ThePrince Takamado Cup, since 2018, is divided in two age-restricted tournaments, being them the "Prince Takamado Trophy JFA U-18 Football League" (Japanese:高円宮杯 JFA U-18サッカーリーグ) and "Prince Takamado Trophy JFA U-15 Japan Football Championship" (Japanese:高円宮杯 JFA U-15サッカー選手権大会). Both tournaments are annually-contested and run by theJapan Football Association for the under–18 and under-15 sides. The name of the tournament is named afterNorihito, Prince Takamado, a long time patron of football inJapan.[1]
From 2003 to 2010, the championship was realized as a short-term tournament, where thePrince Leagues (equivalent to theJapanese Regional Leagues) served as a qualification to it.[2] Since 2011, the championship is played as a year-round league tournament.
Currently, in the Prince Takamado U-18 Premier League, 24 teams are split into 2 groups with 12 teams in each, which are called Premier League East, and Premier League West, with each team's geographical positions being the determining factor to decide whether the club should be on the East group, or on the West group. The winners of each group face each other in a one-legged final at a neutral venue to decide the tournament's winners.[3]
For a few years, the 11th and 12th-placed teams of each group are automatically relegated to the Prince League (The tournament's 2nd division), while to keep their stay at the elite, the 10th-placed teams of each group needs to join other 16 teams from the Prince League on a play-off tournament, with the teams being divided by 6 groups with 3 teams in each. The winners of each group were qualified for/remains in the Premier League.[4] Since 2023, however, the 10th-placed team is automatically relegated, with the play-offs restricted to 16 teams from the Prince Leagues.
All the players under theType 2 registration (Players with the age of 18 or below) are eligible to compete in the leagues.
U-18 League System
Level
Leagues/Divisions
I
Prince Takamado Trophy JFA U-18 Football Premier League 24 teams (2024 season)
East(12 teams) | West(12 teams)
II
Prince Takamado Trophy JFA U-18 Football Prince League 126 teams (2024 season)
This list includes all teams that played in the Premier League since its inception on 2011, when it became the top U-18 league in Japan. Teams inbold are playing in the 2023 Prince Takamado JFA U-18 Premier League. Gold boxes indicates the team was the season's champions, green boxes indicates the season's runner-up, and red boxes indicates the season's relegated teams.
2025 Prince Takamado U-18 Premier League (1st division)