List of Japanese football champions
| Japanese League (1st tier) |
|---|
|
Japan Soccer League (1965–1971) Japan Soccer League Division 1 (1972–1992) J. League (1993–1998) J. League Division 1 (1999–2016) J1 League (2017–present) |
| Country |
Japan
|
| Founded |
| 1965 |
| Number of Teams |
| 18 (2016 season) |
| Current Champions |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima (2015) |
| Most successful club |
|
Sanfrecce Hiroshima (8 championships) |
The Japanese football champions are the winners of the top league in Japan, the Japan Soccer League from 1965 to 1992 and the J. League since then.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Tokyo Verdy are the only teams that have won the title four times in a row (in 1965–1968 as Toyo Industries and in 1991–1994 as Yomiuri S.C./Verdy Kawasaki respectively). Notice that from 1985 to 1992 Japanese football adjusted to the "fall-spring" season schedule (common in most of Europe) but after establishment of J. League switched back to "spring-fall" scheme (common in North America, East Asia, and Nordic European latitudes).
Teams in bold have completed the double of the title and the Emperor's Cup in the same season. In 1985 no double was possible due to the season's timeframe change; thus, the doubles completed between then and 1992 are won in the middle of the season.
Numbers in parentheses indicate number of wins at the date. Leading goalscorer's nationality is at the time of award and does not necessarily indicate the national team played for.
In 1992, professional J. League was established. All teams elected to it strip themselves of corporate identities and adopt their own names. From 1993 to 2005 (except for 1996 season), and in 2015 and 2016, the league was contested in an Apertura and Clausura manner, thus the "runners-up" for these seasons are actually the winners of one of these tournaments which lost to the winners of the playoff. The "third places" are the highest-scoring teams in the aggregate table which were not involved in the playoff. If there was no playoff due to the champions winning both stages, the third place is the second-best points earning team who are not the champions.
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