The Japan Professional Football League (日本プロサッカーリーグ, Nihon Puro Sakkā Rīgu), commonly a.k.a.

[2][3] Despite being well-attended during the boom of the late 1960s and early 1970s (when Japan's national team won the Olympic bronze medal at the 1968 games in Mexico), the JSL went into decline in the 1980s, in general line with the deteriorating situation worldwide.

Fans were few, the grounds were not of the highest quality, and the Japan national team was not on a par with the other Asian powerhouses.

To raise the level of play domestically, to attempt to garner more fans, and to strengthen the national team, the Japan Football Association (JFA) decided to form a professional league.

Although the J.League did not officially launch until 1993, the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup competition was held between the ten clubs in 1992 to prepare for the inaugural season.

J.League officially kicked off its first season with ten clubs on 15 May 1993, when Verdy Kawasaki hosted Yokohama Marinos at the Tokyo National Stadium.

Despite the success in the first three years, in early 1996 the league attendance declined rapidly, coincided with the economic slump of Japan.

First, they announced the J.League Hundred Year Vision, in which they aim to make 100 professional association football clubs in the nation of Japan by 2092, which would be the hundredth season.

The league also encouraged the clubs to promote football or non-football related sports and health activities, to acquire local sponsorships, and to build good relationships with their hometowns at the grass-root level.

The league believed that this would allow the clubs to bond with their respective cities and towns and get support from local government, companies, and citizens.

Júbilo Iwata in 2002, and Yokohama F. Marinos in 2003, won both "halves" of the respective seasons, thus eliminating the need for the playoff series.

For example, Kawasaki Frontale built up a notable fan base in Hong Kong, owing to their participation in the AFC Champions League during the 2007 season.

[6] Continuous effort led to the success of Urawa Red Diamonds in 2007 and Gamba Osaka in 2008.

The league took this as an opportunity to sell TV broadcasting rights to foreign countries, especially in Asia.

In order to fix this one-year lag issue, the 2007 Emperor's Cup winner, Kashima Antlers' turn was waived.

These five teams then take part in a championship playoff stage to decide the winner of the league trophy.

[7] The J.League will transition to a fall–spring calendar beginning in the 2026–27 season to align with European competitions and the Asian Champions League as well as avoid summer matches and conflicts with international tournaments.

However, promotion or right to play the now-defunct pro/rel series relies on the J2 clubs meeting the requirements for J1 franchise status set by the league.

If the Emperor's Cup winner happens to be one of the top three J1 finishers, the 4th-place club receives the final berth.

Starting in 2012, Division 2 established promotion playoffs for the clubs ranked 3rd to 6th, in a manner similar to the EFL Championship in England, the Serie B in Italy and the Segunda División in Spain.

However, the semifinals would be only one leg and all matches that ended in draws would enable the higher ranked club in the table to advance or be promoted.

In conjunction with the increase in the number of teams, this is a new growth strategy that revises the ratio of equal distribution money and in particular, the policy of grading allocation centered on the top clubs of J1.

League cup games will officially be renewed to a knockout (tournament) format in which all 60 clubs from J1, J2 and J3 will participate was announced in.