At the end of the season, top three clubs received automatic qualification to the following years' AFC Champions League.
This was also the first time since the advent of the J.League that the top scorer scored less than 20 goals; the honour of scoring 17 goals was shared between Nagoya's Joshua Kennedy and Júbilo Iwata's Ryoichi Maeda.
For the first time since 1995 season, all top-flight teams are located on a single island (Honshū).
Eighteen clubs will play in double round-robin (home and away) format, a total of 34 games each.
The clubs are ranked by points, and tie breakers are, in the following order: A draw would be conducted, if necessary.