The J.Youth Cup (Jユースカップ, Jei yūsu kappu) is an annual nationwide association football tournament for youth clubs in Japan. It is restricted to members of J.League Academies and of the Japan Club Youth Football Federation (JCY).
The tournament started on 1993. Some J.League (and JFL in a smaller amount) club academies did not participate in the tournament as their youth teams were not well developed. As youth teams continued to show progress and development, it led to all clubs that were J.League members on 2012 having their youth team participating on it.
During the pandemic, the J.Youth Cup was not officially held. From 2021 to 2023, the J.Youth Cup became the J.Youth League, with the teams split into different groups. However, at each competition there were no official champions or even a knockout stage. On 2024, the tournament was reintroduced as the J.Youth Cup, being played in a cup format, with group and knockout stage, featuring all 60 J.League clubs' youth teams and 4 other nominated JCY-affiliated teams.
Finals SeasonWinnerScoreRunners–up1993Tokyo Verdy 1–0 Yokohama F. Marinos1994Gamba Osaka 3–2 Tokyo Verdy1995Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3–1 Tokyo Verdy1996Tokyo Verdy 2–1 Gamba Osaka1997Shimizu S-Pulse 3–0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima1998Kashima Antlers 3–2 JEF United Ichihara1999Vissel Kobe 2–0 Yokohama F. Marinos2000Gamba Osaka 1–0 Shimizu S-Pulse2001Kyoto Sanga 3–1 FC Tokyo2002Gamba Osaka 5–0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima2003Sanfrecce Hiroshima 6–4 JEF United Ichihara2004Kashima Antlers 0–0(3–1 p.) Sanfrecce Hiroshima2005Shimizu S-Pulse 4–1 Vissel Kobe2006Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2–0 FC Tokyo2007FC Tokyo 2–1 Kashiwa Reysol2008Gamba Osaka 4–2 Cerezo Osaka2009FC Tokyo 2–0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima2010Yokohama F. Marinos 4–3(aet.) FC Tokyo2011Nagoya Grampus 2–1 Cerezo Osaka2012Consadole Sapporo 5–1 Gamba Osaka2013Vissel Kobe 2–2(6–5 p.) Sanfrecce Hiroshima2014Kashima Antlers 1–1(4–3 p.) Gamba Osaka2015Urawa Red Diamonds 2–1 Nagoya Grampus2016FC Tokyo 3–2 Sanfrecce Hiroshima2017Kyoto Sanga 2–1 Gamba Osaka2018Yokohama F. Marinos 2–1 Shimizu S-Pulse2019Nagoya Grampus 4–0 Gamba Osaka2020Not held202120222024Tokyo Verdy Sanfrecce Hiroshima2025
Most successful clubs P. Team Champions Runners-up Winning years1 Gamba Osaka 45 1994, 2000, 2002, 20082Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3 7 1995, 2003, 2006FC Tokyo 33 2007, 2009, 2016Kashima Antlers 30 1998, 2004, 20145Tokyo Verdy 3 2 1993, 1996, 2024Shimizu S-Pulse 22 1997, 2005Yokohama F. Marinos 22 2010, 2018Vissel Kobe 21 1999, 2013Nagoya Grampus 21 2011, 2019Kyoto Sanga 20 2001, 201711Consadole Sapporo 10 2012Urawa Red Diamonds 10 201513JEF United Chiba 02Cerezo Osaka 02Kashiwa Reysol 01
Individual awards Year Top Scorer Goals2001 Satoru Yamagishi (JEF United Ichihara) 152003 Shunsuke Maeda (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) 92004 Yusuke Kawabuchi (JEF United Ichihara) 132005 Shun Nagasawa (Shimizu S-Pulse) 162006 Shota Tanaka (Kawasaki Frontale) 92007 Daisuke Watabe (Omiya Ardija) 132008 Ryota Iwabuchi (FC Tokyo) 192009 Hisao Mita (FC Tokyo) 212010 Katsuya Akioka (FC Tokyo)Sho Matsumoto (Yokohama F. Marinos) 132011 Takumi Minamino (Cerezo Osaka) 132012 Shuhei Yoshikawa (Kashiwa Reysol)Yusuke Uchida (Vissel Kobe)Hiroki Suehiro (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)Masashi Otani (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) 82013 Seiya Nakano (Júbilo Iwata) 122014 Masashi Wada (Yokohama F. Marinos) 122015 Kota Mori (Nagoya Grampus)Shumpei Fukahori (Nagoya Grampus) 52016 Towa Yamane (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) 92017 Shiryu Fujiwara (Tokushima Vortis) 52018 Shusuke Kurihara (Yokohama F. Marinos) 82019 Yukito Murakami (Nagoya Grampus) 7
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