The season began on March 16 and ended on November 9.
Of these clubs, Kyoto Purple Sanga, and Avispa Fukuoka were newly promoted teams from Japan Football League.
The games went to golden-goal extra time and penalties if needed after regulation.
A club received 3 points for any win, 1 point for PK loss, and 0 pts for regulation or extra time loss.
The clubs were ranked by points, and tie breakers are in the following order: The club that finished at the top of the table was declared season champion.