2026–27 Japan Football League

The 2026–27 Japan Football League is the upcoming 28th season of JFL, since its establishment in 1999. This will be also the thirteenth season of the league having a fourth-tier status in Japanese football since 2014.

Overview

General

This marked the first Japan Football League season scheduled with a summer-to-spring format with 16 teams will compete in the league – the thirteen teams from the previous season, one team relegated from the J3 League and two teams promoted from Regional Leagues.
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. Meanwhile, the relegation playoff between the 15th-placed team in the JFL and the second-placed team in the JRFCL has been abolished and starting from this season the bottom two teams will be relegated directly to the fifth division depending on the region of origin of the team.

Teams promoted from Japanese Regional Leagues

J-Lease became the first team to be promoted on 24 November 2025 after defeating Tokyo United in the final round and at the same time as Veroskronos Tsuno lost to Vonds Ichihara where both matches ended with a score of 1-0.
Vonds Ichihara became the second team to be promoted on 30 November 2025, after defeating Atletico Suzuka in the JFL/Japanese Regional Leagues playoffs. Both promoted teams will compete in the fourth division for the first time in their respective histories.

Teams relegated to Japanese Regional Leagues

Asuka became the first team to be relegated after a draw against Maruyasu Okazaki on 15 November 2025. Asuka was relegated to Kansai Soccer League Division 1 after spending one season in the fourth division.
Atletico Suzuka became the second team to be relegated after losing to Vonds Ichihara in the JFL/Japanese Regional Leagues playoffs on 30 November 2025. Atletico Suzuka was relegated to the Tōkai Soccer League Division 1 after spending six seasons in the fourth division.

Result from playoff

Reilac Shiga became the only team to be promoted to the J3 League because Honda, who were last season's champions, do not yet have a J.League license for promotion to the third division. Reilac Shiga ended their 12-season stay in the fourth division by defeating Azul Claro Numazu in the J3/JFL playoffs with a 4-3 aggregate score on 14 December 2025. For Azul Claro Numazu, this result returned them to the fourth division after spending eight seasons in the third division.

Teams

Teams changes

The following teams changed division since the 2025 season.

Locations and stadiums

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity	2025 season	Notes
^↓	Numazu		10,000	20th in J3	J2 license holders
	Urayasu		2,100	3rd in JFL
	Shinjuku		7,258	12th in JFL	J3 license holders
	Hamamatsu		2,506	1st in JFL
	Morioka		9,892	9th in JFL	J1 license holders
^↑	Ōita		15,943	1st in JRFCL
	Okazaki		5,000	11th in JFL
	Miyazaki		20,000	10th in JFL
	Okinawa		12,270	8th in JFL
	Aomori		20,809	5th in JFL	J3 license holders
	Hirakata		2,500	4th in JFL
	Tōin		5,077	7th in JFL	J3 license holders
	Ōita		4,700	6th in JFL	J3 license holders
^↑	Ichihara		14,051	2nd in JRFCL
	Musashino		5,188	14th in JFL
	Yokohama		15,454	13th in JFL	J2 license holders

^↓	Relegated from the J3 League
^↑	Promoted from the Japanese Regional Leagues

;Notes:

The teams which possess promotion-enabling licenses are highlighted in green in the table.
Having J.League 100 Year Plan club status.
Also based at Tomigusuku and Uruma.
Mainly based at Kuwana and Yokkaichi.
Mainly based at Beppu and Yufu.

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and coaches may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Attendances

Home match played

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