2025 Japan Football League

The 2025 Japan Football League was the 27th season of JFL, since its establishment in 1999. This was also the twelfth season of the league having a fourth-tier status in Japanese football since 2014.

Overview

This marked the final Japan Football League season scheduled within a single calendar year, running from late winter to early winter, as future seasons would shift to a summer-to-spring format.
The number of teams stayed the same at 16 for the 2025 season, just as it was in 2024.
The league's champion team earns automatic promotion to the J3 League, while the 2nd place team competes in a promotion/relegation play-off against the 19th-placed team from the J3 League.
As league champions, Honda FC were ineligible for promotion to the professional ranks because of their amateur status. This meant only the second-place team, Reilac Shiga, qualified for the promotion/relegation play-off, where they faced Azul Claro Numazu.

Schedule

The league and match format was revealed on 21 December 2024. The season kicked off on 8 March and wrapped up on 23 November. The format consists of a round-robin with 30 matches.
The J3/JFL play-offs were held over two legs, with the dates confirmed in December.

Changes from the previous season

Iwate Grulla Morioka and YSCC Yokohama were relegated from the 2024 J3 League after finishing 19th and 20th, respectively. Iwate played in the JFL for the first time in their history for this season while YSCC Yokohama returned to the fourth tier after 12 years' absence.
Asuka FC, 2024 Kansai Soccer League Division 1 champion, was the sole promoted team to the JFL as they won the 2024 Regional Champions League. Asuka also played in the JFL for the first time in their history for this season.
Vonds Ichihara could have joined Briobecca Urayasu as Chiba's representatives in the JFL, had they won the 2024 JFL play-off against Minebea Mitsumi.
Sony Sendai withdrew from the JFL due to dissolution after financial troubles and ended 25 years in the fourth tier.
On 1 January 2025, Briobecca Urayasu was renamed Briobecca Urayasu Ichikawa for this season due to aiming for the J.League.

Participating clubs

The teams which possess promotion-enabling licenses are highlighted in green in the following table.

Club name	Home town	Stadium	Capacity	Position	Notes
Asuka FC	Kashihara, Nara		5,000	JRCL
[Atletico Suzuka, Mie\|Suzuka Club\|Atletico Suzuka]	Suzuka, Mie		1,450	11th
Briobecca Urayasu Ichikawa	Urayasu, Chiba	Daiichi Cutter Field	2,100	8th
Criacao Shinjuku	Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo	Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka	7,258	14th	100 Year Plan status J3 license holders
Honda FC	Hamamatsu, Shizuoka	Honda Miyakoda Soccer Stadium	2,506	7th
Iwate Grulla Morioka	Morioka, Iwate	Iwagin Stadium	9,892	file:arrowdownred.pngJ3	J1 license holders
Maruyasu Okazaki	Okazaki, Aichi		5,000	13th
Minebea Mitsumi	Miyazaki, Miyazaki	Hinata Athletic Stadium	20,000	16th
Okinawa SV	All cities/towns in Okinawa	Tapic Kenso Hiyagon Stadium	10,189	9th
Reilac Shiga	Kusatsu, Shiga		15,000	4th	100 Year Plan status applicants J3 license holders
	Aomori, Aomori	Kakuhiro Group Athletic Stadium	20,809	10th	J3 license holders
Tiamo Hirakata	Hirakata, Osaka		2,500	3rd
Veertien Mie	All cities/towns in Mie		5,077	5th	J3 license holders
Verspah Oita	Yufu, Beppu & Ōita, Ōita		4,700	6th	J3 license holders
Yokogawa Musashino	Musashino, Tokyo	Musashino Municipal Athletic Stadium	5,188	15th
YSCC Yokohama	Yokohama, Kanagawa	Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium	15,454	file:arrowdownred.png J3	J2 license holders

J3/JFL Play-offs

The play-offs, officially called the 2025 J3/JFL Play-offs, took place on 7 and 14 December 2025.
If the two teams had been level after 180 minutes, the second match would have gone to extra time and penalties if required. The away goals rule wouldn't be in effect.

Overview

JFL/Regional Leagues promotion/relegation playoff

The play-off took place on 30 November 2025.
''Atletico Suzuka relegated to the Tōkai Soccer League Division 1; Vonds Ichihara promoted to the JFL.''