The Kantoh Collegiate American Football Association is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

league made up of colleges and universities in the

Kanto region Kantō (Japanese) Kanto is a simplified spelling of , a Japanese word, only omitting the diacritics. In Japan Kantō may refer to: *Kantō Plain *Kantō region *Kantō-kai, organized crime group *Kanto (Pokémon), a geographical region in the ' ...

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 ...

Overview

The Kantoh League is a major college football league in eastern Japan. The league is divided into seven divisions. The winner of the league goes on to play in the

Koshien Bowl The Koshien Bowl (甲子園ボウル) is the annual Japanese American college football national championship game, usually played in December at Koshien Stadium. From the 1949 season until 2008 season, the game was held as the final game of Japan ...

against a team from the West Japan. The winner of the bowl may advance to play the champion of the X-League in the

Rice Bowl The breadbasket of a country or of a region is an area which, because of the richness of the soil and/or advantageous climate, produces large quantities of wheat or other grain. Rice bowl is a similar term used to refer to Southeast Asia; and C ...

Member schools

Division 1

Prior to the 2014 season, the Kantoh league had two conferences. The winners of each conference would then play in the

Azuma Bowl The Azuma Bowl (あずまボウル) was an annual college football bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Footba ...

, to determine league champion. Starting in 2014, the league switched to a two division format, the Top 8 and Big 8. With the new format, there would be no championship game and the Top 8 conference would be the highest level of play, making the winner of that division the overall conference champion.

Top 8

Big 8

Division 2

Block A

Block B

Division 3

A Block

B Block

C Block

D Block

Area League

A Block

B Block

C Block

Medical and Dental Division

1st Division

2nd Division

=A Block

=B Block

References

External links

* {{Collegiate American Football in Japan navbox American football in Japan American football leagues College athletics conferences in Japan