2020 J1 League
The 2020 J1 League, also known as the '''2020 Meiji Yasuda Life for sponsorship reasons, is the 28th season of the J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1993. The league began play on 21 February 2020. The league was planned to have a season break to avoid clashing with the 2020 Summer Olympics, but the Olympics have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.
Yokohama F. Marinos are the defending champions while Kashiwa Reysol and Yokohama FC entered the league as promoted teams from the 2019 J2 League, replacing Júbilo Iwata and Matsumoto Yamaga who were relegated to the 2020 J2 League.
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
On 25 February, all J.League matches until 15 March were postponed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. After that, it was announced that it would be postponed until 29 March. On 19 March, the J.League announced no relegation would take place for the 2020 season, with the J1 League expanding to 20 clubs for the 2021 season. On 25 March, announced that it would be suspended 3 April to 6 May.On 3 April, the Japan Professional Football League decided to resume the league, gradually resumed J3 from 25 April, J2 from 2 May, and J1 from 9 May. However the league was postponed again.
On 29 May, the JPFL announced to decided to resume on 27 June. The season is projected to resume on 4 July. On 9 June, the JPFL announced the new schedule of the 2020 season. On 15 June, it was announced that the first 2 matches in each league would be held without spectators. After 10 July, as a general rule, the maximum number of people allowed is 5,000. The stadiums with less than 10,000 capacity would have up to 50% of the capacity. Away supporters are not allowed. After August, the maximum number of stadium capacity will be 50%, and it will be a "high alert spectator match".
After the 11th J.League extraordinary executive committee meeting on 20 July, it was announced that the "super strict alert audience game" extended to August 10 in view of the spread of coronavirus infection.
Clubs
For the 2020 season, there were only two changes in the league. Kashiwa Reysol returned as the 2019 J2 League champions and Yokohama FC as runners-up after 13 seasons absence from the top tier of Japanese football. They replaced Matsumoto Yamaga and Júbilo Iwata, who were relegated to the 2020 J2 League.Meanwhile, Shonan Bellmare remained in the J1 League after defeating Tokushima Vortis in the 2019 J2 League playoff final.
| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Last Season |
| Consadole Sapporo | Hokkaido | Sapporo Dome Sapporo Atsubetsu Stadium | 41,484 20,861 | J1 |
| Vegalta Sendai | Miyagi Prefecture | Yurtec Stadium Sendai | 19,694 | J1 |
| Kashima Antlers | Ibaraki Prefecture | Kashima Soccer Stadium | 40,728 | J1 |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Saitama Prefecture | Saitama Stadium 2002 | 63,700 | J1 |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Chiba Prefecture | Hitachi Kashiwa Stadium | 15,900 | J2 |
| FC Tokyo | Tokyo | Ajinomoto Stadium | 49,970 | J1 |
| Yokohama FC | Kanagawa Prefecture | MItsuzawa Stadium | 15,046 | J2 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | Kanagawa Prefecture | Nissan Stadium | 72,327 | J1 |
| Shonan Bellmare | Kanagawa Prefecture | BMW Stadium Hiratsuka | 18,500 | J1 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Kanagawa Prefecture | Todoroki Stadium | 26,232 | J1 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Shizuoka Prefecture | IAI Stadium | 20,339 | J1 |
| Nagoya Grampus | Aichi Prefecture | Paloma Mizuho Stadium Toyota Stadium | 27,001 45,000 | J1 |
| Gamba Osaka | Osaka Prefecture | Panasonic Stadium Suita | 39,694 | J1 |
| Cerezo Osaka | Osaka Prefecture | Yanmar Stadium Kincho Stadium | 47,853 18,007 | J1 |
| Vissel Kobe | Hyōgo Prefecture | Noevir Stadium | 30,132 | J1 |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Hiroshima Prefecture | Edion Stadium | 36,894 | J1 |
| Oita Trinita | Ōita Prefecture | Showa Denko Dome Oita | 40,000 | J1 |
| Sagan Tosu | Saga Prefecture | Ekimae Stadium | 24,130 | J1 |
Personnel and kits
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
Foreign players
As of 2020 season, there are no more restrictions on a number of signed foreign players, but clubs can only register up to five foreign players for a single match-day squad. Players from J.League partner nations are exempt from these restrictions.- Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 | Player 7 | Player 8 | Player 9 | Player 10 | Former players |
| Consadole Sapporo |  Anderson Lopes | Douglas Oliveira | Lucas Fernandes |  Jay Bothroyd |  Kim Min-tae |  Chanathip Songkrasin | Kawin Thamsatchanan | ||||
| Vegalta Sendai | Pará |  Isaac Cuenca |  Alexandre Guedes |  Jakub Słowik |  Simão Mate Junior | Kim Jung-ya | |||||
| Léo Silva | Everaldo | Juan Alano | Kwoun Sun-tae | ||||||||
| Ewerton | Fabrício | Leonardo | Maurício Antônio |  Thomas Deng |  Quenten Martinus | ||||||
| Adaílton | Arthur Silva | Diego Oliveira | Leandro |  Joan Oumari | |||||||
| Diogo Mateus | Jesiel | Leandro Damião | Jung Sung-ryong | ||||||||
| Edigar Junio | Erik | Marcos Júnior | Thiago Martins | Park Iru-gyu | Theerathon Bunmathan | ||||||
| Shonan Bellmare | Lelêu |  Tarik Elyounoussi | |||||||||
| Cristiano | Júnior Santos | Matheus Sávio | Richardson |  Michael Olunga | Kim Seung-gyu | ||||||
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Carlinhos Junior | Elsinho | Junior Dutra | Neto Volpi | Renato Augusto | Valdo | Teerasil Dangda | Hwang Seok-ho |  Jong Tae-se | ||
| Yokohama FC | Leandro Domingues | Maguinho |  Calvin Jong-a-Pin | Ibba Laajab | |||||||
| Nagoya Grampus | Gabriel Xavier | João Schmidt | Mateus | Mitchell Langerak | Oh Jae-Suk | ||||||
| Gamba Osaka | Ademilson | Patric | Kim Young-gwon | Shin Won-ho | Lee Yun-oh |  Jefferson Tabinas | |||||
| Cerezo Osaka | Bruno Mendes | Lucas Mineiro |  Leandro Desábato |  Matej Jonjić | Kim Jin-hyeon | Ahn Joon-soo | Pierce Waring | Tawan Khotrsupho | |||
| Vissel Kobe | Dankler | Douglas |  Thomas Vermaelen | Andrés Iniesta | Sergi Samper | ||||||
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Douglas Vieira | Ezequiel | Leandro Pereira | Rhayner | |||||||
| Sagan Tosu | Eduardo | Tiago Alves |  Renzo Lopez | Cho Dong-geon | An Yong-woo | Park Jeong-su | Ryang Yong-gi |  Wang Jianan | Kim Min-ho | ||
| Oita Trinita | Mun Kyung-gun |
League table
It was decided on 19 March to change the format regarding the rules for promotion/relegation for the end of the season for the J1, J2 and J3 leagues, such that there would be no relegation this season, that two clubs from the J2 League would be promoted to the 2021 J-League, and that two clubs from the J3 League would be promoted to the 2021 J2 League.Results table
Season statistics
Top scorers
Updated to matches played on 18 July 2020.| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 |  Kyogo Furuhashi | Vissel Kobe | 4 |
| 1 | Michael Olunga | Kashiwa Reysol | 4 |
| 1 | Leandro Pereira | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 4 |
| 1 | Musashi Suzuki | Consadole Sapporo | 4 |
| 5 | Tatsuya Hasegawa | Kawasaki Frontale | 3 |
| 5 | Akihiro Ienaga | Kawasaki Frontale | 3 |
| 5 | Marcos Júnior | Yokohama F. Marinos | 3 |
| 5 | Leandro | FC Tokyo | 3 |
| 5 | Diego Oliveira | FC Tokyo | 3 |