J2 League is always the fun side of the J. League. It’s the place where “Chaos and Energy” version of the league becomes reality. For the fifth year in a row, J. League Regista assigned its awards. To do that, we summed up a small panel to pick the possible options, then saw the votes coming through polls by our readers and followers:
It’s been a strange J2 year, because relegation got wrapped up pretty quickly – with three teams clearly struggling -, while the promotion seemed already decided, but Yokohama FC did their best to prolong the struggle as much as possible. Furthermore, J2 League finally took part into the J.League Cup. But let’s go through the awards as voted from the community!
Best Team | V-Varen Nagasaki (63.2%)
It’s such a good moment for them. Of course, they’re gonna start the playoffs with the clear ambition of winning them, but now V-Varen Nagasaki are enjoying a wonderful moment – new stadium mid-season, a fun squad to watch, a solid head coach guiding them. They’ve done practically everything right – and it’s a bummer that Juanma Delgado got injured, otherwise the rough patch of results encountered in the Summer would have been different.
To think that, between June and July, they were even first on the table. Then something cracked under the pressure, and the distance from the Top 2 became too much to be filled out (six games winless streak between August and September). They were the best team for away performances (35 points in 19 games, like Yokohama FC), but they drop too many points at home. They still have a shot, though.
Flop Team | Oita Trinita (45%)
Honestly, from the writer’s side, this is a huge disappointment. After a few marvellous years, a reset was needed… but it didn’t feel right. Tomohiro Katanosaka, the prophet of the biggest Oita’s successes, was back at the beginning of the season, and many thought this was going to be a way to restart all over again. But we quickly realised that the human material wasn’t there.
Oita never got to the top-half of the table, and there’s a data that says everything – they went down on the scoreline 19 times this season, and they got only one win and six points out of that balance. To make a comparison with a club that even finished behind them on the table, Ehime FC went down 25 times and got 15 points out of those games. They used 34 players, but rarely found the right line-up. And the top-scorer this season was Shun Nagasawa – age 36, 6 goals.
MVP | Hiiro Komori, JEF United Chiba (42.9%)
We don’t think that’s the last time we’re going talk about him… last year, he didn’t win the “Best Rookie” award just because Yosuke Goto from Júbilo Iwata was even better than him (and he’s proving that in Europe with the reserves of Anderlecht). But confirming himself was even a harder sell for Komori – we talked in a special piece here what makes him an outlier and why he should move away from JEF United Chiba.
Best Goalkeeper | Svend Brodersen, Fagiano Okayama (63.2%)
Well, well – if it isn’t the German keeper who came through in the Tokyo Olympics for the national team and then decided to stay. Sometimes it can happen that a foreign player in Japan has a good run with a certain team, then the squad decides to let him go, and he’s not performing anymore, forcing a return towards his country. Not for Svend Brodersen, though – not at all.
Yokohama FC let him go after a 2023 in which he wasn’t used that much. But Brodersen learned the language (very good from him), and opted for another gig in J2, this time with Fagiano Okayama. The squad led by head coach Takashi Kiyama proved to be a solid J2 club, and with Brodersen they reached the play-offs for the second time in their history. Furthermore, Brodersen kept 20 clean sheets in this season – most of anyone else.
MIP | Kaina Tanimura, Iwaki FC (76.5%)
Iwaki FC were into the “Top Team” row of nominated teams, but didn’t make it. Nevertheless, it’s impressive what they’ve done this year – even more than 2023. They got a ninth place, they racked up 54 points, they came way closer to the playoffs (-7) than the last relegation spot (+20). They were in play-offs contention until September, and they found a talisman representing all that: Kaina Tanimura.
Iwaki FC lost Ryo Arita last Winter, he moved to Yamagata – and didn’t leave a good mark. Tanimura, instead, got sometimes the captain’s armband, played in several roles, and improved again his numbers. He got 7 goals and 4 assists in 2023 – which turned into 18 goals and 6 assists in 2024. He’s been there with Iwaki FC through JFL, J3, and J2 – normally we would say he’s looking good for a J1 gig, but he could decide to stay.
Best Rookie | Harumi Minamino, Tochigi SC (40%)
Gamba Osaka are full of talent and choices from their youth ranks, and yet, they’ve someone else shining away from the club. Harumi Minamino had a decent season last year with Tegevajaro Miyazaki in 2023, racking up 10 goals and four assist in a struggling side of the J3 League. When he got the call for another loan, this time in J2, he took it – and we can add he’s been one of the few positives of Tochigi SC.
Minamino suffered a bit the level-up of competitiveness, plus the struggles that Tochigi went through the whole 2024 season, but nevertheless got 7 goals and 2 assists out of the second-worst attack of the J2 League. Of course, he won’t stay in J3 – but you have to wonder if another season in the second tier could help him, this time for a higher outlet (Sagan? JEF?). In the end, he’s still 20 years old.
Best Foreign Player (95%) + Best Signing (72.7%) | Matheus Jesus, V-Varen Nagasaki
It’s not something new to see a great contingent of Brazilian players in Nagasaki. The club had this tradition in the last years, featuring very solid players. And Matheus Jesus made no difference – actually, he probably took it up a notch in terms of performances in J2. If you look at the career of the 27 years-old midfielder, it’s been a long one – full of loans, travels between Brazil and Portugal, plus a forgettable past stint in Japan.
But if those six months with Gamba Osaka didn’t leave any mark, it’s very different that result that Nagasaki got in return. Theoretically Matheus Jesus shouldn’t have been in the “Best Signing” category – he indeed joined V-Varen in August 2023 – but the REAL impact came this year. 18 goals, almost the same amount of the rest he scored in his entire career (!), and the “Best Foreign Player” title was a must (he won by a landslide).
Best Wish | Akito Fukumori, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo » Yokohama FC (50%)
It’s a strange award for Akito Fukumori, who was also featuring in the “MVP” nominations. His impact has been tremendous – he provided 15 assists, he proved that his left-footed deliveries are still very effective, and they proved to be crucial for Yokohama FC in the run towards promotion. But… there’s a doubt. We’re talking about wishes here, and despite we’re talking of one of our favourite J.Leaguers, there’s something clear.
The last 12-18 months of Fukumori in Sapporo were hard to watch – you could see that, despite being in the three CBs-line-up, he didn’t have the pace anymore for J1. If he stays in Yokohama, he might go through the same problem – and we don’t see how an older Fukumori could avoid that. So that’s the dilemma – try another J1 year in a different environment, or go back to Sapporo, where he could be an excellent resource for a probable J2 season?
Best Goal | Daiki Watari, Tokushima Vortis @ Ehime FC – MD30 (45.5%)
Probably there were better goals who won in this category throughout the years, but nevertheless that’s a good news for one of the strongest strikers J2 ever witnessed. Daiki Watari had his time in J1 with Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Oita Trinita, and Avispa Fukuoka, but he’s been always clearly more a forward for the second tier. The great seasons with Giravanz Kitakyushu and Tokushima Vortis in the mid-2010s stated that.
After just 9 goals in 100 J1 matches, Watari came back to Tokushima last Winter. And it was a needed add, given how Vortis lost Kaito Mori this Winter. Watari didn’t score thousands of goals, but provided some experience to turn the season around – Vortis started badly, then finished 8th. The goal above against Ehime FC encapsulated probably his season – full of possible sparks from a veteran striker.
Best Manager | Tadahiro Akiba & Takahiro Shimotaira (40.9%)
The award is shared, but expectations were wildly different. After losing the return to J1 at the last kick of the play-offs final, Shimizu S-Pulse were mandatorily expected to run for a direct promotion. But they needed a stable hand for that, and head coach Tadahiro Akiba proved to be just that. Like we wrote in the pre-season, S-Pulse “could be a generational team – only Akiba will tell if time will make him scream again “This is football”. All kept as a promise.
It’s a different matter for Takahiro Shimotaira – the most ripped already-in-his-50s head coach I’ve ever seen. V-Varen Nagasaki were granted to be a protagonist, but to come this close to the Top 2… not necessarily. His predecessor Fábio Carille failed with more at hand, but Shimotaira – who has already won promotion with Yokohama FC in 2019 – knew better. Now it’s up to him to make the final step.
And that’s a wrap for the Regista Awards in 2024 around the J2 League. J3 and J1 will come later, and we apologise if only two pieces came out this time around the Awards, but… not enough strong points, plus a couple were already touched in the last years. Surely we’ll have more for the next rounds!
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