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Yamazaki Nabisco Cup holders Kashima Antlers have been drawn in Group A for the 2016 edition of the competition. The J.League on Thursday announced the group stage schedule for the tournament, with FC Tokyo temporarily slotted into Group A pending their AFC Champions League qualifying play-off result. The group stage will take place between March 23 a…

The J.League on Thursday released its fixture schedule for the 2016 MEIJI YASUDA J1 League season. The First Stage’s third round will feature an emotional encounter between Vegalta Sendai and Kashima Antlers, which will be played just one day after the fifth anniversary of the March 11 Earthquake. Meanwhile, fans can look forward to the return o…

Vissel Kobe on Wednesday announced the team’s squad numbers for the 2016 MEIJI YASUDA J1 League season. Newly-arrived defender Yudai Tanaka will wear the No. 2 shirt, while the No. 10 formerly worn by departed midfielder Ryota Morioka has been left vacant.  Former Sagan Tosu midfielder Naoyuki Fujita has been assigned No. 14, while South Ko…

Sanfrecce Hiroshima on Wednesday announced the full transfer of midfielder Kota Sameshima to MEIJI YASUDA J3 League side Fujieda MYFC. The 23-year-old has spent the last two seasons on loan at AC Nagano Parceiro, where he made a total of four league appearances.  Former Japan U-17 international Sameshima, who won the 2012 MEIJI YASUDA J1 League t…

Yokohama F. Marinos on Tuesday confirmed that star midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura will continue to serve as the team’s captain in 2016. The former Celtic star will be joined by vice captains Yuji Nakazawa, Yuzo Kurihara, Shingo Hyodo and Hiroki Iikura. Nakamura has worn the armband since 2011 and is now embarking on his sixth season at the club, b…

YSCC Yokohama on Monday announced former Yokohama F.Marinos boss Yasuhiro Higuchi as the club’s new manager. The 54-year-old has managed a number of J.League clubs including F. Marinos, with whom he captured the 2013 Emperor’s Cup.  He began the 2015 MEIJI YASUDA J1 League season with Ventforet Kofu, before resigning over poor results…

Japan’s Under-23 team set up a dream final against South Korea at the 2016 AFC Under-23 Championship when they defeated Iraq 2-1 on Tuesday in their semi-final. Makoto Teguramori’s team came out swinging in the first half, with Albirex Niigata’s Musashi Suzuki setting up Yuya Kubo’s opening goal in the 26th minute. However, Ira…

FC Tokyo on Tuesday announced that they will send coaches from their football and volleyball clubs to Nepal in cooperation with the ‘Sport For Tomorrow’ initiative. Staff will hold classes in football and volleyball, along with courses in disaster prevention training, at Kathmandu-area elementary schools between February 1 and 7. The initi…

Attendees to Gamba Osaka matches will once again be able to take advantage of the “Osaka Monorail Gamba Osaka One Day Ticket.” The new concession announcement marks the continuation of the tie-up between the club and Osaka Monorail. The 600 yen pass  allows fans with a valid match ticket to board and disembark freely from any Osaka Mo…

Gamba Osaka on Monday announced brisk sales of tickets for the team’s upcoming Panasonic Cup pre-season match against Nagoya Grampus. The February 14 match will be the curtain-raiser for the impressive Suita City Football Stadium, the club’s new football-specific home ground. After one day of public sales, only a limited amount of seats ar…

Shonan Bellmare on Monday announced that Sanei Architecture Planning Co. Ltd. have become the largest holder of shares in the club. At an extraordinary meeting of stockholders on January 22, Sanei acquired 2,570 shares in the club, bringing their total to 6,800 in a move intended to stabilise Bellmare’s administrative position. Company president…

The Japan Football Association revealed the list of participants for the Kirin Cup 2016, which will take place on June 3 and 7 in Nagoya and Osaka. The Japan national team will host Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Denmark in the tournament, which is to be contested by four teams for the first time. The first round will take place on June 3 at T…

Jubilo Iwata handily defeated Thailand’s Police United on Saturday in a pre-season friendly at their home ground of Yamaha Stadium. The 7-0 shutout featured goals by Kota Ueda, Takafumi Shimizu, Takuya Matsuura, Ryoma Ishida, Nagisa Sakurauchi, Ryu Olivier Iwamoto and Yasuhito Morishima. Yamaha, who are both the parent company of Jubilo and the …

The J.League has announced the contents of its upcoming 2016 Rookie Symposium, which will take place between February 1 and 3. The event, which will be attended by players joining J.League clubs out of high school or university, is intended to cover a wide range of issues and topics relevant to their playing careers. In addition to training in media i…

Youth midfielder Keiya Shiihashi will miss the start of the MEIJI YASUDA J1 League season with an ankle injury, his club Vegalta Sendai announced on Sunday. The 18-year-old was diagnosed with a nonunion, or failure to heal following a bone fracture, of his right ankle on Friday at a Sendai-area hospital. Shiihashi, who joined the club after graduating…

Jubilo Iwata on Sunday announced the loan of midfielder Misaki Uemura to Shikoku League side FC Imabari. The 24-year-old has made just one league appearance for the club since joining in 2014. “Your kind support has helped me throughout the last two years,” Uemura said in a message to supporters.  “In a way I feel sorry (that…

Teams from across all three J.League divisions will contest the second edition of the J.League/SkaPa! New Year Cup which kicks off this Sunday. The pre-season tournament, co-sponsored by J.League official domestic broadcaster SkyPerfecTV, features 12 teams spread across three prefectures in local round-robin competitions. All three rounds will include…

Daigo Watanabe has waved goodbye to newly-promoted Omiya Ardija following his transfer to K-League Challenge side Busan IPark. The 31-year-old made 34 appearances in their 2015 MEIJI YASUDA J2 League-winning campaign, scoring two goals for the NACK5 Stadium residents. Watanabe will not feature for his team back in Japan’s top-flight given his tr…

Kashima Antlers on Friday announced that they will host prefectural neighbours Mito Hollyhock at Ibaraki Football Festival 2016. Tickets to the event on February 21 at Kashima Stadium range between 1,000 and 3,000 yen. Meanwhile, free admission will be offered to Japan Football Association-registered players, coaches, referees, and instructors. Ant…

The 2016 FUJI XEROX SUPER CUP will again be preceded by the J.League Mascot Election, with fans voting on the league’s most popular club mascot. Voting will take place on the official J.League website as well as on Twitter between January 26 and February 12, with the winner awarded the central position in the yearly mascot group photo. An additi…