2021 Japan Football League

The 2021 Japan Football League was the eighth season of the nationwide fourth tier of Japanese football, and the 23rd season since the establishment of Japan Football League.

Clubs

For the first time since 2012, 17 clubs have taken part in the JFL season. Last year no relegations were in place in J3, the league had the intent of seeing two more teams joining from the start, but only Tegevajaro Miyazaki got promoted with one game to play and joined J3 for the 2021 season. That’s because Verspah Oita, who won the JFL for the first time in their history, were not promoted as they did not hold a J3 license, while Sony Sendai and Honda FC, who finished 3rd and 4th respectively, also didn’t hold a J3 license.
FC Tiamo Hirakata and FC Kariya won promotion to the JFL by qualifying in the top two spots of the 44th Regional Pro Series. For the Hirataka-based side it was the first time in JFL, but Kariya are back after a twelve-year long hiatus.
There are six teams eligible for promotion with J3 licenses; these are highlighted in green in the following table.

Club name	Home town	Stadium	Capacity	Position	Notes
Honda FC	Hamamatsu, Shizuoka	Honda Miyakoda Soccer Stadium	2,506	JFL
	Miyazaki, Miyazaki	Hinata Athletic Stadium	20,000	JFL
Iwaki FC	Iwaki, Fukushima	Iwaki Green Field	5,600	JFL	100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders
FC Kariya	Kariya, Aichi	Wave Stadium Kariya	4,002	RPS 2nd	Winners of TASL and runners-up in 44th RPS
Kochi United SC	Kōchi, Kōchi	Kōchi Haruno Athletic Stadium	25,000	JFL
Maruyasu Okazaki	Okazaki, Aichi	Okazaki Ryūhoku Stadium	5,000	JFL
Matsue City FC	Matsue, Shimane	Matsue Municipal Athletic Stadium	24,000	JFL
MIO Biwako Shiga	Kusatsu, Shiga	Higashiōmi Nunobiki Green Stadium	5,060	JFL	Applied for 100 Year Plan status
Nara Club	All cities/towns in Nara	Rohto Field Nara	30,600	JFL	100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders
	Higashiōsaka, Osaka	Hanazono Rugby Stadium 2nd Ground	1,722	JFL	100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders
	Aomori, Aomori	Kakuhiro Group Athletic Stadium	20,809	JFL	100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders
Sony Sendai	Tagajō, Miyagi	Miyagi Seikyō Megumino Soccer Stadium	10,000	JFL
Suzuka Point Getters	Suzuka, Mie	AGF Suzuka Athletic Stadium	1,450	JFL	100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders
FC Tiamo Hirakata	Hirakata, Osaka	Hirakata Municipal Athletic Stadium	2,500	RPS 1st	Winners of KSL and 44th RPS
Musashino United FC	Musashino, Tokyo	Musashino Municipal Athletic Stadium	5,188	JFL	Renamed from "Tokyo Musashino City FC"
Veertien Mie	All cities/towns in Mie	Asahi Gas Energy Tōin Stadium	5,142	JFL	100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders
Verspah Oita	Yufu & Beppu, Ōita	Shōwa Denkō Soccer/Rugby Field	4,700	JFL	2020 champions, 100 Year Plan status

Regional Leagues Relegation Playoffs

2021 JFL·Regional Leagues Playoffs
Honda Lock remains in the JFL; FC Ise-Shima remains in the Tōkai Adult Soccer League Division 1.
FC Kariya was relegated to the Tōkai Adult Soccer League Division 1; Criacao Shinjuku was promoted to the JFL.

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Yuki Okazaki	Honda FC	16
2	Motoki Fujiwara	Sony Sendai FC	12
2	Reon Kodama	Honda FC	12
2	Ryo Sato	FC Tiamo Hirakata	12
2	Kohei Matsumoto	FC Tiamo Hirakata	12
6	Daigo Furukawa	Iwaki FC	11