J.League History Quiz | Launch, Structure and Local Culture, 1993–2024

The league's first goal was Maier's, but the opening match was won by Yokohama Marinos. Everton equalized after the break and Ramón Díaz got the winner for a 2-1 victory. An individual first and the team result have to be understood separately.

Kashima won the first stage (the Suntory Series) and Verdy Kawasaki the second (the NICOS Series). Verdy Kawasaki won the championship series between them 3-1 on aggregate to become the first annual champions. Under that format, winning a stage alone did not settle the title.

The two-division system of J1 and J2 began in 1999. At the 1993 kick-off there was no multi-category structure of the present kind, and J3 did not launch until 2014. J2 and J3 therefore did not come into existence at the same time.

Kashima's domestic treble comprised the J.League, the J.League Cup and the Emperor's Cup. It did not include an international competition, nor did it count the two stages and the annual title as separate competitions. What matters is winning different major domestic competitions in the same season.

Gamba's win added three points and took them past Cerezo, who managed only one from the draw, on the final day. It was not a head-to-head between the two but a change of order produced by results at separate venues. 2005 was also the first year of a single-season format, and it was in those annual standings that Gamba won their first title.

Kashiwa returned to J1 by winning J2 in 2010 and, in 2011, became the first club to win J1 in their first season after promotion. They did not win J1 while in J2, nor did promotion and the J1 title come in the same season. The record is of titles in two categories in consecutive seasons.

J3 was not a renaming of J1 or J2 but a new third category launched in 2014. It expanded the two-division system of J1 and J2, begun in 1999, into a three-tier structure. Nor did it convert a cup competition into a league.

The clubs finished level on 72 points, but Kawasaki's goal difference was 17 better, giving them their first title. Neither the previous season's position nor a draw of lots was used. Kashima had more wins, but goal difference is what placed Kawasaki above them.

Following their first title in 2023, Kobe beat Shonan on the final day of 2024 to retain J1. They also won the Emperor's Cup in 2024, making it a domestic double of the league and the Emperor's Cup. The second trophy was not the J.League Cup.

The Hundred Year Vision is not confined to staging professional football. It aims, with locally rooted clubs as the vehicle, to grow an environment and a culture in which sport can be enjoyed across ages and disciplines. These sessions fit that ideal on both counts: multiple sports and community participation.