The 2011 J.League Division 2 season was the 40th season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 13th season since the establishment of

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yas ...

. The season began on March 5 and finished on December 3. Due to the aftermath of the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

, the season was put on hold from March 12 to April 23.

FC Tokyo Football Club Tokyo, commonly known as , is a Japanese professional football club based in Chōfu, Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team is one of only four in the J.League to be si ...

won the tournament and returned to J1 immediately after unfortunate relegation that happened last season. By virtue of winning the

2011 Emperor's Cup The was a regular edition of an annual Japanese national cup tournament. It started on 3 September 2011 and ended on 1 January 2012 with the final at National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan, won by FC Tokyo 4–2 against Kyoto Sanga. The cup winner wer ...

final, they earned a berth in the

2012 AFC Champions League The 2012 AFC Champions League was the 31st edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 10th under the current AFC Champions League title. Ulsan Hyundai from South Korea wo ...

as well. Sagan Tosu and Consadole Sapporo finished second and third, respectively, and also won the promotion. Consadole are returning to the top flight after three years of absence, while for Tosu this is the first promotion in their history. Sagan became the last of original ten J2 teams to reach J1, passing the inglorious moniker of the longest-staying D2 dweller to

Mito HollyHock is a Japanese professional football (soccer) club, currently playing in the J2 League. The team's hometown is located in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. Its nickname "HollyHock" derives from the family crest of the Tokugawa clan who governed from Mit ...

Teams

As in the previous seasons, the size of the league was increased by one team to twenty overall.

Gainare Tottori are a Japanese football club, based in Tottori, Tottori. They play in the J3 League. Their team colour is green. Their team name ''Gainare'' derives from the Tottori dialect word ''gaina'' meaning "great" and Italian ''sperare'' meaning "to hop ...

2010 Japan Football League The was the twelfth season of the Japan Football League, the third tier of the Japanese football league system. Overview At the end of the 2009 season, three new clubs were promoted from the Japanese Regional Leagues by virtue of their final pl ...

champions were promoted.

Kashiwa Reysol is a Japanese professional football club based in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadiu ...

as champions of the 2010 season, runners-up

Ventforet Kofu is a Japanese football club from Kōfu in Yamanashi Prefecture. The team currently competes in the J2 League and play their home games in JIT Recycle Ink Stadium, located in Kōfu. The word "Ventforet" is a compound formed from two French roo ...

and third-placed team Avispa Fukuoka were promoted to the

2011 J.League Division 1 The 2011 J.League Division 1 season was the 46th season of professional football in Japan, and the 19th since the establishment of the J.League. The season began on March 5 and concluded on December 3. The season was put on hold from March 12 to ...

. Kashiwa made their immediate return to the top division, while Kofu and Fukuoka ended three- and four-year tenures in the J2. The three teams were replaced by

Kyoto Sanga FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Kyoto. "Sanga" comes from the Sanskrit word ''sangha'', a term meaning "group" or "club" and often used to denote the Buddhist priesthood, associating the club with Kyoto's many Buddhist templ ...

and

Shonan Bellmare is a Japanese professional football club based in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Hiratsuka ...

, who were relegated at the end of the

2010 J.League Division 1 The 2010 J.League Division 1 season was the 46th season of the top-flight club football in Japan and the 18th season since the establishment of J1 League. The season began on March 6 and ended on December 4. A total of eighteen clubs participated ...

season after finishing in the bottom three places of the table. Shonan only made a cameo appearance at the D1, Kyoto re-entered the second level of the Japanese league pyramid after three years, and Tokyo eventually had to return to the J2 for the first time after eleven seasons.

League table

Results

Top scorers

Attendance

References

{{2011 in Japanese football J2 League seasons 2

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...