2023 J2 League
The 2023 J2 League, also known as the '''2023 Meiji Yasuda Life for sponsorship reasons, was the 25th season of the J2 League, the second-tier Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1999.
Overview
This was the last season to be played with 22 participating clubs, as the number of clubs was reduced to 20 from the 2024 season.FC Ryukyu and Iwate Grulla Morioka were relegated to the J3 League, finishing the previous J2 League season as 21st and 22nd-placed team, respectively.
Relegated from [2022 2022 J1 League|J1 League|J1], both Shimizu S-Pulse and Júbilo Iwata were the only Shizuoka-based J1 teams last season. Now, they return to J2 after spending six and one season, respectively, at the top flight.
J3 winners Iwaki FC and runners-up Fujieda MYFC were both promoted from the J3 League. Both teams make their debut in J2 League, with Iwaki being promoted to the J2 just a season after being promoted to J3.
For the first time ever since the 2004 season, three teams from the same prefecture participate in the J2 League, as Shimizu S-Pulse, Júbilo Iwata and Fujieda MYFC are all based on Shizuoka Prefecture.
Participating clubs
Foreign players
As of the 2023 season, there are no more restrictions on a number of signed foreign players, but clubs can only register up to five foreign players for a single match-day squad. Players from J.League partner nations are exempt from these restrictions.- Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the midseason transfer window.
- Player's name in italics indicates the player has Japanese nationality in addition to their FIFA nationality, or is exempt from being treated as a foreign player due to having been born in Japan and being enrolled in, or having graduated from school in the country.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 | Player 7 | Player 8 | Left mid-season |
| Blaublitz Akita | |||||||||
| Fagiano Okayama |  Play-offsThe usual format was applied in the 2023 season. Promotion play-offs, officially called the 2023 J.League Road To J1 Play-offs, was held from the semi-finals, where the match-ups were previously semi-determined. Based on the J2 placements at the end of the regular season, the third-placed team played against the sixth-placed, while the fourth-placed team played against the fifth-placed. The winners of the semi-finals played the final, with the winners promoted to the J1.If a match was tied in the play-offs, the team with the higher rank won. The rank order was: J2's third, fourth, fifth, and sixth-placed teams. For the 2023 season, three teams were to be promoted to the 2024 J1 League with no relegation playoffs between the leagues. Semi-finals----Season statisticsDisciplinePlayer
Club
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