It’s been a long year for the J1 League – who didn’t see a change of title defenders, but saw a title fight going to the last match. Same for the relegation race, and the contention for continental spot. We’ve seen a great season, with some surprised and delusions. To recap that, we summed up a small panel to pick the possible options, then saw the votes coming through polls by our readers and followers:
But let’s go through the awards as voted from the community!
Best Team | Vissel Kobe (70.4%)
Was it really a surprise to see them winning back-to-back titles? To us, it kinda still does. For a long time, even under the push of Mr. Mikitani and Rakuten, Kobe have been a mess. Acquisitions without sense. A squad without structure. Changes at the helm. This has been Vissel for several years… until Takayuki Yoshida came along and granted some logic into certain choices.
The squad was longer than 2023, and surely winning the first title helped breaking the curse and managing expectations. At the same time, Sanfrecce Hiroshima definitely lost a chance to make a run, plus Machida Zelvia slowed down a lot. Having become a solid and expert team, Kobe have been able to take advantage of this – this is the second J1 title, but it won’t be the last (although a refresh of the team will be needed – it’s getting older).
Flop Team | Urawa Red Diamonds (84.6%)
We might be wrong, but we don’t remember such a drastic percentage in this category before. But it’s fair – we ourselves put Urawa as the candidate to win it all in 2024 in the #JPred tipping game. And we failed, massively – but we can be excused, because in Saitama following the long-term plan hasn’t been an option. Look at the managerial situation just to recap.
Urawa released Ricardo Rodríguez after the 2022 season, then took on Maciej Skorża and won the 2022 AFC Champions League. Then Skorza left to spend more time in Poland with his family, and Urawa chose Per-Mathias Høgmo. The head coach was dismissed in August, with Reds being seventh on the table… to call back Skorza and finish 12th. The squad is a mess of names – and we fear it might take more than just a year to sort this out.
MVP | Yoshinori Muto, Vissel Kobe (69.2%)
It hasn’t been even close in our polls and, we think, at the J.League Awards, where Muto won the MVP award. Read here how his figure transitioned from the “Golden Boy of Japanese football” to a senator capable of finding his way to shine.
Best Goalkeeper | Jun Ichimori, Gamba Osaka (59.3%)
Just like Muto, Ichimori deserved a space of his own – he’s been often underrated, and only in his 30s he got the space he deserved. Read here his journey from the depth of Japan Football League to a title-contender.
MIP | Ryo Germain, Júbilo Iwata (44.4%)
Shin Yamada from Kawasaki Frontale was another front-runner for this award, but evidently Ryo Germain conquered many readers on his unexpected run. To put it into perspective: the forward scored in this season 19 goals in J1 League, including three braces and a poker (!) at Kawasaki Frontale. Germain scored 39 league goals between J1 and J2 in HIS ENTIRE CAREER, so he basically he did 50% of his goals this year.
This was so sudden that even Blackburn Rovers momentarily looked into the chance of acquiring him. Instead, Germain stayed with Júbilo Iwata, and faced a relegation that seemed always a chance. Now it’s up to Germain a) to prove this wasn’t a fluke, b) to see if he’s gonna get another shot at J1. He’ll turn 30 in April – honestly we wouldn’t be surprised to see him float around in J2 after this.
Best Rookie | Kimito Nono, Kashima Antlers (80.0%)
Antlers had problems in the last years to get out good players out of their youth ranks or university picks in the last years. Some of them struggled – but Kimito Nono seemed to have ditched the hurdle. More J.League clubs looked into the prospect once he enrolled into the Kwansei Gakuin University, where he initially was fielded as a right midfielder, before being turned into a right back.
Antlers lost Keigo Tsunemoto (who joined Servette FC) in 2023, so they needed a new face in that role. Not only that – back then-head coach Daiki Iwamasa trusted Nono so much to start him in the opening match of the 2024 J1 League (a feat that didn’t happen since 1993, when Antlers debuted in the championship). And in the end, Nono entered even the J.League Best XI after 31 apps and 9 goals (!) – becoming the fourth rookie to do so in history.
Best Signing | Taisei Miyashiro, Kawasaki Frontale » Vissel Kobe (76.0%)
We talked about Miyashiro back in June and underlined the wiseness of his move – while Frontale lost out on someone they waited on for five seasons. In the end, Miyashiro was right and got a title and a Best XI spot in return.
Best Wish | Rafael Elias, Cruzeiro » Kyoto Sanga (48.0%)
The list of Brazilians who joined Sanga is VERY long – and most of these loans end up in a disappointment. But not the one of Rafael Elias, who joined Kyoto last Summer from Cruzeiro. It’s been a strange journey for Elias – who came out of Palmeiras’ youth ranks to go on loan multiple times in Série A, the Brazilian top-flight. Once he found a breakthrough in Série B with Ituano, he took the leap towards the UAE and Baniyas.
The adventure in Al-Shamkha didn’t work out, and he signed for Cruzeiro, where he wasn’t playing that much. Kyoto welcomed him when they were 19th on the table – and Elias scored 10 goals in the nine games after the debut in the J.League. He single-handedly brought Sanga to a safe 14th spot, and then Kyoto in the same spot – the club needs to bring him back right away just for the impact he had.
Best Foreign Player | Anderson Lopes, Yokohama F. Marinos (50.0%)
Although Lucas Fernandes in our opinion deserved a shot, Brazil takes another one home, and Anderson Lopes confirms his spot from 2023. This was probably a key-season for the Brazilian forward – he kept his production level up front despite Marinos had a terrible season. 24 goals in 37 matches are a good score – plus Lopes scored to all the top teams this year.
Furthermore, the no. 10 from the Marinos has another goal on sight – he’s very close to 100 goals (he stopped at 99 without scoring in the last match of the season). So we’ll definitely talk about him next season – if he stays and avoid another departure from Japan (which hasn’t worked already the first time he tried it). But Marinos will definitely need to pivot on his form to have a better season in 2025.
Best Goal | Thiago Santana, FC Tokyo v. Urawa Red Diamonds – MD6 (59.1%)
It wasn’t the only rainbow we saw on the pitch – Zahedi’s goal against Gamba Osaka was in the same bracket, but didn’t win. But Thiago Santana’s goal in Tokyo represented a bit the Urawa season in a nutshell – capable of surprises, but lacking the constancy to make it. Who’s been consistent, instead, has been Santana – capable again to match the double-digits of goals for his fourth Japanese season.
After 12 and 14 goals in his first two J1 seasons with S-Pulse, the Brazilian stayed with Shimizu to chase the promotion, failed in the play-offs final against Tokyo Verdy. He couldn’t stay a second year in the second division, and his 12 goals with Urawa didn’t bring the club up in the table, but at 31 years old, Santana seems a guarantee. He needs to improve on the distribution of these goals – he scored just twice between August and December.
Best Manager | Go Kuroda, Machida Zelvia & Takayuki Yoshida, Vissel Kobe (34.5 each%)
Two different coaches, two previous winners in different divisions and editions. Go Kuroda had the merit of launching Machida Zelvia into an improbable title run, which lasted to the final match. The J1 League isn’t new to newly-promoted team winning the title (e.g. Reysol 2011 & Gamba 2014), but it would have been even more incredible to see that happening with Zelvia, who nonetheless qualified to the 2025-26 AFC Champions League.
For Takayuki Yoshida, it’s a consecration. Already bringing Kobe from a mid-table team to AFC CL was a success, and the 2023 title wasn’t a fluke. But retaining a certain level is always the hardest part – and Yoshida managed to do this. You know how many managers won at least two J1 titles? Just eight – six Japanese and two Brazilians. Now Yoshida is in that bracket, and it’s a pretty privileged place to be into.
And that’s a wrap for the Regista Awards in 2024! We covered J2 League, J3 League, and now fully J1! This is a tradition that we kept going throughout the years and hopefully it’ll stay for a long time. Stay tuned for the next pieces!
