J1 League 2015

J.League Division 1 2015
master	Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Champions League	Sanfrecce Hiroshima Gamba Osaka Urawa Red Diamonds
Champions League qualification	FC Tokyo
Relegated	Matsumoto Yamaga FC Shimizu S-Pulse Montedio Yamagata
Teams	18th
Games	306 + 3 championship games  (of which 306 played)
Gates	820  (ø 2.68 per game)
spectator	5,447,602  (ø 17,803 per game)
Top scorer	Yoshito Ōkubo (23 goals)
← J.League Division 1 2014 J1 League 2016 →
J2 League 2015 ↓

The 2015 J1 League was the 23rd season of the first division of the Japanese J.League and the first under the name J1 League . Eighteen clubs took part in it. The regular season began on March 7, 2015 and ended on November 22, 2015. A championship tournament was then played, which ended the season with the finals on December 2 and 5, 2015.

Master was Sanfrecce Hiroshima , who prevailed in the finals against defending champion Gamba Osaka . In addition to the finalists, Urawa Red Diamonds and, due to Gamba's success in the Emperor's Cup 2015 , FC Tokyo also qualified for the AFC Champions League 2016 . Matsumoto Yamaga FC , Montedio Yamagata and Shimizu S-Pulse were relegated to the J2 League .

mode

For the first time since the 2004 season, the season was not decided directly by a double round tournament . To determine the champion, a short championship tournament was also held at the end of the season, for which several clubs could qualify as follows:

First, a standard double-round tournament was held with all 18 teams in Division 1. The clubs played against each other once in each half. Games that were played at home in the first half series were played away in the second series and vice versa. This resulted in three tables: a table for the first half series, a table for the second half series and at the end an overall table consisting of all game results from the two half series. The tables were drawn up according to the following criteria:

1. Number of points scored
2. Goal difference
3. Goals scored
4. Results of the games among themselves
5. Decision game or coin toss

The first place in the overall table qualified immediately for the final of the championship tournament. The final opponent was determined from among the remaining qualifiers. These included the runner-up and third place in the overall table as well as the first place in the first half series (first half of the season) and the first place in the second half (second half of the season). If a club fulfilled several criteria for qualification (for example if the third in the overall table was also the best in the first half of the season), there were no successors. This resulted in a number of participants of at least three and at most five teams for the championship tournament, according to which the tournament mode was then also based:

• With a total of five teams, a semi-series winner played against a qualifier from the overall table. The decisive factor was which half-series winner was better placed in the overall table. The better placed club played against the third place in the overall table, the worse placed club against the runner-up in the overall table. The winners from both games then played in the semi-final game for a free place in the final.
• With a total of four teams, the runner-up was set for the semi-final game. The remaining semi-series champion and the third in the overall table played a game to get into this semi-final. The winner of the semi-final game reached the final.
• With a total of three teams, the first round was omitted, the second and third placed played a game to get into the final.

The final of the championship round was played back and forth.

The top three teams in the overall table also qualified for the AFC Champions League 2016 ; should one of these teams also win the 2015 Kaiser Cup, the fourth-placed team moved up. The worst of the teams qualified for the Champions League via the league placement had to play its way into the group stage of this competition via a playoff round. The three worst teams in the overall table were relegated to J.League Division 2 .

Attendees

Shonan Bellmare returned as the J.League Division 2 champion in 2014 after a year of absence. The second promoted Matsumoto Yamaga FC competed for the first time in its history in the top Japanese football league. The third promoted Montedio Yamagata was last in 2011 in Division 1. The promotion was achieved by two wins in the playoffs over Júbilo Iwata (2-1) and JEF United Chiba (1-0), after sixth place in the regular season jumped out.

The three promoted teams replaced the last three teams in the 2014 season , Ōmiya Ardija , Cerezo Osaka and Tokushima Vortis . The latter had to return to Division 2 after only one year in Division 1.

Sendai Tendo Niigata Kofu Matsumoto Shizuoka Nagoya Suita Kobe Hiroshima Tosu Kashima Saitama Kashiwa Tokyo Kawasaki Hiratsuka Yokohama Associations of the Kantō region

Clubs of the J.League Division 1 2015

logo	society	Located in	Stadion
	Albirex Niigata	Niigata & Seiro , Niigata	Denka Big Swan Stadium
	FC Tokyo	Tokyo	Ajinomoto Stadium
	Gamba Osaka	Suita , Osaka	Osaka Expo '70 stadium
	Kashima Antlers	Several cities in the southwest of Ibaraki Prefecture	Kashima Soccer Stadium
	Kashiwa Reysol	Kashiwa , Chiba	Hitachi Kashiwa Soccer Stadium
	Kawasaki Frontale	Kawasaki , Kanagawa	Todoroki Athletics Stadium
	Matsumoto Yamaga FC	Matsumoto , Nagano	Matsumoto Stadium
	Montedio Yamagata	Tendō , Yamagata	ND Soft Stadium
	Nagoya Grampus	Nagoya , Aichi	Mizuho Athletic Stadium / Toyota Stadium
	Sagan Tosu	Tosu , saga	Best Amenity Stadium
	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Hiroshima , Hiroshima	Hiroshima Big Arch
	Shimizu S-Pulse	Shizuoka , Shizuoka	Nihondaira Sports Stadium
	Shonan Bellmare	Hiratsuka , Kanagawa	Shonan BMW Stadium Hiratsuka
	Urawa Red Diamonds	Saitama , Saitama	Saitama Stadium
	Vegalta Sendai	Sendai , Miyagi	Yurtec Stadium
	Ventforet Kofu	City network in Yamanashi	Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium
	Vissel Kobe	Kobe , Hyogo	Kobe Wing Stadium
	Yokohama F. Marinos	Yokohama & Yokosuka , Kanagawa	Nissan Stadium

Trainer

society	Head coach
Vegalta Sendai	Susumu Watanabe
Montedio Yamagata	Nobuhiro Ishizaki
Kashima Antlers	Toninho Cerezo → Masatada Ishii
Urawa Reds	Michael Petrovic
Kashiwa Reysol	Tatsuma Yoshida
FC Tokyo	Massimo Ficcadenti
Kawasaki Frontale	Yahiro Kazama
Yokohama F. Marinos	Erick Mombaerts
Shonan Bellmare	Cho Kwi-jae
Ventforet Kofu	Yasuhiro Higuchi → Satoru Sakuma
Matsumoto Yamaga FC	Yasuharu Sorimachi
Albirex Niigata	Masaaki Yanagishita
Shimizu S-Pulse	Katsumi Ōenoki → Kazuaki Tasaka
Nagoya Grampus	Akira Nishino
Gamba Osaka	Kenta Hasegawa
Vissel Kobe	Nelsinho Baptista
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Hajime Moriyasu
Sagan Tosu	Hitoshi Morishita

player

society	player
Vegalta Sendai	Yūji Rokutan (32/0), Jirō Kamata (25/1), Hirofumi Watanabe (30/3), Kōji Hachisuka (21/0), Naoki Ishikawa (28/1), Kim Min-tae (16/4), Hiroaki Okuno (32/7), Takuya Nozawa (29/4), Wilson (19/4), Ryang Yong-gi (33/3), Hidetaka Kanazono (29/7), Jun Kanakubo (20/1), Shingo Tomita (34/0), Kyōhei Sugiura (3/0), Ramon Lopes (26/7), Kentarō Seki (2/0), Hiroshi Futami (13/0), Naoki Sugai (28/0), Keita Fujimura ( 5/0), Takuya Takei (4/0), Hiroki Yamamoto (15/1), Taikai Uemoto (2/0), Shunsuke Motegi (11/0), Atsuto Tatara (11/1), Kazuhiro Murakami (1 / 0)
Montedio Yamagata	Norihiro Yamagishi (34/0), Tetsuya Funatsu (7/0), Kōdai Watanabe (12/0), Shōgo Nishikawa (27/2), Alceu (32/2), Takumi Yamada (7/0), Ryōsuke Matsuoka ( 16/0), Ryōhei Hayashi (23/2), Yūki Nakashima (31/2), Shun Itō (4/0), Diego (34/10), Tatsuya Ishikawa (34/0), Masaki Miyasaka (18/1 ), Takefumi Tōma (22/0), Hiroki Bandai (5/0), Kim Byeom-yong (27/2), Kazuki Segawa (1/0), Romero Frank (31/3), Kōya Yuruki (1/0 ), Hirokazu Usami (15/0), Toshiya Takagi (20/0), Shōta Kawanishi (23/0), Masato Yamazaki (13/0), Jumpei Takaki (12/0), Shōhei Ogura (9/0), Hiroyuki Takasaki (9/0)
Kashima Antlers	Akihiro Satō (10/0), Gen Shōji (29/3), Kazuya Yamamura (13/0), Takeshi Aoki (21/0), Caio (32/10), Shōma Doi (28/6), Dinei (4 / 1), Masashi Motoyama (6/0), Davi (10/0), Atsutaka Nakamura (17/2), Hwang Seok-ho (24/0), Hiroyuki Takasaki (13/0), Shūto Yamamoto (28 / 3), Ryūga Suzuki (2/0), Shūhei Akasaki (22/7), Yūta Toyokawa (6/0), Gaku Shibasaki (29/5), Hitoshi Sogahata (24/0), Daigo Nishi (30/0) , Naomichi Ueda (12/1), Yukitoshi Itō (8/0), Yasushi Endō (32/6), Takahide Umebachi (8/0), Tarō Sugimoto (1/0), Mū Kanazaki (27/9), Yūma Suzuki (7/2), Mitsuo Ogasawara (29/1)
Urawa Reds	Shūsaku Nishikawa (34/0), Ken'ichi Kaga (4/0), Tomoya Ugajin (31/1), Daisuke Nasu (30/2), Tomoaki Makino (33/3), Tsukasa Umesaki (31/8), Yōsuke Kashiwagi (33/5), Naoki Ishihara (4/0), Keita Suzuki (4/0), Tadaaki Hirakawa (8/0), Takuya Aoki (22/1), Mitsuru Nagata (5/0), Yūki Mutō (32/13), Tadanari Lee (24/2), Zlatan (29/8), Yūki Abe (34/3), Takahiro Sekine (32/6), Shinzō Kōroki (26/12), Toshiyuki Takagi (21 / 2), Wataru Hashimoto (6/0), Takuya Okamoto (3/0), Ryōta Moriwaki (30/2)
Kashiwa Reysol	Kazushige Kirihata (5/0), Masato Fujita (10/0), Naoya Kondō (7/0), Daisuke Suzuki (34/3), Tatsuya Masushima (2/0), Ryōsuke Yamanaka (11/0), Hidekazu Ōtani (31/2), Akimi Barada (28/0), Masato Kudō (34/10), Yūki Ōtsu (14/1), Leandro (14/5), Ederson (8/1), Eduardo (29/2) , Kenta Kanō (3/0), Kōsuke Taketomi (28/2), Hiroki Akino (16/0), Hiroto Nakagawa (5/1), Shinnosuke Nakatani (3/0), Takanori Sugeno (30/0), Naoki Wako (29/2), Tomoki Imai (3/0), Yūsuke Kobayashi (14/0), Tetsurō Ōta (22/2), Kim Chang-soo (31/0), Ryōichi Kurisawa (19/0), Yūta Nakayama (1/0), Cristiano (34/14), Kōki Ōshima (1/0)
FC Tokyo	Shūichi Gonda (22/0), Yūhei Tokunaga (33/0), Masato Morishige (32/7), Hideto Takahashi (29/4), Yūichi Maruyama (20/0), Kōsuke Ōta (30/3), Takuji Yonemoto (31/1), Hirotaka Mita (18/1), Sōta Hirayama (2/0), Yōhei Kajiyama (18/0), Tatsuya Enomoto (4/0), Yoshinori Mutō (17/10), Lassad (2 / 0), Nathan Burns (10/2), Hiroki Kawano (22/1), Naohiro Ishikawa (10/1), Ryōichi Maeda (30/9), Sandaza (8/0), Naotake Hanyū (25/0), Yōhei Hayashi (11/0), Kazunori Yoshimoto (19/0), Canini (7/0), Hideyuki Nozawa (3/0), Kento Hashimoto (13/1), Keigo Higashi (25/4), Shōya Nakajima ( 13/1), Vlada Avramov (8/0), Riku Matsuda (9/0)
Kawasaki Frontale	Yūki Saneto (1/0), Makoto Kakuda (14/0), Yūsuke Igawa (23/0), Shōgo Taniguchi (34/2), Masaki Yamamoto (7/0), Kōji Hashimoto (2/0), Takanobu Komiyama (21/0), Ken'yū Sugimoto (24/6), Renato (17/9), Arthur Maia (4/0), Yū Kobayashi (18/5), Yoshito Ōkubo (32/23), Kengo Nakamura ( 33/2), Takayuki Funayama (21/0), Ryōta Ōshima (28/0), Yūto Takeoka (30/1), Elsinho (34/8), Kentarō Moriya (22/2), Shintarō Kurumaya (30/0 ), Yōhei Nishibe (11/0), Yoshihiro Nakano (10/1), Kyōhei Noborizato (1/0), Kōji Miyoshi (3/0), An Byong-jun (2/0), Shōta Arai (23/0 ), Yūsuke Tasaka (12/3)
Yokohama F. Marinos	Tetsuya Enomoto (9/0), Yūzō Kurihara (11/0), Fabio (33/4), Yūta Mikado (32/4), Shingō Hyōdō (28/1), Kōsuke Nakamachi (14/2), Takurō Yajima ( 5/0), Shunsuke Nakamura (19/3), Manabu Saitō (32/7), Yūzō Kobayashi (32/2), Andrew Kumagai (3/0), Yūsuke Higa (1/0), Shō Itō (29 / 6), Jin Hanato (3/0), Rafinha (10/1), Teruhito Nakagawa (2/0), Yūhei Satō (1/0), Hiroki Iikura (25/0), Yūji Nakazawa (34/0), Takumi Shimohira (34/1), Yūta Narawa (1/0), Jungo Fujimoto (19/3), Seitarō Tomisawa (11/1), Takuya Kida (24/0), Jun Amano (6/0), Cayman Togashi (4/1), Ademilson (33/8)
Shonan Bellmare	Yōta Akimoto (34/0), Shunsuke Kikuchi (30/1), Wataru Endō (31/4), Andre Bahia (30/0), Shōta Kobayashi (26/3), Ryōta Nagaki (32/3), Yōhei Ōtake (17/0), Naoki Yamada (17/1), Bruno Cesar (7/0), Quirino (5/0), Daisuke Kikuchi (34/3), Yoshihito Fujita (17/4), Kenta Hirose (1 / 0), Seiya Fujita (24/1), Kim Jong-pil (9/0), Toshiki Ishikawa (15/0), Yūto Misao (33/1), Alison (12/2), Shūhei Ōtsuki (32/4 ), Keisuke Tsuboi (8/0), Shōhei Okada (3/0), Kaoru Takayama (33/7), Lee Ho-seung (1/0), Masataka Kani (9/0), Tsuyoshi Shimamura (13/3 ), Amorim (1/0), Eijirō Takeda (2/0)
Ventforet Kofu	Kōta Ogi (11/0), Kensuke Fukuda (1/0), Hiroto Hatao (15/0), Hideomi Yamamoto (28/0), Bruno Dybal (1/0), Marquinhos Parana (27/0), Katsuya Ishihara (13/0), Ryōhei Arai (25/0), Takuma Abe (30/5), William Henrique (1/0), Bare (22/8), Adriano (12/1), Maranhao (2/0) , Kōji Noda (9/0), Yūki Horigome (12/0), Jun'ya Itō (30/4), Masaru Matsuhashi (19/0), Takuma Tsuda (27/0), Hokuto Shimoda (22/2) , Kōhei Morita (16/0), Kōhei Kawata (23/0), Masaki Watanabe (3/0), Shō Inagaki (29/1), Daiki Matsumoto (11/0), Shōhei Abe (33/1), Yūki Hashizume (17/1), Kazunari Hosaka (8/1), Yukio Tsuchiya (22/0)
Matsumoto Yamaga FC	Tomohiko Murayama (34/0), Yūki Ōkubo (12/2), Hayuma Tanaka (34/0), Masaki Iida (34/2), Yūdai Iwama (34/0), Shunsuke Iwanuma (24/1), Yūzō Iwakami (33/4), Obina (31/6), Shōgo Shiozawa (9/0), Kōhei Kiyama (33/2), Keita Gotō (10/0), Tomoki Ikemoto (8/1), Tatsuya Sakai (3 / 0), Willians (4/0), Hiroshi Tetsuto (5/0), Ryūtarō Iio (6/0), Doriva (2/0), Takayoshi Ishihara (16/0), Naoki Maeda (31/3), Kōhei Kudō (15/1), Masahiro Nasukawa (2/0), Yūto Shirai (1/0), Kim Bo-kyung (6/0), Ryūsuke Sakai (33/2), Jun Andō (15/1), Yoshirō Abe (24/5)
Albirex Niigata	Takaya Kurokawa (2/0), Kazunari Ōno (25/0), Kentarō Ōi (27/2), Michael James (29/0), Takanori Maeno (14/0), Yūki Kobayashi (21/0), Cortes ( 26/0), Leo Silva (25/4), Ryōhei Yamazaki (33/5), Rafael Silva (17/7), Hiroshi Ibusuki (31/8), Masaru Katō (20/1), Tatsuya Tanaka (13 / 1), Yūhei Satō (10/0), Shō Naruoka (26/1), Musashi Suzuki (13/1), Lim You-hwan (4/0), Tatsuya Morita (32/0), Kōsuke Yamamoto (33 / 7), Naoki Kawaguchi (29/0), Kei Koizumi (21/2), Kiwara Miyazaki (1/0), Shū Hiramatsu (13/0), Gō Hayama (8/1)
Shimizu S-Pulse	Masatoshi Kushibiki (10/0), Genta Miura (7/0), Yasuhiro Hiraoka (18/0), Calvin Jong-a-Pin (9/0), Jakovic (16/0), Kōta Sugiyama (9/0) , Takuya Honda (23/1), Hideki Ishige (11/3), Shun Nagasawa (14/1), Chong Te-se (13/4), Genki Ōmae (32/11), Kazuya Murata (15/1) , Tomoya Inukai (20/0), Takashi Sawada (7/1), Taisuke Muramatsu (3/0), Mitsunari Musaka (25/0), Yōsuke Kawai (13/0), Peter Utaka (28/9), Mitchell Duke (29/1), Ryō Takeuchi (19/0), Rikihiro Sugiyama (24/0), Takuma Edamura (26/2), Yoshiaki Takagi (4/0), Shōma Kamata (11/0), Kenta Uchida ( 1/0), Kōhei Hattanda (15/0), Shōta Kaneko (5/0), Kō Matsubara (7/0), Shō Kagami (1/0), Takuma Mizutani (5/0), Kōya Kitagawa (7 / 1), Takayuki Fukumura (14/0), Ryōhei Shirasaki (20/2), Makoto Kakuda (12/0)
Nagoya Grampus	Seigō Narazaki (34/0), Akira Takeuchi (33/0), Yūsuke Muta (24/1), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (30/5), Shun Ōbu (7/0), Yūki Honda (29/0), Taishi Taguchi (11/2), Danilson (12/0), Ryūnosuke Noda (4/1), Yoshizumi Ogawa (32/1), Kensuke Nagai (31/10), Ryōta Isomura (24/2), Ryōta Tanabe (5 / 0), Riki Matsuda (11/1), Novakovic (26/5), Kishō Yano (28/3), Asahi Yada (34/1), Tomoya Koyamatsu (22/1), Reo Mochizuki (3/0) , Kōki Sugimori (4/0), Kazuki Satō (1/0), Kengo Kawamata (33/9), Leandro Domingues (3/0), Gustavo (6/0), Teruki Tanaka (18/1)
Gamba Osaka	Masaaki Higashiguchi (34/0), Takaharu Nishino (3/0), Hiroki Fujiharu (32/0), Daiki Niwa (34/0), Kim Jung-ya (13/0), Yasuhito Endō (34/5), Keisuke Iwashita (24/0), Lins (20/1), Takahiro Futagawa (2/0), Shū Kurata (31/5), Hiroyuki Abe (33/4), Kōki Yonekura (31/2), Yasuyuki Konno ( 31/3), Tomokazu Myōjin (10/0), Yōsuke Fujigaya (1/0), Kōtarō Ōmori (30/3), Shun Nagasawa (4/2), Yōsuke Ideguchi (8/0), Oh Jae-suk ( 10/0), Shingo Akamine (13/0), Patric (32/12), Shōhei Ogura (6/0), Ritsu Dōan (2/0), Takashi Usami (34/19)
Vissel Kobe	Takahito Sōma (23/0), Kunie Kitamoto (12/0), Takuya Iwanami (30/1), Shunki Takahashi (27/4), Pedro Junior (13/1), Shōhei Takahashi (26/2), Daisuke Ishizu (27/4), Ryōta Morioka (30/5), Leandro (12/4), Keijirō Ogawa (19/4), Takahiro Masukawa (17/1), Jung Woo-young (32/0), Hideo Tanaka ( 14/1), Marquinhos (15/3), Kazuma Watanabe (28/10), Asahi Masuyama (9/0), Kaito Yamamoto (29/0), Yoshiki Matsushita (1/0), Masatoshi Mihara (20/1 ), Ryō Okui (17/0), Shinji Yamaguchi (1/0), Ferrugem (8/0), Yōsuke Tashiro (6/0), Kenta Tokushige (5/0), Michihiro Yasuda (12/0), Ryōsuke Maeda (9/0), Bueno (11/1), Sō Fujitani (5/0)
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Takuto Hayashi (34/0), Hiroki Mizumoto (33/1), Kazuhiko Chiba (34/1), Toshihiro Aoyama (33/3), Kōji Morisaki (9/1), Kazuyuki Morisaki (33/1), Douglas ( 33/21), Hisato Satō (34/12), Mikic (31/1), Kōhei Kudō (1/0), Satoru Yamagishi (4/1), Yoshifumi Kashiwa (30/4), Shō Sasaki (22/0 ), Yūsuke Minagawa (5/0), Gakuto Notsuda (19/4), Yūsuke Chajima (3/0), Kōhei Shimizu (16/2), Takuya Marutani (7/0), Takuma Asano (32/8), Kōsei Shibasaki (27/6), Tsukasa Shiotani (27/3), Kazuya Miyahara (3/1)
Sagan Tosu	Taku Akahoshi (11/0), Keita Isozaki (2/0), Teruaki Kobayashi (4/0), Kim Min-hyeok (25/0), Tomotaka Okamoto (11/0), Kōta Mizunuma (32/7), Baek Sung-dong (25/2), Kim Min-woo (33/2), Yōhei Toyoda (29/16), Naoyuki Fujita (31/0), Ryūhei Niwa (19/0), Choi Sung-keun (19 / 0), Ryōgo Yamasaki (1/0), Minoru Suganuma (2/0), Eisuke Fujishima (1/0), Kei Ikeda (26/1), Yutaka Yoshida (31/1), Daichi Kamada (21/3 ), Ryōta Hayasaka (23/0), Yoshiki Takahashi (32/0), Hiroyuki Taniguchi (33/4), Akito Fukuta (3/0), Ryōsuke Tamura (1/0), Akihiro Hayashi (23/0), Naoya Kikuchi (31/0), Shōhei Okada (3/0)

statistics

1st half series

table

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Urawa Red Diamonds	17th	12	5	0	039:170	+22	41
2.	FC Tokyo	17th	11	2	4th	024:180	+6	35
3.	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	17th	10	4th	3	029:160	+13	34
4th	Gamba Osaka	17th	9	5	3	024:130	+11	32
5.	Kawasaki Frontale	17th	9	3	5	032:260	+6	30th
6th	Yokohama F. Marinos	17th	7th	5	5	021:170	+4	26th
7th	Vegalta Sendai	17th	6th	5	6th	027:200	+7	23
8th.	Kashima Antlers	17th	6th	4th	7th	027:250	+2	22nd
9.	Nagoya Grampus	17th	6th	4th	7th	018:180	± 0	22nd
10.	Shonan Bellmare	17th	6th	4th	7th	020:240	−4	22nd
11.	Sagan Tosu	17th	5	5	7th	022:320	−10	20th
12.	Ventforet Kofu	17th	6th	2	9	012:220	−10	20th
13.	Vissel Kobe	17th	4th	7th	6th	017:190	−2	19th
14th	Kashiwa Reysol	17th	4th	6th	7th	022:250	−3	18th
15th	Matsumoto Yamaga FC	17th	4th	3	10	017:260	−9	15th
16.	Montedio Yamagata	17th	3	5	9	014:240	−10	14th
17th	Albirex Niigata	17th	3	5	9	020:330	−13	14th
18th	Shimizu S-Pulse	17th	3	4th	10	022:320	−10	13
Status: End of the half series

After the end of the semi-series:
	Qualification for the championship tournament : Urawa Red Diamonds

Crosstab

The cross table shows the results of all games in the semi-series. The home team is listed in the left column, the visiting team in the top row.

1st half series
Albirex Niigata		0: 1			3: 2			1: 1	1: 1			0-0			0: 3	0: 2	2: 2
FC Tokyo				0: 1	2: 1	2: 1			0: 1		1: 2	3: 2				1-0		0-0
Gamba Osaka	2: 1	2: 2		2-0		1: 1	1-0		3: 1						1: 1		0-0
Kashima Antlers	1: 1					2: 3	3: 1			3: 1	2: 2		1: 2			0: 1	1: 2
Kashiwa Reysol			1-0	1: 3							2: 3	0-0	0-0	3: 3	1: 1			1: 2
Kawasaki Frontale	4: 1				1: 4		2-0			3: 2	0: 1		2: 1	1: 1		3-0	2: 2
Matsumoto Yamaga FC	1: 2	1: 2			1: 3						1: 2		2: 3		1-0	2-0	2-0	0: 3
Montedio Yamagata		0: 1	1: 3	2: 2	3-0	1-0	0-0						1: 2				0: 1	1-0
Nagoya Grampus				1: 1	1-0	0: 1	3: 3	0-0		0: 1	2-0	3: 1	3-0
Sagan Tosu	2: 1	1: 2	1-0		1: 1		1: 1	1-0			2: 2			1: 6			1: 1
Sanfrecce Hiroshima	4: 2		0: 1					5: 1				2-0		0-0	2-0	2-0	0: 1
Shimizu S-Pulse			2: 3	3: 1		5: 2	0: 1	3: 3		2: 2						0: 2		1: 2
Shonan Bellmare	1: 3	0: 1	0: 2							4: 2	0-0	4-0		1: 3	0-0		1: 1
Urawa Red Diamonds	5: 2	4: 1	1-0	2: 1			1-0	1-0	2: 1			1-0						2: 1
Vegalta Sendai		2: 3		1: 2		2: 3		2-0	2-0	5-0		2: 1		4: 4		0: 1
Ventforet Kofu			0: 2		1: 1			2-0	1-0	0: 3			0: 1	0: 2				1: 1
Vissel Kobe		0: 2			0: 1				0: 1			1: 2		1: 1	0: 1	4: 1		1: 1
Yokohama F. Marinos	1-0		1: 1	0: 3		1: 3			2-0	1-0	1: 2		3-0		1: 1
	Status: End of the half series

List of goalscorers

If the number of hits is the same, the players are sorted alphabetically.

Pl.	player	team	Gates
01.	Takashi Usami	Gamba Osaka	13
02.	Yōhei Toyoda	Sagan Tosu	12
03.	Yoshito Ōkubo	Kawasaki Frontale	11
04th	Yoshinori Muto	FC Tokyo	10
05.	Renato	Kawasaki Frontale	8th
	Yūki Mutō	Urawa Red Diamonds	8th
07th	Shinzō Kōroki	Urawa Red Diamonds	7th
	Genki Ōmae	Shimizu S-Pulse	7th
	Rafael Silva	Albirex Niigata	7th
	Hisato Sato	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	7th
11.	Douglas	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	6th
	Tsukasa Umesaki	Urawa Red Diamonds	6th
13.	10 players		5
Status: End of the half series

2nd half series

table

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	17th	13	1	3	044:140	+30	40
2.	Kashima Antlers	17th	12	1	4th	030:160	+14	37
3.	Gamba Osaka	17th	9	4th	4th	032:240	+8	31
4th	Urawa Red Diamonds	17th	9	4th	4th	030:230	+7	31
5.	Yokohama F. Marinos	17th	8th	5	4th	024:150	+9	29
6th	FC Tokyo	17th	8th	4th	5	021:150	+6	28
7th	Kawasaki Frontale	17th	8th	3	6th	030:220	+8	27
8th.	Kashiwa Reysol	17th	8th	3	6th	024:180	+6	27
9.	Shonan Bellmare	17th	7th	5	5	020:200	± 0	26th
10.	Nagoya Grampus	17th	7th	3	7th	026:300	−4	24
11.	Albirex Niigata	17th	5	5	7th	021:250	−4	20th
12.	Sagan Tosu	17th	4th	8th	5	015:220	−7	20th
13.	Vissel Kobe	17th	6th	1	10	027:300	−3	19th
14th	Ventforet Kofu	17th	4th	5	8th	014:210	−7	17th
15th	Matsumoto Yamaga FC	17th	3	4th	10	013:280	−15	13
16.	Vegalta Sendai	17th	3	3	11	017:280	−11	12
17th	Shimizu S-Pulse	17th	2	6th	9	015:330	−18	12
18th	Montedio Yamagata	17th	1	7th	9	010:290	−19	10
Status: End of the half series

After the end of the semi-series:
	Qualification for the championship tournament : Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Crosstab

The cross table shows the results of all games in the semi-series. The home team is listed in the left column, the visiting team in the top row.

2nd half series
Albirex Niigata			2: 2	2: 3		1: 2	2-0			1-0	0: 2		0: 2	1: 2				1: 1
FC Tokyo	3: 1		2: 1				1-0	0-0		0-0			1: 2	3: 4	3: 1		3-0
Gamba Osaka					3: 1			0: 2		1: 1	4-0	1-0	1-0	2: 1		2: 1		2: 2
Kashima Antlers		2: 1	1: 2		3: 2			3-0	1-0			0-0		1: 2	3: 2			2-0
Kashiwa Reysol	1: 1	0: 1				1-0	2-0	0-0	3: 1	2: 3						2: 2	2-0
Kawasaki Frontale		2-0	5: 3	1: 3				0-0	6: 1			3: 2			1-0			0: 1
Matsumoto Yamaga FC			1: 1	2-0		1: 3		2: 2	0: 1	1: 2		1-0		1: 2
Montedio Yamagata	1: 3								0: 3	1: 3	1: 3	1: 2		0-0	1: 1	0: 1
Nagoya Grampus	4: 2	0-0	3: 2											2: 1	0: 1	4: 2	2-0	0: 3
Sagan Tosu				0: 3		1: 1			0-0			0-0	1: 1		1-0	0: 1		1: 2
Sanfrecce Hiroshima		0: 1		0: 1	0: 3	2: 1	6-0		5: 2	0-0			5-0					2-0
Shimizu S-Pulse	1: 1	1: 1			0: 3				2: 2		1: 5		1: 2	1: 4	0: 1		0: 5
Shonan Bellmare				2: 1	3-0	2: 1	1: 1	0: 1	2: 1							0: 2		1: 1
Urawa Red Diamonds					1-0	1: 1				1: 1	1: 2		1-0		3: 1	1: 1	5: 2
Vegalta Sendai	0: 1		1: 3		0: 1		3: 1				3: 4		1: 1				1: 2	1: 3
Ventforet Kofu	0-0	0: 1		0: 1		1: 3	0: 1				0: 2	2: 2			0-0		1-0
Vissel Kobe	1: 2		1: 2	0: 2		2-0	2: 1	3: 1		7: 1	0: 4		1: 1
Yokohama F. Marinos		1-0			0: 1		0-0	1: 1				1: 2		4-0		2-0	2: 1
	Status: End of the half series

List of goalscorers

If the number of hits is the same, the players are sorted alphabetically.

Pl.	player	team	Gates
01.	Douglas	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	15th
02.	Yoshito Ōkubo	Kawasaki Frontale	12
03.	Cristiano	Kashiwa Reysol	10
04th	Patric	Gamba Osaka	8th
	Kazuma Watanabe	Vissel Kobe	8th
06th	Hiroshi Ibusuki	Albirex Niigata	7th
07th	Baré	Ventforet Kofu	6th
	Kengo Kawamata	Nagoya Grampus	5
	Ramon Lopes	Vegalta Sendai	6th
	Ryoichi Maeda	FC Tokyo	6th
	Manabu Saitō	Yokohama F. Marinos	5
	Takashi Usami	Gamba Osaka	6th
Status: End of the half series

Whole season

table

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	34	23	5	6th	073:300	+43	74
2.	Urawa Red Diamonds	34	21st	9	4th	069:400	+29	72
3.	Gamba Osaka (M, P)	34	18th	9	7th	056:370	+19	63
4th	FC Tokyo	34	19th	6th	9	045:330	+12	63
5.	Kashima Antlers	34	18th	5	11	057:410	+16	59
6th	Kawasaki Frontale	34	17th	6th	11	062:480	+14	57
7th	Yokohama F. Marinos	34	15th	10	9	045:320	+13	55
8th.	Shonan Bellmare (N)	34	13	9	12	040:440	−4	48
9.	Nagoya Grampus	34	13	7th	14th	044:480	−4	46
10.	Kashiwa Reysol	34	12	9	13	046:430	+3	45
11.	Sagan Tosu	34	9	13	12	037:540	−17	40
12.	Vissel Kobe	34	10	8th	16	044:490	−5	38
13.	Ventforet Kofu	34	10	7th	17th	026:430	−17	37
14th	Vegalta Sendai	34	9	8th	17th	044:480	−4	35
15th	Albirex Niigata	34	8th	10	16	041:580	−17	34
16.	Matsumoto Yamaga FC (N)	34	7th	7th	20th	030:540	−24	28
17th	Shimizu S-Pulse	34	5	10	19th	037:650	−28	25th
18th	Montedio Yamagata (N)	34	4th	12	18th	024:530	−29	24
Status: end of the season

At the end of the 2015 season:
	Qualification for the final of the championship tournament and participation in the AFC Champions League 2016
	Qualification for the championship tournament and participation in the AFC Champions League 2016
	Qualification for the championship tournament and participation in the play-offs for the AFC Champions League 2016
	Japanese cup winner and participation in the AFC Champions League 2016
	Relegated to the J.League Division 2 in 2016
At the end of the 2014 season:
(M)	Japanese champion 2014 : Gamba Osaka
(P)	Japanese Cup Winner 2014: Gamba Osaka
(N)	Newcomers from J.League Division 2 2014 : Shonan Bellmare, Matsumoto Yamaga FC and Montedio Yamagata

List of goalscorers

If the number of hits is the same, the players are sorted alphabetically.

Pl.	player	team	Gates
01.	Yoshito Ōkubo	Kawasaki Frontale	23
02.	Douglas	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	21st
03.	Takashi Usami	Gamba Osaka	19th
04th	Yōhei Toyoda	Sagan Tosu	16
05.	Cristiano	Kashiwa Reysol	14th
06th	Yūki Mutō	Urawa Red Diamonds	13
07th	Shinzō Kōroki	Urawa Red Diamonds	12
	Patric	Gamba Osaka	12
	Hisato Sato	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	12
10.	Genki Ōmae	Shimizu S-Pulse	11
Status: end of the season

Championship tournament

November 25th was scheduled for the first round, followed by the semi-final on November 28th. The two finals were set for December 2nd and 5th.

As the best club in the overall table, Sanfrecce Hiroshima qualified for the finals of the championship tournament. In addition, the table runner-up Urawa Red Diamonds and the table third place Gamba Osaka for the tournament. Since both Urawa as the best club in the first half of the season and Hiroshima as the best club in the second half of the season were already qualified by the overall table, no other clubs took part in the championship tournament, so the first round was omitted.

Semifinals

The exciting game was only decided shortly before the end of extra time after a corner kick from defender Hiroki Fujiharu.

pairing	Urawa Red Diamonds - Gamba Osaka
Result	1: 3 n.V. (1: 1, 1: 1, 0: 0)
date	November 28, 2015 14:00 UTC + 9
Stadion	Saitama Stadium 2002 , Saitama , Saitama 40,696 spectators
referee	Hajime Matsuo
Gates	0: 1 Yasuyuki Konno (47th), 1: 1 Zlatan Ljubijankić (72nd), Hiroki Fujiharu (117th), Patric (120th + 1)

final

After the semi-final first leg, the final first leg turned into an exciting affair, in which Gamba Osaka was left behind despite their superiority. Ultimately, two inconsistencies in stoppage time cost the team from Osaka prefecture the victory.

pairing	Gamba Osaka - Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Result	2: 3
date	December 2, 2015 7:30 p.m. UTC + 9
Stadion	Osaka Expo '70 Stadium , Suita , Osaka 17,844 spectators
referee	Kenji Ōgiya
Gates	1: 0 Shun Nagasawa (60th), 1: 1 Douglas (80th), 2: 1 Yasuyuki Konno (81st), 2: 2 Shō Sasaki (90th + 1), 2: 3 Yoshifumi Kashiwa (90th + 6)

The events in stoppage time of the first leg changed the course of the final significantly in favor of Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who could tackle the second leg in front of their own audience instead of being behind with the advantage of one goal ahead; the three away goals also meant that Gamba had to score at least two goals to win the series after all. After a Konno goal in the middle of the first half, hope came up again for the guests, but Takuma Asano destroyed it a quarter of an hour before the end. For the team from Hiroshima it was the third championship title in four years after 2012 and 2013 .

pairing	Sanfrecce Hiroshima - Gamba Osaka
Result	1: 1
date	December 5, 2015 7:30 p.m. UTC + 9
Stadion	Hiroshima Big Arch , Hiroshima , Hiroshima 36,609 spectators
referee	Yūichi Nishimura
Gates	0: 1 Yasuyuki Konno (27th), 1: 1 Takuma Asano (76th)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Back to the future: The J. League Two-Stage is here, and it's welcome . January 2, 2015. Accessed July 12, 2016.
2. ↑ J.League Official Site. 2015 J. League Schedule. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 1, 2014 ; accessed on January 16, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Nokel's 2015 J. League Guide. 2015 J. League Schedule. Retrieved June 12, 2015 . 
4. ↑ J.League (Japanese)
5. ↑ Soccerway: J.League, 1st Stage, Topscorer
6. ↑ Soccerway: J.League, 2nd phase, top scorer
7. ↑ J.League Data Site: Goal Scorers J.League Division 1 2015
8. ↑ 命 拾 い を し た 「い ま」 、 勝 機 を 見 出 し た Ｇ 大阪. In: jleague.jp. J.League, accessed November 7, 2016 (Japanese). 
9. ↑ 広 島 が 敵 地 で 劇 的 な 逆 転 勝利 、 Ｇ 大阪 は 悔 や ま れ る 結果 に。 In: jleague.jp. J.League, accessed November 7, 2016 (Japanese). 
10. ↑ 若 き ス ト ラ イ カ ー が 躍動！ 広 島 が 2 年 ぶ り 3 度 目 の 戴 冠. In: jleague.jp. J.League, accessed November 7, 2016 (Japanese). 

Web links

• J.League Data Site - Official tables, results and statistics of the J.League (English)