The winners of the first division of each Regional League along with other three between the nine Regional Leagues runners-up (determined by criteria set by the JFA), qualified for the 2022 Japanese Regional Football Champions League.
It served as a single-elimination tournament, in which the winner and the runner-up of the competition can also qualify either directly for the Japan Football League (JFL), or by a play-off match with one of the last-placed teams at the JFL table, with the confirmation of how must the winner (and/or runner-up) get promoted to the JFL being made by the league board.
For the 2022 season, league matches will be held according to the following guidelines:[1] The season is divided in two phases, each club plays 1 game against every other team.
Each club plays a further five matches, one against each of the other five teams in their own section.
After the first phase is completed, clubs cannot move out of their own half in the league, even if they achieve more or fewer points than a higher or lower ranked team, respectively.