are a group of parallel

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

leagues in Japan that are organized on the regional basis. They form the fifth tier of the

Japanese association football league system The Japanese association football league system is organized in a pyramidal shape similar to football league systems in many other countries around the world. The leagues are bound by the principle of promotion and relegation; however, there are s ...

below the nationwide

Japan Football League The also known as simply the JFL is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, positioned beneath the three divisions of the J.League. The league features fully professional teams that hold J.League associate membership am ...

Overview

Japan is divided regionally in a variety of ways, some of them administrative and some more historical. For the football purposes, the country is divided into nine regions. All regional league champions earn the right to participate in the Regional Football League Competition (since 2016 renamed Japan Regional Football Champions League) at the end of the year. Runners-up may also qualify according to criteria set by the

Japan Football Association The Japan Football Association (JFA, ) is the governing body responsible for the administration of football, futsal, beach soccer and efootball in Japan. It is responsible for the national team, as well as club competitions. History The organisat ...

. Regional league clubs also compete in the All Japan Senior Football Championship, a

cup competition A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. The winner of this cup also earns a berth in the Regional League promotion series, and the runner-up may also qualify depending on space and JFA criteria. Regional league clubs must win the qualifying cup in their home prefecture in order to compete in the

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or also Japan FA Cup is a Japanese football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football match in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J.League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, J ...

. Since the divisions rarely go over 10 members, the season is shorter and long summer breaks may be taken. Among the existing Japanese clubs there are ten that have never played in the regional leagues. They are: *

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 ...

co-founders

Urawa Red Diamonds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

, JEF United Chiba,

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 ...

, Cerezo Osaka,

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima ( ja, サンフレッチェ広島, translit=''Sanfuretche Hiroshima'') is a Japanese professional football club based in Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the coun ...

(listed under current names, all formed the old league in 1965); *Independent club

Shimizu S-Pulse is a professional Japanese football club. Located in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, S-Pulse currently competes in the J2 League (J2). The club was formed in 1991 as a founding member of the J.League (''"Original Ten"''), which began ...

, established as a professional club upon

J. League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most succe ...

creation in 1992; *

Sagan Tosu is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J1 League. The team is located in Tosu, Saga Prefecture. ''Sagan'' is a coined word with a couple of meanings behind it. One of its homophones is in Japanese. This symbolises ...

who took over the folded

Tosu Futures was a Japanese football club that played in the former Japan Football League between 1994 and 1996. History PJM Futures was founded in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka in 1987 as the team of PJM Japan, a company based on Paul J. Meyer's U.S. academy Succ ...

in former JFL in 1997; *

Yokohama FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the first tier of football in the country. The club was formed by fans of Yokoh ...

who were directly admitted into the

in 1999 upon their formation; *

Kataller Toyama is a football club in Japan that was formed from the merger of the ALO's Hokuriku and YKK AP SC. The club currently plays in J3 League. History The idea of a merged club had been discussed by the Toyama Prefectural Football Association as e ...

that formed in 2008 as a result of the fusion of JFL clubs ALO's Hokuriku and YKK AP. *

Kagoshima United FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Kagoshima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan that was formed from the merger of ''Volca Kagoshima'' and ''FC Kagoshima''. Both clubs played in the Kyushu Soccer League before the merger. Their top t ...

that formed in 2014 as a result of the fusion of Kyushu League clubs Volca Kagoshima and FC Kagoshima, top two in the 2013 Regional Promotion Series, and which joined the JFL as a merged club Additionally, the forerunners to Tosu Futures,

Kashima Antlers are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...

Avispa Fukuoka is a Japanese professional football club, currently competing in the J1 League. The team is located in Hakata, Fukuoka. "Avispa" means " wasp" in Spanish. They were originally called Fujieda Blux and based in Fujieda, Shizuoka before moving ...

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 matc ...

were originally based in different regions (and won or were promoted from those regions) from where they, or their successors, are based today: *Kashima Antlers was originally based in Kansai but moved to Kantō in 1975 after reaching the JSL; *Tosu Futures was originally based in Tōkai but moved to Kyushu in 1994 after reaching the former JFL; *Avispa Fukuoka was originally based in Tōkai but moved to Kyushu in 1994 after reaching the former JFL; *Vissel Kobe was originally based in Chūgoku but moved to Kansai in 1995 after reaching the former JFL.

Regional Leagues clubs, 2022

Hokkaido Soccer League

Tohoku Member-of-Society Soccer League

Kantō Soccer League , abbreviated as KSL, is a Japanese football league covering the Kantō region, the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, Tochigi, Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, l ...

Hokushinetsu Football League

Tōkai Adult Soccer League

Kansai Soccer League

Chūgoku Soccer League

Shikoku Soccer League

Kyushu Soccer League

References

External links

Japanese Regional Leagues summary
SOCCERWAY) {{Japanese Club Football, group=regional 5