J3 League

A national third tier of Japanese association football was first established along with its professionalization in 1992, when the newly created Japan Football League kicked off with two tiers below the professional J. League. Among the 10 original clubs of the third tier included the forerunners to Kyoto Sanga FC, Ventforet Kofu, Omiya Ardija, Avispa Fukuoka and Vissel Kobe (the latter two being located in different regions from their J. League successors). But after a number of clubs were lost for various reasons – some were promoted to J.League and the others folded – the league contracted the second division in 1994 and continued with the single second-tier division.

The third tier football was reintroduced in 1999 upon creation of fully professional J2. The old JFL was dissolved but a new Japan Football League was formed the same year in order to establish a nationwide top-tier amateur league. But despite its officially amateur status the league quickly became de facto semi-professional, serving as the cradle of the future J. League members. Since the establishment of associate membership system in 2006 the number of professional clubs holding or actively seeking for this status has grown steadily and reached its peak in 2013 season when 6 full members and 2 former candidates made up to almost half of the league's 18 teams. Through the course of the season this number grew even bigger, to 10 full associate members that formed the core of J3.

Close to the end of 2012 football season Japanese media began to spread rumors[1][2] about the upcoming professional third-tier league, referred to as either "J3" or "J.Challenge League". Most of the sources agreed that the new league will feature around 10–12 clubs, most of which will be associate members. The league would also provide more relaxed licensing criteria in comparison to J2 – e.g. the stadium seating capacity of just 3,000 with no mandatory floodlighting.[3]

After the discussion on J1-J2 Joint Committee on 16 January 2013, all J.League clubs agreed in principle with an establishment of the new league starting 2014.[4] This decision was formally put into force by J.League Council in a 26 February executive meeting.[5] The league was planned to launch with 10 teams, but another session of J.League Council in July decided that inaugural season of J3 will feature 12 teams.[6]

To participate, a club must have held an associate membership, or have submitted an application before 30 June 2013, and then passed an inspection to obtain a participation licence issued by J.League Council.[7] On 19 November, J.League confirmed the following clubs to participate in the inaugural J3 season:[8]

• Gainare Tottori (relegated from 2013 J.League Division 2)
• Blaublitz Akita (JFL)
• Machida Zelvia (JFL)
• SC Sagamihara (JFL)
• Nagano Parceiro (JFL)
• Zweigen Kanazawa (JFL)
• YSCC Yokohama (JFL)
• FC Ryukyu (JFL)
• Fukushima United (JFL)
• Fujieda MYFC (JFL)
• Grulla Morioka (Tōhoku League, 2013 Tōhoku League Champion and Regional Promotion Series Champion)
• J.League U-22 team, composed of the best J1 and J2 youngsters to prepare them for the 2016 Olympics[9]

The league has not provided a clear expansion timeline yet but it was most likely that J3 continued to accommodate new teams after its inaugural season. The following is a list of clubs that may get promoted to J.League in the near future:[10]

• Nara Club (JFL) – J.League associate members and J3 license holders
• Tokyo Musashino City FC (JFL) – J.League associate members and J3 license holders
• Tochigi City (KSL Division 1) – J.League associate members

Other teams have applied for J.League associate membership but were denied. Most of these clubs continue to aim for J3 as their ultimate goal.

• Veertien Mie (JFL)
• MIO Biwako Shiga (JFL)
• Suzuka Unlimited (JFL)

Some sources claim that J3 was intended to reach up to 60 clubs in the future, being split into three regionalized divisions running in parallel.[11]

For this season, the league is played in two rounds (home-and-away), each team playing a total of 34 matches.[12]

Each team must have at least 3 players holding professional contracts. Also for this season, 5 foreign players are allowed per team, plus 1 more from the ASEAN partner country of J.League or from other AFC countries. The matchday roster will consist of 18 players, and up to 3 substitutes will be allowed in a game.[13] The three under-23 clubs can have up to three overage players and one of them must be a goalkeeper.[12]

Rules for promotion to J2 are largely similar to those of Japan Football League in recent seasons: to be promoted, a club must hold or be granted a J2 license and finish in top 2 of the league. Since 2017, the champions and the runners-up have been promoted directly and replace the 21st- and 22nd-placed J2 clubs. If only the champion or runner-up holds or is given a J2 license, only the bottom club of J2 is relegated; if both top 2 finishers are ineligible for promotion, then no teams will be promoted to or relegated from J2. For promotion purposes, under-23 teams are excluded from the final table when considering which teams are eligible for promotion. An extreme example would be the following scenario: If all three under-23 teams finished in the top 3, then the fourth- and fifth-placed teams would be eligible for promotion (subject to the license requirement).[12]

No relegation to JFL is planned in the foreseeable future.

• Pink background indicates clubs most recently promoted from JFL
• Gray background indicates the club most recently relegated from J2
• "Year joined" is the year the club joined the J. League (J3 League unless otherwise indicated).
• "First season in D3," "Seasons in D3," and "Current spell in D3" include seasons in JFL

Clubs in bold compete in J3 as of 2020 season.