2025 J2 League
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V-Varen Nagasaki
JEF United Chiba
| Season | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 15 February – 29 November 2025 |
| Champions | Mito HollyHock (1st title) |
| Promoted | Mito HollyHock V-Varen Nagasaki JEF United Chiba |
| Relegated | Renofa Yamaguchi Roasso Kumamoto Ehime FC |
| Matches | 380 |
| Goals | 934 (2.46 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Matheus Jesus (19 goals) |
| Biggest home win | JEF United Chiba 5–1 Ehime FC (16 March) Iwaki FC 5–1 Roasso Kumamoto (1 June) Júbilo Iwata 5–1 Consadole Sapporo (12 July) |
| Biggest away win | Roasso Kumamoto 0–4 RB Omiya Ardija (2 March) Montedio Yamagata 0–4 Ventforet Kofu |
| Highest scoring | V-Varen Nagasaki 3–4 Iwaki FC (25 April) Montedio Yamagata 3–4 Vegalta Sendai (15 June) |
| Highest attendance | 49,991 JEF United Chiba 1–2 RB Omiya Ardija (6 May 2025) |
| Lowest attendance | 2,610 Mito HollyHock 2–1 Roasso Kumamoto (17 May 2025) |
| Total attendance | 3,377,480[1] |
| Average attendance | 8,888[1] |
← 2024 | |
The 2025 J2 League, also known as the 2025 Meiji Yasuda J2 League (Japanese: 2025 明治安田J2リーグ, Hepburn: 2025 Meiji Yasuda J2 Rīgu) 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.
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
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mito HollyHock (C, P) | 38 | 20 | 10 | 8 | 55 | 34 | +21 | 70 | Promotion to the J1 League |
| 2 | V-Varen Nagasaki (P) | 38 | 19 | 13 | 6 | 63 | 44 | +19 | 70 | |
| 3 | JEF United Chiba (O, P) | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 56 | 34 | +22 | 69 | Qualification for the promotion play-offs |
| 4 | Tokushima Vortis | 38 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 45 | 24 | +21 | 65 | |
| 5 | Júbilo Iwata | 38 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 59 | 51 | +8 | 64 | |
| 6 | RB Omiya Ardija | 38 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 60 | 39 | +21 | 63 | |
| 7 | Vegalta Sendai | 38 | 16 | 14 | 8 | 47 | 36 | +11 | 62 | |
| 8 | Sagan Tosu | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 46 | 43 | +3 | 58 | |
| 9 | Iwaki FC | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 55 | 44 | +11 | 56 | |
| 10 | Montedio Yamagata | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 58 | 54 | +4 | 53 | |
| 11 | FC Imabari | 38 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 46 | 46 | 0 | 53 | |
| 12 | Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | 38 | 16 | 5 | 17 | 50 | 63 | −13 | 53 | |
| 13 | Ventforet Kofu | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 37 | 45 | −8 | 44 | |
| 14 | Blaublitz Akita | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 43 | 59 | −16 | 43 | |
| 15 | Fujieda MYFC | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 41 | 50 | −9 | 39 | |
| 16 | Oita Trinita | 38 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 27 | 44 | −17 | 38 | |
| 17 | Kataller Toyama | 38 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 34 | 49 | −15 | 37 | |
| 18 | Roasso Kumamoto (R) | 38 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 41 | 57 | −16 | 37 | Relegation to the J3 League |
| 19 | Renofa Yamaguchi (R) | 38 | 7 | 15 | 16 | 36 | 47 | −11 | 36 | |
| 20 | Ehime FC (R) | 38 | 3 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 71 | −36 | 22 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goal scored; 7) Fair-play points.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
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[A] (Japanese: 明治安田J1昇格プレーオフ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.[20]
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 3 | JEF United Chiba | 4 | |||||||
| 6 | RB Omiya Ardija | 3 | |||||||
| 3 | JEF United Chiba | 1 | |||||||
| 4 | Tokushima Vortis | 0 | |||||||
| 4 | Tokushima Vortis | 1 | |||||||
| 5 | Júbilo Iwata | 1 | |||||||
Semi-finals
| JEF United Chiba | 4–3 | RB Omiya Ardija |
|---|---|---|
Carlinhos JR  71'D. Pacheco 77'M. Himeno 83'T. Kawano 87' |
Report | T.Izumi 20' K. Sekiguchi 32'A. Silva 48' |
| Tokushima Vortis | 1–1 | Júbilo Iwata |
|---|---|---|
| T. Anderson 82' |
Report | R. Sato 24' |
Final
| JEF United Chiba | 1–0 | Tokushima Vortis |
|---|---|---|
| Carlinhos 69' |
Report |
Season statistics
Top scorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[21][22] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Matheus Jesus |
V-Varen Nagasaki | 19 |
| 2 | Marcus Índio |
FC Imabari | 17 |
| 3 | Lucas Barcellos |
Tokushima Vortis | 14 |
| 4 |  Arata Watanabe |
Mito HollyHock | 13 |
| 5 | Akira Silvano Disaro |
Montedio Yamagata | 11 |
| Caprini |
RB Omiya Ardija | ||
| 7 | Ren Komatsu |
Blaublitz Akita | 10 |
| Tomoki Takamine |
Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | ||
| Yuta Goke |
Vegalta Sendai | ||
| Daichi Ishikawa |
JEF United Chiba | ||
| Carlinhos Júnior |
JEF United Chiba | ||
| Matheus Peixoto |
Júbilo Iwata | ||
| Ota Yamamoto |
Renofa Yamaguchi | ||
| Ryo Shiohama |
Roasso Kumamoto | ||
Awards
Monthly awards
| Month | Manager of the Month | Monthly MVP | Goal of the Month | Young Player of the Month | Save of the Month | References | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | ||
| February/March | Yoshiyuki Kobayashi |
JEF United Chiba | Ren Komatsu |
Blaublitz Akita | Akira Silvano Disaro |
Montedio Yamagata | Rion Ichihara |
RB Omiya Ardija | Tomoki Tagawa |
Kataller Toyama | [23] |
| April | Yoshiro Moriyama |
Vegalta Sendai | Arata Watanabe |
Mito HollyHock | Issei Takahashi |
JEF United Chiba | Ota Yamamoto |
Renofa Yamaguchi | Taro Hamada |
Oita Trinia | [24] |
| May | Naoki Mori |
Mito HollyHock | Arata Watanabe |
Mito HollyHock | Shunsuke Saito |
Mito HollyHock | Taisei Abe |
V-Varen Nagasaki | Takashi Kasahara |
RB Omiya Ardija | [25] |
| June | Yoshiro Moriyama |
Vegalta Sendai | Tomoki Takamine |
Consadole Sapporo | Naoki Kumata |
Iwaki FC | Keito Kumashiro |
Roasso Kumamoto | Akihiro Hayashi |
Vegalta Sendai | [26] |
| July | Naoki Mori |
Mito HollyHock | Shunsuke Saito |
Mito HollyHock | Chihiro Konagaya |
Roasso Kumamoto | Nelson Ishiwatari |
Iwaki FC |  Mun Kyung-gun |
Oita Trinita | [27] |
| August | Takuya Takagi |
V-Varen Nagasaki | Matheus Jesus |
V-Varen Nagasaki | Shunsuke Saito |
Mito HollyHock | Yumeki Yomoyama |
FC Imabari |  José Aurelio Suárez |
JEF United Chiba | [28] |
| September | Yoshiro Moriyama |
Vegalta Sendai | Jun Nishikawa |
Safain Tosu | Shunsuke Saito |
Mito HollyHock | Shion Shinkawa |
Sagan Tosu | Masato Sasaki |
Iwaki FC | [29] |
| October | Yuzo Tamura |
Iwaki FC | Lucas Barcellos |
Tokushima Vortis | Akira Silvano Disaro |
Montedio Yamagata | Yuki Kajiura |
FC Imabari | Takashi Kasahara |
RB Omiya Ardija | [30] |
| November/December | Ryo Adachi |
Kataller Toyama | Shoma Doi |
Montedio Yamagata | Ayumu Kameda |
Kataller Toyama | Ota Yamamoto |
Renofa Yamaguchi | Masaaki Goto |
V-Varen Nagasaki | [31] |