J1 League (Japan)

The J1 League (Japan) (J1 League, also known as the Meiji Yasuda J1 League for sponsorship, founded in 1992 with the first season in 1993) is the top professional division in the Japanese football league system, organised by the J.League. Tournament regulations: 20 clubs play a double round-robin (home and away), totalling 38 matches per team. Teams receive 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss. The table is decided by points, then goal difference, then goals scored, then head-to-head among the tied teams (points, goal difference, goals scored), with a draw of lots used if required for final-position decisions. The bottom three are relegated to J2, while promotion from J2 goes to the top two plus the winner of the promotion play-offs contested by the teams finishing 3rd to 6th in J2 (single-match semi-finals and final, the higher-ranked league finisher advances if level after 90 minutes, hosted by the higher-ranked club). From the 2026/27 season, the J1 League switches to an August-to-May calendar with a winter break.