2023 Emperor's Cup


The 2023 Emperor's Cup was the 103rd edition of the annually contested cup, starting on 20 May. The format for 2023 did not present any changes from the previous edition. It featured 88 teams representing the prefectural football associations, J1 League, J2 League and Japan Football League. JFL's Honda FC was once again chosen to be the annually specially designated amateur club.
Ventforet Kofu were the defending champions, after a cinderella story for the J2 club saw them qualify for the final, which they won on penalties against Sanfrecce Hiroshima, after a 1–1 draw in regulation time, but were eliminated by Vissel Kobe 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 want to qualify to the Emperor's Cup, 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]

All 18 teams playing in the 2023 J1 League entered in the second round.

[J2 League]

All 22 teams playing in the 2023 J2 League entered in the second round.

Amateur designated team

One team selected from the Japan Football League. It entered in the first round.
ClubApps.Prefecture
Honda FC43rdShizuoka

Prefectural tournaments

All the 47 prefectural tournaments winners. They all entered in the first round.
PrefectureTeamLeagueApps.
HokkaidoBTOP HokkaidoHokkaido Soccer League51st
AomoriVanraure HachinoheJ3 League311th
IwateIwate Grulla MoriokaJ3 League316th
MiyagiSony SendaiJapan Football League424th
AkitaNorth Asia UniversityTohoku University League D1UL12nd
YamagataYamagata University
Faculty of Medicine		–7+4th
FukushimaFukushima UnitedJ3 League311th
IbarakiUniversity of TsukubaKanto University League D1UL133rd
TochigiTochigi CityKanto Soccer League D1513th
GunmaTonan MaebashiKanto Soccer League D267th
SaitamaTokyo International University FCKanto Soccer League D153rd
ChibaBriobecca UrayasuJapan Football League46th
TokyoCriacao ShinjukuJapan Football League41st
KanagawaSC SagamiharaJ3 League32nd
YamanashiYGU PegasusYamanashi Football League75th
NaganoNagano ParceiroJ3 League311th
NiigataNiigata University of Health and WelfareHokushin'etsu University League D1UL17th
ToyamaKataller ToyamaJ3 League314th
IshikawaHokuriku UniversityHokushin'etsu University League D1UL16th
FukuiFukui UnitedHokushin'etsu Football League D1515th
ShizuokaAzul Claro NumazuJ3 League32nd
AichiMaruyasu OkazakiJapan Football League45th
MieVeertien MieJapan Football League43rd
GifuFC GifuJ3 League317th
ShigaReilac ShigaJapan Football League410th
KyotoLaranja KyotoKansai Soccer League D261st
OsakaKansai UniversityKansai University League D1UL118th
HyogoCento Cuore HarimaKansai Soccer League D1511th
NaraNara ClubJ3 League314th
WakayamaArterivo WakayamaKansai Soccer League D1515th
TottoriGainare TottoriJ3 League325th
ShimaneBelugarosso IwamiChugoku Soccer League52nd
OkayamaMitsubishi MizushimaChugoku Soccer League515th
HiroshimaSRC HiroshimaChugoku Soccer League57th
YamaguchiBaleine ShimonosekiChugoku Soccer League53rd
KagawaKamatamare SanukiJ3 League323rd
TokushimaFC TokushimaShikoku Soccer League58th
EhimeFC ImabariJ3 League313th
KochiKochi UnitedJapan Football League48th
FukuokaGiravanz KitakyushuJ3 League314th
SagaBrew KashimaKyushu Soccer League511th
Nagasaki[Mitsubishi Heavy Industries|Mitsubishi Nagasaki Prefecture|Nagasaki SC]Nagasaki Football League710th
KumamotoTokai University KumamotoKyushu University League D2UL24th
OitaVerspah OitaJapan Football League413th
MiyazakiTegevajaro MiyazakiJ3 League33rd
KagoshimaKagoshima UnitedJ3 League39th
OkinawaFC RyukyuJ3 League316th

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, as uncertainties around the schedule of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup left doubts about possible reschedule 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.
RoundDate MatchesClubsNew entries this round
First round20–21 May 241 seeded amateur team47 prefectural qualification cup winners
Second round7–21 June3264 → 3218 2023 J1 League clubs22 2023 J2 League clubs
Third round12 July 1632 → 16
Fourth round2 August 816 → 8
Quarter-finals30 August 48 → 4
Semi-finals8 October24 → 2
Final9 December12 → 1

Schedule

First round

The match pairings was decided on 22 March 2023. Except for Honda FC, 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.
J3 League Japan Football League Regional 1st Divs. Regional 2nd Divs. Prefectural Leagues University Leagues Total

Second round

All the 2023 J1 and J2 League clubs enter the competition in this round. Most of these professional clubs hosted 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 had 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 played their ties against teams that finished between the 7th and 14th place on last season's J2.

Final

J1 League Total