Both divisions of the

Japan Soccer League ; 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 Cup, JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professi ...

were given the 3-1-0 league format.

League tables

First Division

Yomiuri won its fourth JSL title and went to the Asian Club Championship. Nissan, by virtue of its

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or Japan FA Cup, and rebranded as The JFA Emperor's Cup from 2024 onwards, is a Japanese annual football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football tournament in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formatio ...

win, represented Japan for the first time in the

Asian Cup Winners' Cup The Asian Cup Winners' Cup was an Asian football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-Asian club competition organised by Asian Football Confedera ...

. Yanmar Diesel, four-time champions in the 1970s, was relegated for the first time after an aimless decade. Nippon Kokan, who two seasons before was contending for the title, was relegated as well and would cease to exist by the middle of the decade.

Second Division

Struggling fallen giants Hitachi and Mazda were promoted back to the top flight after a few seasons of second division wilderness: Hitachi at the first attempt, Mazda on the third. Yawata Steel, co-founder of the First Division with them in 1965, was relegated, leaving only five JSL founding clubs that would professionalize for the J.League. Osaka Gas, who never looked like national league material, joined them. {{DEFAULTSORT:1990-91 Japan Soccer League Japan Soccer League seasons 1990 in Japanese football leagues 1991 in Japanese football leagues