 | 36 | +25 | 72 | Qualification for theAFC Champions League Elite league stage[a] |
| 2 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 38 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 72 | 43 | +29 | 68 | |
| 3 | Machida Zelvia | 38 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 54 | 34 | +20 | 66 | |
| 4 | Gamba Osaka | 38 | 18 | 12 | 8 | 49 | 35 | +14 | 66 | Qualification for theAFC Champions League Two group stage[a] |
| 5 | Kashima Antlers | 38 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 60 | 41 | +19 | 65 | |
| 6 | Tokyo Verdy | 38 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 51 | 51 | 0 | 56 | |
| 7 | FC Tokyo | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 53 | 51 | +2 | 54 | |
| 8 | Kawasaki Frontale | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 66 | 57 | +9 | 52 | |
| 9 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 38 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 61 | 62 | −1 | 52 | |
| 10 | Cerezo Osaka | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 43 | 48 | −5 | 52 | |
| 11 | Nagoya Grampus | 38 | 15 | 5 | 18 | 44 | 47 | −3 | 50 | |
| 12 | Avispa Fukuoka | 38 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 33 | 38 | −5 | 50 | |
| 13 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 38 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 49 | 45 | +4 | 48 | |
| 14 | Kyoto Sanga | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 43 | 55 | −12 | 47 | |
| 15 | Shonan Bellmare | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 53 | 58 | −5 | 45 | |
| 16 | Albirex Niigata | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 44 | 59 | −15 | 42 | |
| 17 | Kashiwa Reysol | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 39 | 51 | −12 | 41 | |
| 18 | Júbilo Iwata(R) | 38 | 10 | 8 | 20 | 47 | 68 | −21 | 38 | Relegation to theJ2 League |
| 19 | Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo(R) | 38 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 43 | 66 | −23 | 37 | |
| 20 | Sagan Tosu(R) | 38 | 10 | 5 | 23 | 48 | 68 | −20 | 35 |
| Home \ Away | ANI | AFU | COS | GOS | HCS | JIW | KSA | KSR | KWF | KYS | MCZ | NGR | STO | SHI | SHB | TOK | TOV | URD | VKO | YFM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albirex Niigata | — | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–4 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–4 | 2–3 | 3–1 |
| Avispa Fukuoka | 0–1 | — | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–5 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 2–2 |
| Gamba Osaka | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 |
| Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 5–3 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Júbilo Iwata | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–4 | 0–2 | — | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–4 |
| Kashima Antlers | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | — | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | 5–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 4–5 | 1–3 | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–3 |
| Kyoto Sanga | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | — | 0–3 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–5 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 2–3 |
| Machida Zelvia | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| Nagoya Grampus | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 |
| Sagan Tosu | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 1–4 | 5–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | — | 1–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 4–0 | — | 2–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 6–2 |
| Shonan Bellmare | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | 1–2 | 4–4 | 0–1 | 2–3 |
| FC Tokyo | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Tokyo Verdy | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 5–3 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–5 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–4 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Vissel Kobe | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 6–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–2 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 0–0 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — |
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[27][28][29] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Anderson Lopes | Yokohama F. Marinos | 24 |
| 2 | Léo Ceará | Cerezo Osaka | 21 |
| 3 | Ryo Germain | Júbilo Iwata | 19 |
| Shin Yamada | Kawasaki Frontale | ||
| 5 | Yuma Suzuki | Kashima Antlers | 15 |
| 6 | Marcelo Ryan | Sagan Tosu | 14 |
| 7 | Yoshinori Muto | Vissel Kobe | 13 |
| 8 | Thiago Santana | Urawa Red Diamonds | 12 |
| Takashi Usami | Gamba Osaka | ||
| 10 | Lukian | Shonan Bellmare | 11 |
| Rafael Elias | Kyoto Sanga | ||
| Taisei Miyashiro | Vissel Kobe | ||
| Yuki Ohashi | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | ||
| Yuya Osako | Vissel Kobe |
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryo Germain4 | Júbilo Iwata | Kawasaki Frontale | 5–4 (A) | 1 March 2024 | [30] |
 Bafétimbi Gomis | Kawasaki Frontale | Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | 3–0 (H) | 11 May 2024 | [31] |
 Kasper Junker | Nagoya Grampus | FC Tokyo | 3–1 (H) | 15 May 2024 | [32] |
| Naoto Arai | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Kyoto Sanga | 5–0 (A) | 19 May 2024 | [33] |
| Anderson Lopes | Yokohama F. Marinos | Kashiwa Reysol | 4–0 (H) | 29 May 2024 | [34] |
| Lukian | Shonan Bellmare | Júbilo Iwata | 5–0 (H) | 14 July 2024 | [35] |
| Rafael Elias | Kyoto Sanga | Cerezo Osaka | 5–3 (A) | 17 August 2024 | [36] |
 Tolgay Arslan | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | FC Tokyo | 3–2 (H) | 31 August 2024 | [37] |
| Anderson Lopes | Yokohama F. Marinos | Júbilo Iwata | 4–3 (H) | 16 November 2024 | [38] |
| Hiroto Taniguchi | Tokyo Verdy | Kawasaki Frontale | 4–5 (H) | 30 November 2024 | [39] |
| Shin Yamada | Kawasaki Frontale | Tokyo Verdy | 5–4 (A) |
| 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 | Go Kuroda | Machida Zelvia | Yu Hirakawa | Machida Zelvia | Kaito Taniguchi | Albirex Niigata | Akito Suzuki | Shonan Bellmare | [40][41][42][43] |
| April | Akio Kogiku | Cerezo Osaka | Ryo Germain | Júbilo Iwata | Thiago Santana | Urawa Red Diamonds | Isa Sakamoto | Gamba Osaka | [44][45][46][47] |
| May | Ranko Popović | Kashima Antlers | Yuma Suzuki | Kashima Antlers | Tomoya Inukai | Kashiwa Reysol | Kota Tawaratsumida | FC Tokyo | [48][49][50][51] |
| June | Shigetoshi Hasebe | Avispa Fukuoka | Takashi Usami | Gamba Osaka | Yosuke Furukawa | Júbilo Iwata | Yosuke Furukawa | Júbilo Iwata | [52][53][54][55] |
| July | Satoshi Yamaguchi | Shonan Bellmare | Lukian | Shonan Bellmare | Sho Inagaki | Nagoya Grampus | Ayumu Yokoyama | Sagan Tosu | [56][57][58][59] |
| August |  Cho Kwi-jae | Kyoto Sanga | Rafael Elias | Kyoto Sanga | Eiji Miyamoto | Albirex Niigata | Kota Takai | Kawasaki Frontale | [60][61][62][63] |
| September | Michael Skibbe | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Kensuke Nagai | Nagoya Grampus | Homare Tokuda | Kashima Antlers | Akito Suzuki | Shonan Bellmare | [64] |
| October | Satoshi Yamaguchi | Shonan Bellmare | Takashi Usami | Gamba Osaka | Takashi Usami | Gamba Osaka | Junnosuke Suzuki | Shonan Bellmare | [65] |
| November/December | Kosuke Kitani | Sagan Tosu | Yoshinori Muto | Vissel Kobe | Yuma Suzuki | Kashima Antlers | Isa Sakamoto | Gamba Osaka | [66] |
| Award | Winner[67] | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Manager of the Year | Michael Skibbe | Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
| Player of the Year | Yoshinori Muto | Vissel Kobe |
| Best Young Player | Kota Takai | Kawasaki Frontale |
| Goal of the Year | Takashi Usami | Gamba Osaka |
| Best XI[67] | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Keisuke Osako (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) | ||||||||||||||
| Defenders | Kimito Nono (Kashima Antlers) | Shinnosuke Nakatani (Gamba Osaka) | Matheus Thuler (Vissel Kobe) | Sho Sasaki (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) | |||||||||||
| Midfielders | Matheus Sávio (Kashiwa Reysol) | Kei Chinen (Kashima Antlers) | |||||||||||||
| Forwards | Takashi Usami (Gamba Osaka) | Anderson Lopes (Yokohama F. Marinos) | Yuya Osako (Vissel Kobe) | Yoshinori Muto (Vissel Kobe) | |||||||||||
