Japanese Association Football League System

Overview

The top two levels of the Japanese football league system are operated by J. League, which consists of J. League Division 1 (J1) and J. League Division 2. All of the clubs in J. League are fully professional.

The third level, Japan Football League (JFL) is a semi-professional league consisting of amateur, professional, and company clubs from all over Japan.

At the fourth and fifth levels, nine parallel regional leagues are operated by nine different regional football associations. Some have multiple divisions. The regional associations are divided by political or geographical boundaries.

At the sixth level and below, parallel prefectural leagues are hosted by each of the 46 different prefectural football associations, again divided by political or geographical boundaries. Some have multiple divisions.

Level	Leagues/Divisions
I	J. League Division 1 (J1) 18 clubs
II	J. League Division 2 (J2) 22 clubs
III	Japan Football League 18 clubs
IV/V	9 Regional Leagues 129 clubs (2012 season) Hokkaido (8 clubs) Tohoku 1st (8 clubs) \| Tohoku 2nd north (8 clubs) \| Tohoku 2nd south (8 clubs) Kanto 1st (10 clubs) \| Kanto 2nd (10 clubs) Tokai 1st (8 clubs) \| Tokai 2nd (9 clubs) Hokushin'etsu 1st (8 clubs) \| Hokushin'etsu 2nd (8 clubs) Kansai 1st (8 clubs) \| Kansai 2nd (8 clubs) Chugoku (10 clubs) Shikoku (8 clubs) Kyushu (10 clubs)
V+/VI+	46 Prefectural Leagues & 4 Block Leagues of Hokkaido many clubs Sapporo Block \| Dōhoku (North) Block \| Dōtō (East) Block \| Dōō (Central) Block \| Dōnan (South) Block Aomori \| Iwate \| Miyagi \| Akita \| Yamagata \| Fukushima Ibaraki \| Tochigi \| Gunma \| Saitama \| Chiba \| Tokyo \| Kanagawa Gifu \| Shizuoka \| Aichi \| Mie Niigata \| Toyama \| Ishikawa \| Fukui \| Yamanashi \| Nagano Shiga \| Kyoto \| Osaka \| Hyogo \| Nara \| Wakayama Tottori \| Shimane \| Okayama \| Hiroshima \| Yamaguchi Tokushima \| Kagawa \| Ehime \| Kochi Fukuoka \| Saga \| Nagasaki \| Kumamoto \| Ōita \| Miyazaki \| Kagoshima \| Okinawa

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Japanese Association Football League System - Overview