2026–27 J3 League

General

This marked the first J3 League season scheduled with a summer-to-spring format with 20 teams will compete in the league – the sixteen teams from the previous season, three teams relegated from the J2 League and one team promoted from Japan Football League.

The top two teams in the league are automatically promoted to the J2 League, teams ranked 3rd to 6th advance to the promotion play-offs. There is the possibility that as many as two clubs will be relegated to the Japan Football League.

Promotion from the JFL is conditional on holding a valid J3 license. If the JFL champions hold a license, the club is automatically promoted and the J3's 20th-placed team is automatically relegated. If the JFL runners-up hold a license, the club needs to play promotion/relegation play-offs against J3's 19th or 20th-placed team for the season, depending on whether the JFL champions hold the J3 license. The club(s) who do not hold a license cannot be promoted and no teams are relegated from the J3 League.

Teams relegated from J2 League

Ehime FC became the first team to be relegated on 26 October 2025 after being defeated by Júbilo Iwata in matchweek 34, returning them to the third division after spending two seasons in J2.^[2]

Kataller Toyama's victory over Blaublitz Akita in the final matchweek on 29 November 2025, resulted in the relegation of Renofa Yamaguchi and Roasso Kumamoto. Renofa Yamaguchi were relegated after nine seasons in the second division despite a win over RB Omiya Ardija, while Roasso Kumamoto were held to a goalless draw by Ventforet Kofu resulted in their relegation after four seasons in the second division.^[3][4]

Teams promoted to J2 League

Tochigi City became the first team to be promoted on 23 November 2025 after defeating Nagano Parceiro in matchweek 37. This result made it their second consecutive promotion after previously being promoted from JFL to J3.^[5]

Vanraure Hachinohe became the second team to be promoted after spending seven seasons in the third division. This was confirmed after holding Ryukyu Okinawa to a draw in the final matchweek on 29 November 2025.^[6]

Tegevajaro Miyazaki became the last team to secure promotion after defeating FC Osaka in the final round of the promotion playoff on 14 December 2025, ending their five-season stay in the third division.^[7]

Result from playoff

Reilac Shiga became the only team promoted from the JFL and the first team from Shiga to compete in the J.League. In the playoffs held on 14 December 2025, they defeated Azul Claro Numazu with a 4-3 aggregate score, relegating the Shizuoka-based team after eight seasons in the third division.^[8]

Team changes

The following teams changed division since the 2025 season.

More information Relegated from J2 League, Promoted from JFL ...

To J3 League Relegated from J2 League Renofa Yamaguchi Roasso Kumamoto Ehime Promoted from JFL Reilac Shiga

From J3 League Promoted to J2 League Tochigi City Vanraure Hachinohe Tegevajaro Miyazaki Relegated to JFL Azul Claro Numazu

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Location and stadium

Ryukyu

Kagoshima

Roasso

Giravanz

Renofa

Ehime

Kōchi

Kamatamare

Gainare

Osaka

Nara

Reilac

Zweigen

Gifu

Matsumoto

Nagano

Thespa

Sagamihara

Tochigi SC

Fukushima

Locations of teams in the 2026–27 J3 League.

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and coaches may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

More information Team, Manager ...

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Kit sponsors
				Main	Other(s)0
Ehime	Takeshi Oki	Yutaka Soneda[9]	Jogarbola	ra shink Ningineer	List Front: Benefit one, EHIMEFC empowers AOASHI Back: Iyogin Holdings Sleeves: MIURA Shorts: FUJI
FC Gifu	Kiyotaka Ishimaru	Akito Fukuta[10]	Razzoli	Hot Staff	List Front: None Back: None Sleeves: Gifu Shorts: None
FC Osaka	Mitsunori Yabuta	Shunsuke Tachino[11]			List Front: None Back: None Sleeves: None Shorts: None
Fukushima United	Shuhei Terada	Hiroki Higuchi[12]	Hummel	SportsX	List Front: None Back:Jin Luck Sleeves: Fukushima Shorts: None
Gainare Tottori	Kentaro Hayashi	Shinya Yajima[13]	TLSS		List Front: None Back: None Sleeves: TIC Shorts: None
Giravanz Kitakyushu	Ryotaro Tanaka	Daigo Takahashi[14]	Umbro		List Front: None Back: None Sleeves: None Shorts: None
Kagoshima United	Hiromasa Suguri	Shuto Inaba[15]	Angua		List Front: None Back: None Sleeves: None Shorts: None
Kamatamare Sanuki	Naoto Otake	Akito Ueno[16]	Umbro	Rexxam	List Front: None Back: None Sleeves: Kagawa Shorts: None
Kōchi United	Takahiro Shimotaira	Daichi Kobayashi[17]	Athleta	Kōchi	List Front: None Back: None Sleeves: Casio Shorts: None
Matsumoto Yamaga	Nobuhiro Ishizaki	Taiki Miyabe[18]	Adidas	Epson	List Front: None Back: None Sleeves: None Shorts: None
Nagano Parceiro	Shinji Kobayashi	Yuya Tsukegi[19]	Penalty	Hokio	List Front: None Back: None Sleeves: None Shorts: None
Nara Club	Masashi Oguro	Rin Morita[20]	Squadra	Daiwa House Group	List Front: Bangkok Glass, MARU Back: MJE Inc. Sleeves: None Shorts: None
Reilac Shiga	Makoto Kakuda	Atsushi Nabeta[21]	DEZ	Rei Beauty	List Front: Dr. Melon, North River Group Back: Romarin Sleeves: Hikonyan Shorts: None
Renofa Yamaguchi	Michiharu Otagiri	Yūji Wakasa[22]	FInta Futebol	UPR	List Front: Fuji Robotics Back: None Sleeves: None Shorts: None
Roasso Kumamoto	Tomohiro Katanosaka	Yuya Sato[23]	Admiral	Hirata	List Front: RKKCS Back: Yusen Logistics Sleeves: None Shorts: None
Ryukyu Okinawa	Tadaaki Hirakawa	Junya Suzuki[24]			List Front: None Back: None Sleeves: None Shorts: None
SC Sagamihara	Yuki Richard Stalph	Toshio Shimakawa			List Front: None Back: None Sleeves: None Shorts: None
Thespa Gunma	Masaru Okita	Shusuke Yonehara[25]	ATHLETADENHAM	CAINZ	List Front: Sunwa Back: Farmdo Group, Beisia Sleeves: Gunma Shorts: None
Tochigi SC	Atsushi Yoneyama	Yasutaka Yanagi[26]			List Front: None Back: None Sleeves: None Shorts: None
Zweigen Kanazawa	Masateru Tsujita	Norimichi Yamamoto[27]			List Front: None Back: None Sleeves: None Shorts: None

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Managerial changes

Pre-season

More information Team, Outgoing manager ...

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of arrival
Ehime	Shinya Aono	End of interim spell	1 December 2025	Takeshi Oki	7 December 2025[28]
Renofa Yamaguchi	Genki Nakayama	End of contract	1 December 2025	Michiharu Otagiri	8 December 2025[29]
Nara Club	Michiharu Otagiri		8 December 2025[30]	Masashi Oguro	14 December 2025[31]
Roasso Kumamoto	Takeshi Oki		1 December 2025	Tomohiro Katanosaka	1 January 2026

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Foreign players by confederation

More information Foreign players by confederation ...

Foreign players by confederation
AFC	North Korea (3),  Singapore (1),  South Korea (25),  Thailand (3)
CAF	Congo (1),  Nigeria (4),  Sierra Leone (1)
CONCACAF	Canada (1),  United States (3)
CONMEBOL	Brazil (5),  Peru (1)
OFC	New Zealand (1)
UEFA	France (1),  Netherlands (1),  Poland (1),  Spain (1)

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League table

Position by round

Fixtures and results

Results by round

Notes:

• ^† The Ryukyu Okinawa vs Giravanz Kitakyushu match was originally scheduled to be played on 8 August 2026, but was postponed due to impact of Typhoon No. 13. The match was rescheduled and will to be played on 9 September 2026.^[34]

Promotion playoff

Based on the J3 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 J2.

If a match was tied in the play-offs, the team with the highest league position are declared the winner. The rank order was: J3's third, fourth, fifth, and sixth-placed teams.

Relegation playoff

Overall

Home match played

Source: J.League Data