2016 J1 League

The 2016 Meiji Yasuda J1 League season was the 51st season of top-flight football in Japan and the 24th since the establishment of the J.League in 1992. This was second season of J1 League as renamed from J. League Division 1.
This season was the second since J.League changed its competition format to a newly conceived multistage system, with the year split into two halves and a third and final championship stage. The winners of the first and second stages and the highest ranking club of the aggregate table qualified for the Championship Stage. Kashima Antlers, the winner of the championship stage, advanced to the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup as the host nation's entrant.

Clubs

Club name	Home town	Stadium	Capacity	Note
Albirex Niigata	Niigata City & Seirō, Niigata	Denka Big Swan Stadium	42,300	15th in 2015
Avispa Fukuoka	Fukuoka City, Fukuoka	Level-5 Stadium	22,563	Promoted from J2 League in 2015
FC Tokyo	Tokyo	Ajinomoto Stadium	49,970	2016 [AFC Champions League] participant
Gamba Osaka	Northern Osaka Prefecture	Suita City Football Stadium	40,000	2016 AFC Champions League participant
Júbilo Iwata	Iwata, Shizuoka	Yamaha Stadium	15,165	Promoted from J2 League in 2015
Kashima Antlers	Southeast Ibaraki Prefecture	Kashima Soccer Stadium	40,728	5th in 2015
Kashiwa Reysol	Kashiwa, Chiba	Kashiwa Soccer Stadium	15,900	10th in 2015
Kawasaki Frontale	Kawasaki, Kanagawa	Todoroki Athletics Stadium	26,232	6th in 2015
Nagoya Grampus	All Aichi Prefecture	Paloma Mizuho Stadium	27,000	9th in 2015
Omiya Ardija	Saitama City, Saitama	NACK5 Stadium	15,500	Promoted from J2 League in 2015
Sagan Tosu	Tosu, Saga	Tosu Stadium	24,490	11th in 2015
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Hiroshima City, Hiroshima	Hiroshima Big Arch	50,000	AFC Champions League">Asian Football Confederation">AFC Champions League participant
Shonan Bellmare	Shōnan part of Kanagawa	Shonan Stadium Hiratsuka	18,500	8th in 2015
Urawa Red Diamonds	Saitama City, Saitama	Saitama Stadium	63,700	2016 AFC Champions League participant
Vegalta Sendai	Sendai, Miyagi	Yurtec Stadium	19,694	14th in 2015
Ventforet Kofu	All Yamanashi Prefecture	Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium	17,000	13th in 2015
Vissel Kobe	Kobe, Hyōgo	Misaki Park Stadium	30,132	12th in 2015
Yokohama F. Marinos	Yokohama & Yokosuka, Kanagawa	Nissan Stadium	72,327	7th in 2015

Foreign players

Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.

Club

Player 1

Player 2

Player 3

AFC player

Non-visa foreign

Type-C contract

Former players

Albirex Niigata

Format

Teams play a single round-robin in the first stage and a single round-robin in the second stage. After that an overall table is calculated and a championship stage is played. The winners of the first and second stages and any team that finishes in the top 3 of the overall rankings advance to the championship stage. The team that finishes atop the overall table automatically qualifies for the final, while the remaining teams play-off for the other spot in the final.

League table

First stage

Second stage

Overall table

Championship stage

Meiji Yasuda 2016 J.League Championship

The Championship stage consisted of a knockout tournament involving the champions of the First and Second stages, and any team that finishes in the top 3 of the overall table. The team with the best aggregate record earned a bye to the final. The remaining teams playoff for the other spot in the final.
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Top scorers

Updated to games played on 3 November 2016
Source:

Awards

Individual

Award

Recipient

Club

Most Valuable Player

Best Eleven

Source:

Attendances

These are the attendance records of each of the teams at the end of the home and away season. The table does not include the Championship stages attendances.