The 2023 Emperor's Cup (Emperor's Cup JFA 103rd Japan Football Championship (Japanese: 天皇杯 JFA 第103回全日本サッカー選手権大会)) was the 103rd edition of the annually contested cup, starting on 20 May. The format for 2023 did not present any changes from the previous edition. It featured 88 teams representing the prefectural football associations, J1 League, J2 League and Japan Football League. JFL's Honda FC was once again chosen to be the annually specially designated amateur club.
Ventforet Kofu were the defending champions, after a cinderella story for the J2 club saw them qualify for the final, which they won on penalties against Sanfrecce Hiroshima, after a 1–1 draw in regulation time, but were eliminated by Vissel Kobe in the round of 16.
Qualifying rounds As only J1 and J2 League clubs qualify directly for the first round, teams from outside of it who want to qualify to the Emperor's Cup (exception being made to the JFA-seeded team), had to, as usual, undergo a prefectural qualification, with regulations and schedules varying from one association to another. In total, there are 47 prefectural cup qualifications, with the winners of each prefectural cup having earned their right to play in the Emperor's Cup, with all of them assigned to start the competition in the first round.
Participating clubs J1 League All 18 teams playing in the 2023 J1 League entered in the second round. ClubApps.PrefectureHokkaido Consadole Sapporo42ndHokkaidoKashima Antlers39thIbarakiUrawa Red Diamonds58thSaitamaKashiwa Reysol55thChibaFC Tokyo29thTokyoKawasaki Frontale40thKanagawaYokohama F. Marinos45thKanagawaYokohama FC24thKanagawaShonan Bellmare51stKanagawaClubApps.PrefectureAlbirex Niigata31stNiigataNagoya Grampus46thAichiKyoto Sanga40thKyotoGamba Osaka43rdOsakaCerezo Osaka54thOsakaVissel Kobe36thHyogoSanfrecce Hiroshima71stHiroshimaAvispa Fukuoka31stFukuokaSagan Tosu31stSaga
J2 League All 22 teams playing in the 2023 J2 League entered in the second round. ClubApps.PrefectureVegalta Sendai29thMiyagiBlaublitz Akita30thAkitaMontedio Yamagata31stYamagataIwaki FC6thFukushimaMito HollyHock27thIbarakiTochigi SC23rdTochigiThespakusatsu Gunma20thGunmaOmiya Ardija28thSaitamaJEF United Chiba58thChibaTokyo Verdy48thTokyoMachida Zelvia11thTokyoClubApps.PrefectureZweigen Kanazawa19thIshikawaVentforet Kofu31stYamanashiShimizu S-Pulse31stShizuokaJúbilo Iwata46thShizuokaFujieda MYFC5thShizuokaFagiano Okayama15thOkayamaRenofa Yamaguchi19thYamaguchiTokushima Vortis35thTokushimaV-Varen Nagasaki16thNagasakiRoasso Kumamoto23rdKumamotoOita Trinita27thOita
Amateur designated team One team selected from the Japan Football League. It entered in the first round. ClubApps.PrefectureHonda FC43rdShizuoka
Prefectural tournaments All the 47 prefectural tournaments winners. They all entered in the first round. PrefectureTeamLeagueApps.Hokkaido BTOP HokkaidoHokkaido Soccer League5 1stAomori Vanraure Hachinohe J3 League 3 11thIwate Iwate Grulla Morioka J3 League 3 16thMiyagi Sony Sendai Japan Football League 4 24thAkitaNorth Asia University Tohoku University League D1 UL1 2ndYamagata Yamagata UniversityFaculty of Medicine – 7+ 4thFukushima Fukushima United J3 League 3 11thIbaraki University of Tsukuba Kanto University League D1 UL1 33rdTochigi Tochigi City Kanto Soccer League D1 5 13thGunma Tonan Maebashi Kanto Soccer League D2 6 7thSaitama Tokyo International University FC Kanto Soccer League D1 5 3rdChiba Briobecca Urayasu Japan Football League 4 6thTokyo Criacao Shinjuku Japan Football League 4 1stKanagawa SC Sagamihara J3 League 3 2ndYamanashi YGU Pegasus Yamanashi Football League 7 5thNagano Nagano Parceiro J3 League 3 11thNiigata Niigata University of Health and Welfare Hokushin'etsu University League D1 UL1 7thToyama Kataller Toyama J3 League 3 14thIshikawa Hokuriku University Hokushin'etsu University League D1 UL1 6thFukui Fukui United Hokushin'etsu Football League D1 5 15thShizuoka Azul Claro Numazu J3 League 3 2ndAichi Maruyasu Okazaki Japan Football League 4 5thMie Veertien Mie Japan Football League 4 3rdGifu FC Gifu J3 League 3 17thShiga Reilac Shiga Japan Football League 4 10thKyoto Laranja Kyoto Kansai Soccer League D2 6 1stOsaka Kansai University Kansai University League D1 UL1 18thHyogo Cento Cuore Harima Kansai Soccer League D1 511th Nara Nara Club J3 League 3 14thWakayama Arterivo Wakayama Kansai Soccer League D1 5 15thTottori Gainare Tottori J3 League 3 25thShimaneBelugarosso Iwami Chugoku Soccer League 5 2ndOkayamaMitsubishi Mizushima Chugoku Soccer League 5 15thHiroshimaSRC HiroshimaChugoku Soccer League 5 7thYamaguchiBaleine Shimonoseki Chugoku Soccer League 5 3rdKagawa Kamatamare Sanuki J3 League 3 23rdTokushima FC Tokushima Shikoku Soccer League 5 8thEhime FC Imabari J3 League 3 13thKochi Kochi United Japan Football League 4 8thFukuoka Giravanz Kitakyushu J3 League 3 14thSaga Brew Kashima Kyushu Soccer League 5 11thNagasaki Mitsubishi Nagasaki SC Nagasaki Football League 7 10thKumamoto Tokai University Kumamoto Kyushu University League D2 UL2 4thOita Verspah Oita Japan Football League 4 13thMiyazaki Tegevajaro Miyazaki J3 League 3 3rdKagoshima Kagoshima United J3 League 3 9thOkinawa FC Ryukyu J3 League 3 16th Note: In the sections below, club tiers (league levels) are presented as follows: National: (1): J1 League; (2): J2 League; (3): J3 League; (4): Japan Football League Regional (senior): (5): Regional Leagues 1st Divs.; (6): Regional Leagues 2nd Divs. Prefectural (senior): (7): Prefectural Leagues 1st Divs. Regional (university): (UL): University Regional Leagues Others (?): Below the cited club tiers, unknown or not affiliated with any league.
Calendar The schedule from the first round to the quarter-finals was announced on 20 December 2022. The semi-finals and the final did not have its dates released by the Japan Football Association, as uncertainties around the schedule of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup left doubts about possible reschedule of one or more rounds of the Emperor's Cup. The decision was also made to avoid schedule conflict for teams whose squads would have one or more players participating in the competition.
Round Date (alternative date) Matches Clubs New entries this round First round 20–21 May (22 May) 24 1 seeded amateur team 47 prefectural qualification cup winners Second round 7–21 June 32 64 (24+18+22) → 32 18 2023 J1 League clubs 22 2023 J2 League clubs Third round 12 July (19 July) 16 32 → 16 Fourth round 2 August (9 August) 8 16 → 8 Quarter-finals 30 August (13 Sep) 4 8 → 4 Semi-finals 8 October 2 4 → 2 Final 9 December 1 2 → 1
Schedule First round The match pairings was decided on 22 March 2023. Except for Honda FC, who was granted a bye from prefectural qualifications due to their "amateur designated team" status, no other club had yet qualified to the tournament when the draw was conducted. + Number of teams per tier in this round J3 League (3) Japan Football League (4) Regional 1st Divs. (5) Regional 2nd Divs. (6) Prefectural Leagues (7+) University Leagues (UL) Total
Second round + Number of teams remaining in the competition J1 League (1) J2 League (2) J3 League (3) Japan Football League (4) Regional 1st Div. (5) Regional 2nd Div. (6) Prefectural Leagues (7 or 7+) University Leagues (UL) Total All the 2023 J1 and J2 League clubs enter the competition in this round. Most of these professional clubs hosted their matches in their own prefecture. However, as the number of teams from these leagues combined does not match the amount of host teams required, some of these teams had to play their matches away from home. These specific away teams either finished between the 15th to 20th place on last season's J2 or got promoted from the J3 League for the 2023 season, and played their ties against teams that finished between the 7th and 14th place on last season's J2.
Third round + Number of teams remaining in the competition J1 League (1) J2 League (2) J3 League (3) Japan Football League (4) Lower-tier leagues Total
Round of 16 + Number of teams remaining in the competition J1 League (1) J2 League (2) J3 League (3) Japan Football League (4) Total
Quarter-finals + Number of teams remaining in the competition J1 League (1) J2 League (2) Total
Semi-finals + Number of teams remaining in the competition J1 League (1) J2 League (2) Total
Final
+ Number of teams remaining in the competition J1 League (1) Total
Top scorers
RankPlayerTeamGoals1 Hidetaka MaieKashiwa Reysol5 Akito SuzukiShonan Bellmare3 Ryoga SatoAvispa Fukuoka44 Ryoka AbeBTOP Hokkaido3 Ryo NemotoTochigi SC Yuya YamagishiAvispa Fukuoka Kim Gun-heeHokkaido Consadole Sapporo Rimu MatsuokaRoasso Kumamoto930 players2
References
External links Tournament outline, JFA.jp Schedule and results, JFA.jp Team introduction, JFA.jp Japanese TV and online broadcast, JFA.jp