The 2018 J3 League (referred to as the 2018 Meiji Yasuda J3 League (2018 明治安田生命J3リーグ) for sponsorship reasons) was the 5th season of J3 League under its current name.
Clubs Tochigi SC, the 2017 J3 League runners-up, earned promotion to the J2 League after securing another runners-up season; this time, unlike 2016, it was enough to clinch direct promotion. Defending champions are Blaublitz Akita, which became the first club not to gain promotion after winning the championship since J3's inception. Thespakusatsu Gunma was the new entry for the league: it was their first third division season since 2004, when they were promoted to J2 from JFL.
No promotion from Japan Football League came this time. This was another first for the J3 League since its inception. Club Location Venue CapacityAzul Claro NumazuNumazuAshitaka Stadium10,000Blaublitz AkitaAkitaAkigin Stadium4,992Fukushima United FCFukushimaToho Stadium21,000Gainare TottoriTottoriBird Stadium16,033Giravanz KitakyushuKitakyushuKitakyushu Stadium15,066Grulla MoriokaMoriokaIwagin Stadium4,946Kagoshima United FCKagoshimaKamoike Stadium19,934Kataller ToyamaToyamaToyama Athletic Stadium25,251Fujieda MYFCFujiedaFujieda Soccer Field13,000Nagano ParceiroNaganoNagano U Stadium15,491FC RyukyuOkinawaOkinawa Athletic Stadium25,000SC SagamiharaSagamiharaGion Stadium15,300Thespakusatsu GunmaAll cities/towns in GunmaShoda Shoyu Stadium Gunma15,253FC Tokyo U-23TokyoAjinomoto Field Nishigaoka7,137YSCC YokohamaYokohamaMitsuzawa Stadium15,454Cerezo Osaka U-23Osaka & Sakai, OsakaKincho Stadium19,904Gamba Osaka U-23North cities in OsakaPanasonic Stadium Suita
Expo '70 Commemorative Stadium39,694
21,000
Personnel and kits Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Azul Claro Numazu Ken Yoshida Takuya Sugai Puma Blaublitz Akita Koichi Sugiyama Naoyuki Yamada ATHLETA Cerezo Osaka U-23 Yuji Okuma none Puma Fukushima United Kazuaki Tasaka Takumi Watanabe hummel Gainare Tottori Daisuke Sudo Fernandinho hummel Gamba Osaka U-23 Tsuneyasu Miyamoto none Umbro Giravanz Kitakyushu Hitoshi Morishita Ryu Kawakami bonera Grulla Morioka Toshimi Kikuchi Kohei Doi Under Armour Kagoshima United Yasutoshi Miura Akira Akao Puma Kataller Toyama Ryo Adachi Junya Imase Goldwin Fujieda MYFC Atsuto Oishi Daiki Asada gol. Nagano Parceiro Yuji Sakakura Tomokazu Myojin Penalty FC Ryukyu Kim Jong-song Park Iru-gyu sfida SC Sagamihara Takayuki Nishigaya Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi gol. Thespakusatsu Gunma Keiichiro Nuno Tetsuya Funatsu Finta FC Tokyo U-23 Takayoshi Amma none Umbro YSCC Yokohama Yasuhiro Higuchi Norimasa Nakanishi SVOLME
Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date ofappointment Kataller Toyama 9 May 2018 9 May 2018 Gainare Tottori 4 June 2018 4 June 2018 Nagano Parceiro 12 June 2018 12 June 2018 Giravanz Kitakyushu 17 June 2018 20 June 2018 Blaublitz Akita 11 July 2018 11 July 2018 Gamba Osaka U-23 23 July 2018 23 July 2018 Fujieda MYFC 24 July 2018 27 July 2018
League table
Results table
Top scorers . RankPlayerClubGoals 1 LeonardoGainare Tottori 24 2 João GabrielSC Sagamihara 17 3 Kazaki NakagawaFC Ryukyu 16 Yuta Togashi 5 Kaito TaniguchiGrulla Morioka 15 6 Rei YonezawaCerezo Osaka U-23 12 7 Koki OshimaThespakusatsu Gunma 10 Yu TomidokoroFC Ryukyu 9 FernandinhoGainare Tottori 9 Kiichi YajimaFC Tokyo U-23 11 Hayate TakeFukushima United FC 8 Junki HataAzul Claro Numazu Kazunari IchimiGamba Osaka U-23
Attendances
References