The 2025 J2 League, also known as the for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th season of the J2 League, the second-tier Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1999. This was also the eleventh season of the league since its rebrand from J.League Division 2.
Overview This was the last J.League season played in a whole calendar year from late winter to early winter, with the following season onwards played from summer to spring.
Schedule The league and match format were announced on 25 November 2024, with the season starts on 15 February 2025 and concluded on 29 November 2025.
Promotion play-off was held from 7 to 13 December 2025.
Changes from the previous season Tochigi SC, Kagoshima United and Thespa Gunma were relegated to the 2025 J3 League, finishing the previous season as 18th, 19th and 20th placed, respectively, ended seven, one and five years stays in the second-tier, respectively.
Júbilo Iwata, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo and Sagan Tosu were relegated from the 2024 J1 League, after one, eight and thirteen season in the top flight, respectively.
Both Shimizu S-Pulse and Yokohama FC are promoted to the 2025 J1 League as champions and runners-up, respectively, of the previous J2 League season. Shizuoka-based Shimizu will return in the top flight of Japanese football after two years absence, while Yokohama FC will make their immediate comeback to the J1. Joining them are Fagiano Okayama, who finished 5th in 2024 and earned promotion after winning the promotion play-offs, thus making their first top flight appearance from next season.
2024 J3 League winners Omiya Ardija, runners-up FC Imabari, and promotion play-off winners Kataller Toyama were both promoted from the J3 League. Omiya are returning to the second-tier after one-year absence, Imabari makes their debut in the second-tier for this season and Kataller, who finished 3rd, earned promotion after winning the promotion play-offs, thus returning after 11 years absence.
From this season, Omiya Ardija changed their name to RB Omiya Ardija after they were acquired by Red Bull since 2025.
Clubs <noinclude>
Club nameHometownStadiumCapacityPrevious season rankLicenseBlaublitz AkitaAkita, AkitaSoyu Stadium18,560J2 (10th)J1Ehime FCAll cities/towns in EhimeNingineer Stadium20,919J2 (17st)J1Fujieda MYFCCities/towns in Shizuoka PrefectureFujieda Soccer Stadium10,057J2 (13th)J1Hokkaido Consadole SapporoHokkaidoSapporo Dome38,794 J1 (19th)J1FC ImabariImabari, EhimeASICS Satoyama Stadium5,316 J3 (2nd)J2Iwaki FCIwaki and Futaba District, FukushimaHawaiians Stadium Iwaki5,066J2 (9th)J1JEF United ChibaChiba & Ichihara, ChibaFukuda Denshi Arena19,470J2 (7th)J1Júbilo IwataIwata, ShizuokaYamaha Stadium15,156 J1 (18th)J1Kataller ToyamaAll cities/towns in ToyamaToyama Athletic Stadium18,588 J3 (3rd)J1Mito HollyHockAll cities/towns in central and northern IbarakiK's denki Stadium Mito10,152J2 (15th)J1Montedio YamagataAll cities/towns in YamagataND Soft Stadium20,638J2 (4th)J1Oita TrinitaŌita, ŌitaCrasus Dome Oita31,997J2 (16th)J1RB Omiya ArdijaSaitama, SaitamaNACK5 Stadium Omiya15,491 J3 (1st)J1Renofa YamaguchiAll cities/towns in YamaguchiIshin Me-Life Stadium15,115J2 (11th)J1Roasso KumamotoKumamoto, KumamotoEgao Kenko Stadium30,275J2 (12th)J1Sagan TosuTosu, SagaEkimae Real Estate Stadium20,805 J1 (20th)J1Tokushima VortisTokushima, TokushimaPocarisweat Stadium17,924J2 (8th)J1V-Varen NagasakiAll cities/towns in Nagasaki PrefecturePeace Stadium Connected by SoftBank20,027J2 (3rd)J1Vegalta SendaiMiyagi PrefectureYurtec Stadium Sendai19,526J2 (6th)J1Ventforet KofuAll cities/towns in Yamanashi PrefectureJIT Recycle Ink Stadium15,853J2 (14th)J1
Personnel and kits Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Kit sponsorsMainOther(s)Blaublitz Akita Ken Yoshida Hiroto Morooka Athleta TDKEhime FC Shinya Aono (Interim) Fuma Shirasaka Jogarbola Ningineer NetworkFujieda MYFC Daisuke Sudo Masahiko Sugita Gol. Seikan Kensa CenterHokkaido Consadole Sapporo Shingo Shibata Takuma Arano Mizuno IshiyaFC Imabari Keiji Kuraishi Yuta Mikado Asics UnicharmIwaki FC Yuzo Tamura Ryo Endo Under Armour BHCJEF United Chiba Yoshiyuki Kobayashi Daisuke Suzuki Hummel Fuji ElectricJúbilo Iwata Takayoshi Amma Hiroki Yamada Admiral YamahaKataller Toyama Ryo Adachi Riki Matsuda Goldwin YKK APMito HollyHock Naoki Mori soccer junky K's HoldingsMontedio Yamagata Akinobu Yokouchi Shuto Minami Penalty ABeamOita Trinita Minoru Takenaka Arata Watanabe Puma Daihatsu KyushuRB Omiya Ardija Yuki Miyazawa Under Armour Red BullRenofa Yamaguchi Genki Nakayama Finta uprRoasso Kumamoto Takeshi Oki Rei Hirakawa Admiral Hirata Sagan Tosu Akio Kogiku Naoyuki Fujita New Balance Kimura Information TechnologyTokushima Vortis Kosaku Masuda Yoichiro Kakitani Mizuno Pocari SweatV-Varen Nagasaki Takuya Takagi Hiroki Akino Fanatics JapanetVegalta Sendai Yoshiro Moriyama Yasushi Endo Adidas Iris OhyamaVentforet Kofu Shinji Otsuka Masahiro Sekiguchi Mizuno Hakubaku
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in the table Incoming manager Date ofappointmentHokkaido Consadole Sapporo Mihailo PetrovićEnd of contract4 December 2024Pre-season Daiki Iwamasa12 December 2024 Júbilo Iwata Akinobu Yokouchi11 December 2024 John Hutchinson 19 December 2024Ehime FCKiyotaka Ishimaru Sacked 21 May 2025 20th Shinya Aono (Interim) 21 May 2025 Kataller Toyama Michiharu Otagiri Resigned 27 May 2025 17th Ryo Adachi27 May 2025 V-Varen Nagasaki Takahiro Shimotaira Sacked 17 June 2025 8th Takuya Takagi 22 June 2025Montedio Yamagata Susumu Watanabe 18 June 2025 17th Jin Sato (interim) 18 June 2025Renofa Yamaguchi Ryo Shigaki 24 June 2025 18th Genki Nakayama 24 June 2025 Montedio Yamagata Jin Sato (interim) End of Interim 25 June 2025 15th Akinobu Yokouchi 25 June 2025 Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Daiki Iwamasa Sacked 10 August 2025 11th Shingo Shibata 11 August 2025Oita Trinita Tomohiro Katanosaka 18 August 2025 16th Minoru Takenaka 18 August 2025 RB Omiya Ardija Tetsu Nagasawa 24 September 2025 8th Yuki Miyazawa 24 September 2025Júbilo Iwata John Hutchinson 29 September 2025 8th Takayoshi Amma 29 September 2025
Foreign players As of the 2024 season, there are no more restrictions on a number of signed foreign players, but clubs can only register up to five foreign players for a single match-day squad. Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia and Qatar) are exempt from these restrictions.
Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the midseason transfer window. Player's name in italics indicates the player has Japanese nationality in addition to their FIFA nationality or is exempt from being treated as a foreign player due to having been born in Japan and being enrolled in, or having graduated from school in the country.
ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Player 5Player 6Player 7Player 8Former players Blaublitz Akita Luka Radotić Ehime FC Ben Duncan Arthur Viana Marcel Scalese Kang Sung-chan Lee Jae-hwan Bak Keon-woo Ekanit Panya Fujieda MYFC Anderson Chaves Roque Júnior Didier La Torre Cheikh Diamanka Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo Mário Sérgio Francis Cann Kinglord Safo Amadou Bakayoko Park Min-gyu Jordi Sánchez Supachok Sarachat Kim Gun-hee FC Imabari Danilo Cardoso Marcus Vinícius Patrick Verhon Vinícius Diniz Wesley Tanque Lee Young-jun Iwaki FC Hyun Woo-bin Joo Hyun-jin Kim Hyun-woo JEF United Chiba Carlinhos Júnior Derek Dudu Pacheco José Aurelio Suárez Júbilo Iwata Jan Van den Bergh Gustavo Silva Matheus Peixoto Ricardo Graça Poramet Arjvirai Jordy Croux Léo Gomes Hassan Hilu Park Se-gi Kataller Toyama Gabriel Nascimento Koh Bong-jo Mito HollyHock Montedio Yamagata Tom Heward-Belle Beka Mikeltadze Oita Trinita Derlan Gleyson Matheus Pereira Mun Kyung-gun Kim Hyun-woo RB Omiya Ardija Arthur Silva Gabriel Mauricio Caprini Fabián González Oriola Sunday Renofa Yamaguchi Alef Firmino Nick Marsman Choi Hyung-chan Kim Byeom-yong Sílvio Roasso Kumamoto Ri Thae-ha Bae Jeong-min Anton Burns Sagan Tosu Cristiano Jô Vykintas Slivka Lee Yoon-sung Michael Quarcoo Yang Han-been Arnau Riera Tokushima Vortis Elsinho Kaique Lucas Barcellos Thonny Anderson Lawrence Izuchukwu João Victor V-Varen Nagasaki Diego Pituca Edigar Junio Eduardo Emerson Deocleciano Gabriel Tigrão Matheus Jesus Juanma Marcos Guilherme Vegalta Sendai Eron Gustavo Santos Mateus Moraes Ventforet Kofu Eduardo Mancha Matheus Leiria Mikael Doka Neemias Renato Augusto Val Lee Min-ki Taiga Son
League table
Play-offs The usual format was applied in the 2025 season. Promotion play-offs, officially called the Meiji Yasuda Road To J1 Play-offs 2025 (), was held from the semi-finals, where the match-ups were previously semi-determined. Based on the J2 placements at the end of the regular season, the third-placed team played against the sixth-placed, while the fourth-placed team played against the fifth-placed. The winners of the semi-finals played the final, with the winners promoted to the J1.
If a match was tied in the play-offs, the team with the higher rank won. The rank order was: J2's third, fourth, fifth, and sixth-placed teams.
Semi-finals
Final
Season statistics Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Matheus JesusV-Varen Nagasaki192 Marcus ÍndioFC Imabari173 Lucas BarcellosTokushima Vortis144 Arata WatanabeMito HollyHock135 Akira Silvano DisaroMontedio Yamagata11 CapriniRB Omiya Ardija7 Ren KomatsuBlaublitz Akita10 Tomoki TakamineHokkaido Consadole Sapporo Yuta GokeVegalta Sendai Daichi IshikawaJEF United Chiba Carlinhos JúniorJEF United Chiba Matheus PeixotoJúbilo Iwata Ota YamamotoRenofa Yamaguchi Ryo ShiohamaRoasso Kumamoto
Awards Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthMonthly MVPGoal of the MonthYoung Player of the MonthSave of the MonthReferencesManagerClubPlayerClubPlayerClubPlayerClubPlayerClubFebruary/March Yoshiyuki KobayashiJEF United Chiba Ren KomatsuBlaublitz Akita Akira Silvano DisaroMontedio Yamagata Rion IchiharaRB Omiya Ardija Tomoki TagawaKataller ToyamaApril Yoshiro MoriyamaVegalta Sendai Arata WatanabeMito HollyHock Issei TakahashiJEF United Chiba Ota YamamotoRenofa Yamaguchi Taro HamadaOita TriniaMay Naoki MoriMito HollyHock Arata WatanabeMito HollyHock Shunsuke SaitoMito HollyHock Taisei AbeV-Varen Nagasaki Takashi KasaharaRB Omiya ArdijaJune Yoshiro MoriyamaVegalta Sendai Tomoki TakamineConsadole Sapporo Naoki KumataIwaki FC Keito KumashiroRoasso Kumamoto Akihiro HayashiVegalta SendaiJuly Naoki MoriMito HollyHock Shunsuke SaitoMito HollyHock Chihiro KonagayaRoasso Kumamoto Nelson IshiwatariIwaki FC Mun Kyung-gunOita TrinitaAugust Takuya TakagiV-Varen Nagasaki Matheus JesusV-Varen Nagasaki Shunsuke SaitoMito HollyHock Yumeki YomoyamaFC Imabari José Aurelio SuárezJEF United ChibaSeptember Yoshiro MoriyamaVegalta Sendai Jun NishikawaSafain Tosu Shunsuke SaitoMito HollyHock Shion ShinkawaSagan Tosu Masato SasakiIwaki FCOctober Yuzo TamuraIwaki FC Lucas BarcellosTokushima Vortis Akira Silvano DisaroMontedio Yamagata Yuki KajiuraFC Imabari Takashi KasaharaRB Omiya ArdijaNovember/December Ryo AdachiKataller Toyama Shoma DoiMontedio Yamagata Ayumu KamedaKataller Toyama Ota YamamotoRenofa Yamaguchi Masaaki GotoV-Varen Nagasaki
See also 2025 Japanese Super Cup 2025 Emperor's Cup 2025 J.League Cup 2025 J1 League 2025 J3 League 2025 Japan Football League 2025 Japanese Regional Leagues
Notes
References