The 2014

J.League Division 2 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 ...

season was the 43rd season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 16th season since the establishment of J2 League. The season commenced on 2 March and ended on 23 November. Post-season promotion and relegation playoffs will be played until 7 December.

Clubs

Gamba Osaka is a Japanese professional football club based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Gamba'' comes from the Japanese , meaning "to do your best" or "to st ...

and

Vissel Kobe is a Japanese professional football club based in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team's home stadium is Noevir Stadium Kobe, in Hyōgo-ku, though some home match ...

have stayed in the second division for just a year, winning a promotion as champions and runners-up respectively. Fourth-placed

Tokushima Vortis is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J2 League. The team is located in Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture. Their home stadium is Naruto Otsuka Sports Park Pocari Sweat Stadium, in Naruto, Tokushima. The name, "Vortis ...

won the promotion playoffs and become the very first

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

club to play in the top flight since the establishment of

Japan Soccer League , or JSL, was the top flight association football league in Japan between 1965 and 1992, and was the precursor to the current professional league, the J.League. JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professional ...

, the first amateur nationwide football league in Japan.

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 ...

and

Oita Trinita is a Japanese football club currently playing in J2 League, having been relegated after the 2021 season after a three-year stint in J1 League. The club's home town is Ōita, Ōita, Ōita city, but the club draws support from Beppu, Ōita, Beppu, ...

were relegated from the first division immediately after promotion, and

Júbilo Iwata is a professional Japanese association football team that currently play in the J2 League. The team name ''Júbilo'' means 'joy' in Spanish and Portuguese. The team's hometown is Iwata, Shizuoka prefecture and they play at Yamaha Stadium. For ...

have suffered their debut relegation after 20 years in the first division. On the other end of the table,

Kamatamare Sanuki Kamatamare Sanuki (カマタマーレ讃岐、Kamatamare Sanuki) is a football club based in Takamatsu, Kagawa, Takamatsu, the capital city of Kagawa Prefecture of Japan. They currently play in the J3 League. They entered the J League in 2014 aft ...

have been promoted from

2013 Japan Football League The is the 17th season of the third tier of the Japanese football, and the 15th season since the establishment of Japan Football League. It started on 10 March and finished on 24 November. Clubs Due to unfortunate withdrawal of Arte Takasaki, ...

, replacing

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 ...

whom they defeated in the J2–JFL playoffs. On 29 September the J.League licensing board issued J1 licenses to all J2 clubs except

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 ...

FC Gifu Football Club Gifu, abbreviated as is a Japanese football club based in Gifu, Japan. They play in the J3 League, the third tier of Japanese professional football. They also run a reserve team that play in the Tōkai Adult League Division 2. Hi ...

, and

Giravanz Kitakyushu is a Japanese football club based in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture. They currently play in the third tier of Japanese football as they were relegated after the 2021 season. History Mitsubishi Chemical SC (1947 –2000) The club was formed ...

. This means these three clubs are not eligible to play in J1 for 2015 season and therefore cannot be promoted directly or via playoffs. The participating clubs are listed in the following table:

Foreign players

League table

Results

Play-offs

Promotion Playoffs to Division 1

2014 J.League Road To J1 Play-Offs (2014 J1昇格プレーオフ)
Because

did not obtain J1 license for 2015 season, they were ineligible to participate in the playoffs. Thus,

JEF United Chiba , full name and also known as , is a Japanese professional football club that plays in the J2 League. On 1 February 2005, the club changed its name from ''JEF United Ichihara'' to the current name after Chiba city had joined Ichihara, Chiba as ...

who finished third in the season received a bye into the final.

Semifinal

----

Final

---- Montedio Yamagata was promoted to J1 League.

J3 Relegation Playoffs

2014 J2/J3 Play-Offs (2014 J2・J3入れ替え戦)
---- ---- Kamatamare Sanuki remains in J2 League.
Nagano Parceiro remains in J3 League.

Top scorers

Updated to games played on 23 November 2014
Source
J. League data
/small>

Attendances

References

{{Japanese Club Football, group=second 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 ...