The 2023

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, ...

(Emperor's Cup JFA 103rd Japan Football Championship (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: 天皇杯 JFA 第103回全日本サッカー選手権大会)) is the 103rd edition of the annually contested cup, starting on 20 May. The format for 2023 does not present any changes from the previous edition. It features 88 teams representing the prefectural football associations,

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the ...

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 Ya ...

and

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 amo ...

. JFL's

Honda FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. They play in the Japan Football League. History The club was founded as Honda Motor, Honda works team in 1971. They were promoted to the Japan Soccer League Division 2 ...

was once again chosen to be the annually specially-designated amateur club.

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 ...

are the defending champions, after a

cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

story for the J2 club saw them qualify for the final, which they won on

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * P ...

against

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 co ...

, after a 1–1 draw in regulation time, but were eliminated by

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 mat ...

in the round of 16.

Qualifying rounds

As only J1 and J2 League clubs qualify directly for the first round, teams from outside of it who wants to qualify to the Emperor's Cup (exception being made to the JFA-seeded team), had to, as usual, undergo a prefectural qualification, with regulations and schedules varying from one association to another. In total, there are 47 prefectural cup qualifications, with the winners of each prefectural cup having earned their right to play in the Emperor's Cup, with all of them assigned to start the competition in the first round.

Participating clubs

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the ...

All 18 teams playing in the

2023 J1 League The 2023 J1 League, also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the 31st season of the J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1993. Yokohama F. Marinos are the defending cham ...

join in the second round.

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 Ya ...

All 22 teams playing in the

2023 J2 League The 2023 J2 League, also known as the for sponsorship reasons, will be the 25th season of the J2 League, the second-tier Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1999. Overview This is the last se ...

join in the second round.

Amateur Designated Team

One team selected from the

. It joins in the first round.

Prefectural Tournaments

All the 47 prefectural tournaments winners. They all join in the first round. * Note: In the sections below, club tiers (league levels) will be presented as follows: ** ''National:'' (1):

; (2):

; (3):

J3 League or simply J3 is the third division of . It was established in 2013 as the third-tier professional association football league in Japan. The third-tier nationwide league is a relatively recent development in Japanese football with a first attempt ...

; (4):

** ''Regional (senior):'' (5): Regional Leagues 1st Divs.; (6): Regional Leagues 2nd Divs. *** ''Regional (university):'' (5): University Regional Leagues 1st Divs.; (6): University Regional Leagues 2nd and 3rd Divs. ** ''Prefectural (senior):'' (7): Prefectural Leagues 1st Divs. *** ''Prefectural (university):'' (7): University Prefectural Leagues 1st Divs. ** ''Others'' (7+): Below the Prefectural Leagues 1st Divs., unknown or not affiliated with any league.

Calendar

The schedule from the first round to the quarter-finals was announced on 20 December 2022. The semi-finals and the final did not have its dates released 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 organ ...

, as uncertainties around the schedule of the

2023 AFC Asian Cup The 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It will involve 24 national teams after expansion in 20 ...

left doubts about possible re-schedule of one or more rounds of the Emperor's Cup. The decision was also made to avoid schedule conflict for teams whose squads would have one or more players participating in the competition.

Tournament schedule

First round

The match pairings was decided on 22 March 2023. Except for

, who was granted a bye from prefectural qualifications due to their "amateur designated team" status, no other club had yet qualified to the tournament when the draw was conducted.

Second round

All the 2023 J1 and J2 League clubs enter the competition in this round. Most of these professional clubs will host their matches in their own prefecture. However, as the number of teams from these leagues combined does not match the amount of host teams required, some of these teams will have to play their matches away from home. These specific away teams either finished between the 15th to 20th place on last season's J2 or got promoted from the J3 League for the 2023 season, and will play their ties against teams that finished between the 7th and 14th place on last season's J2.

Third round

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Top scorers

References

External links

Tournament outline
JFA.jp
Schedule and results
JFA.jp

JFA.jp

JFA.jp {{2023–24 in Asian football (AFC) Emperor's Cup Japan 2023 in Japanese football