The 2018 J1 League, also known as the for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. This was fourth season of J1 League as renamed from J. League Division 1.
Kawasaki Frontale were the defending champions.
Clubs A total of 18 clubs contested the league. The 2017 J2 League champion Shonan Bellmare and the winner of the promotion play-offs Nagoya Grampus returned to the top flight a year after being relegated from J1 in the 2016 season. V-Varen Nagasaki, J2 runner-up in 2017, played in the J1 League for the first time. ClubLocationStadiumLast season Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Hokkaido Sapporo Dome J1 (11th) Vegalta Sendai Miyagi Prefecture Yurtec Stadium Sendai J1 (12th) Kashima Antlers Ibaraki Prefecture Kashima Soccer Stadium J1 (2nd) Urawa Red Diamonds Saitama Prefecture Saitama Stadium 2002 J1 (7th) Kashiwa Reysol Chiba Prefecture Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium J1 (4th) FC Tokyo Tokyo Ajinomoto Stadium J1 (13th) Kawasaki Frontale Kanagawa Prefecture Todoroki Athletics Stadium J1 (champions) Yokohama F. Marinos Nissan StadiumNippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium J1 (5th) Shonan Bellmare Shonan BMW Stadium Hiratsuka J2 (champions) Shimizu S-Pulse Shizuoka Prefecture IAI Stadium Nihondaira J1 (14th) Júbilo Iwata Yamaha Stadium J1 (6th) Nagoya Grampus Aichi Prefecture Paloma Mizuho StadiumToyota Stadium J2 (3rd) Gamba Osaka Osaka Prefecture Panasonic Stadium Suita J1 (10th) Cerezo Osaka Yanmar StadiumKincho Stadium J1 (3rd) Vissel Kobe Hyōgo Prefecture Noevir Stadium Kobe J1 (9th) Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hiroshima Prefecture Edition Stadium Hiroshima J1 (15th) Sagan Tosu Saga Prefecture Best Amenity Stadium J1 (8th) V-Varen Nagasaki Nagasaki Prefecture Transcosmos Stadium Nagasaki J2 (2nd)
Personnel and kits Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Front shirt sponsor Cerezo Osaka Yoon Jong-hwan Hotaru Yamaguchi Puma Yanmar FC Tokyo Kenta Hasegawa Jang Hyun-soo Umbro Lifeval Gamba Osaka Tsuneyasu Miyamoto Yasuhito Endō Umbro Panasonic Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Mihailo Petrović Hiroki Miyazawa Kappa Shiroi Koibito Júbilo Iwata Hiroshi Nanami Nagisa Sakurauchi Puma Yamaha Kashima Antlers Go Oiwa Mitsuo Ogasawara Nike Lixil Kashiwa Reysol Nozomu Kato Hidekazu Otani Yonex Hitachi Kawasaki Frontale Toru Oniki Yu Kobayashi Puma Fujitsu Nagoya Grampus Yahiro Kazama Hisato Satō Mizuno Toyota Sagan Tosu Kim Myung-hwi Yutaka Yoshida New Balance DHC Sanfrecce Hiroshima Hiroshi Jofuku Toshihiro Aoyama Nike EDION Shimizu S-Pulse Jan Jönsson Ryo Takeuchi Puma Suzuyo Shonan Bellmare Cho Kwi-jae Kaoru Takayama Penalty Meldia Urawa Red Diamonds Oswaldo de Oliveira Yōsuke Kashiwagi Nike Polus Vegalta Sendai Susumu Watanabe Shingo Tomita Adidas Iris Ohyama Vissel Kobe Juan Manuel Lillo Lukas Podolski Asics Rakuten V-Varen Nagasaki Takuya Takagi Jordy Buijs Hummel Japanet Yokohama F. Marinos Ange Postecoglou Yuji Nakazawa Adidas Nissan
Managerial changes
TeamOutgoing managerDate of vacancyIncoming managerDate of appointment Yokohama F. Marinos Erick Mombaerts 1 January 2018 19 December 2017/ Urawa Red Diamonds Takafumi Hori 2 April 2018 Oswaldo de Oliveira 19 April 2018 Kashiwa Reysol Takahiro Shimotaira 13 May 2018 13 May 2018 Gamba Osaka Levir Culpi 23 July 2018 Tsuneyasu Miyamoto 23 July 2018 Vissel Kobe Takayuki Yoshida 17 Sep 2018 Juan Manuel Lillo 4 Oct 2018 Sagan Tosu Massimo Ficcadenti 17 Oct 2018 Kim Myung-hwi 17 Oct 2018
Foreign players The total number of foreign players is restricted to five per club. Clubs can register up to four foreign players for a single match-day squad, of which a maximum of three are allowed from nations outside the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran and Qatar) are exempt from these restrictions.
Players marked in bold indicate players that were registered during the mid-season transfer window. Players marked in ITALICS indicate players that were out of squad or left their respective clubs during the mid-season transfer window.
ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Player 5OtherFormer players Cerezo Osaka Souza Matej Jonjić Kim Jin-hyeon Yang Dong-hyun Osmar Pierce Waring Chaowat Veerachat FC Tokyo Diego Oliveira Lins Lipe Veloso Jang Hyun-soo Jakkit Wachpirom Gamba Osaka Ademilson Fábio Hwang Ui-jo Oh Jae-suk Matheus Jesus Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Jay Bothroyd Gu Sung-yun Kim Min-tae Chanathip Songkrasin Jonathan Reis Julinho Júbilo Iwata Adaílton Krzysztof Kamiński Eren Albayrak Fozil Musaev Gabriel Morbeck Guilherme Kashima Antlers Leandro Léo Silva Serginho Jung Seung-hyun Kwoun Sun-tae Pedro Júnior Kashiwa Reysol Cristiano Nathan Michael Olunga Kim Bo-kyung Park Jeong-su Ramon Lopes Yun Suk-young Kawasaki Frontale Caio César Eduardo Elsinho Jung Sung-ryong Jefferson Tabinas Eduardo Neto Nagoya Grampus Mitchell Langerak Eduardo Neto Gabriel Xavier Jô Willian Rocha Washington Sagan Tosu Joan Oumari Cho Dong-geon Kim Min-hyeok Fernando Torres Víctor Ibarbo An Yong-woo Jung Seung-hyun Sanfrecce Hiroshima Besart Berisha Felipe Patric Teerasil Dangda Shimizu S-Pulse Mitch Duke Crislan Douglas Freire Hwang Seok-ho Jong Tae-se Wu Shaocong Shonan Bellmare André Bahia Mihael Mikić Lee Jeong-hyeop Alen Stevanović Urawa Red Diamonds Andrew Nabbout Fabrício Maurício Antônio Quenten Martinus Zlatan Ljubijankič Vegalta Sendai Rafaelson Ramon Lopes Lee Yun-oh Ryang Yong-gi Kim Jung-ya Vissel Kobe Wellington Lukas Podolski Kim Seung-gyu Andrés Iniesta Ahmed Yasser Theerathon Bunmathan Leandro Jung Woo-young V-Varen Nagasaki Jordy Buijs Choi Kyu-baek Jairo Morillas Juanma Ben Halloran Yokohama F. Marinos Thiago Martins Olivier Boumal Hugo Vieira Dušan Cvetinović Yun Il-lok Ippey Shinozuka Milos Degenek David Babunski
Results League table
Positions by round
Results table
Promotion–Relegation Playoff 2018 J.League J1/J2 Play-Offs (2018 J1参入プレーオフ)
Júbilo Iwata stays in J1 League and Tokyo Verdy remains in J2 League.
Season statistics Top scorers . RankPlayerClub Goals1 Jô Nagoya Grampus 2 Patric Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3 Hwang Ui-jo Gamba Osaka 4 Shinzo Koroki Urawa Red Diamonds 15 Yu Kobayashi Kawasaki Frontale6 Diego Oliveira FC Tokyo 13 Koya Kitagawa Shimizu S-Pulse Hugo Vieira Yokohama F. Marinos9 Ken Tokura Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo 10 Douglas Shimizu S-Pulse 11 Kengo Kawamata Júbilo Iwata Musashi Suzuki V-Varen Nagasaki Takuma Nishimura Vegalta Sendai Yuma Suzuki Kashima Antlers
Top assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 Yōsuke KashiwagiUrawa Red Diamonds2 Junya ItoKashiwa Reysol3 Kosei ShibasakiSanfrecce Hiroshima9 Yuma SuzukiKashima Antlers4 Gabriel XavierNagoya Grampus8 Hideki IshigeShimizu S-Pulse Koya KitagawaShimizu S-Pulse Yuki MutoUrawa Red Diamonds
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Diego Oliveira FC Tokyo V-Varen Nagasaki 2–5 (A) Hugo Vieira Yokohama F. Marinos Shonan Bellmare 4–4 (H) Sho Ito Yokohama F. Marinos Vegalta Sendai 2–8 (A) Jô Nagoya Grampus Gamba Osaka 4–1 (H) Fabrício Urawa Red Diamonds Júbilo Iwata 4–0 (H) Jô Nagoya Grampus Urawa Red Diamonds 4–1 (H) Musashi Suzuki V-Varen Nagasaki Nagoya Grampus 4–3 (A)
Note (H) – Home; (A) – Away
Attendances
Awards 2018 J.League Best XI
Award Winner Club Manager of the Year Mihailo Petrović Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Most Valuable Player Akihiro Ienaga Kawasaki Frontale Rookie of the Year Hiroki Abe Kashima Antlers
J.League Best XI Goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong (Kawasaki Frontale) Defence Daigo Nishi (Kashima Antlers) Shintaro Kurumaya (Kawasaki Frontale) Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale) Elsinho (Kawasaki Frontale) Midfield Chanathip Songkrasin (Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo) Ryota Oshima (Kawasaki Frontale) Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale) Akihiro Ienaga (Kawasaki Frontale) Attack Hwang Ui-jo (Gamba Osaka) Jô (Nagoya Grampus)
References