The season started on March 4 and will finish on November 11, followed by the promotion playoffs among the 3rd to 6th placed clubs (see the article).
Shonan Bellmare finished second and also won the automatic promotion along with Kofu, returning to the J1 after two years of absence.
Oita Trinita finished sixth, but won the promotion playoffs by defeating 3rd-placed Kyoto Sanga at the semifinal and 5th-placed JEF United Chiba at the final thus returning to the J1 after three years of absence.
For the first time ever, relegation to the third-tier JFL was implemented, and Machida Zelvia became the unlucky first team to suffer that fate by finishing in bottom place only one season after entering the professional divisions.
The format would be changed if one or more of the involved clubs could not meet the promotion criteria to Division 1.