The Market Report – 2026-27 J2 League

If you’re an avid follower of the J.League-sphere or a reader of J. League Regista, you know very well how the “The Market Report” is a fixed column for the pre-season. There are though two particular features we will have this time around: a) the main transfer market window happened in the Summer, while before it used to be just a repair session; b) we’re having these articles published in the beginning of August, so something else might happen outside of this list.

These articles have analysed all the transfers happened in this division until August 3rd, 2026 – and that’s how we’re gonna go forward. I have to admit the squads have done most of the job already in the Winter, giving their new signings time to adapt to the new realities throughout the transition tournament in the spring, the “100-Year Vision League”. And for some of them, that move worked, settling in pretty well.

But now we’re in “real deal” territory, and the first season-ever with a European calendar is about to start. It’s a major change for Japanese football, very much discussed, and approved a couple of years ago. It started as well in a strange year, with the 2026 FIFA World Cup to provide a fruitful break, plus the 2027 AFC Asian Cup in sight, giving another help to the J.League in terms of managing the newly-installed calendar.

I think the J2 League has been the most interesting division to watch in terms of market progress. A lot has changed, just almost as much as in the Winter. And to think we had to leave out some excellent names out of this Top 10 because of their performances in the HYVL… for example, Ren Asakura would have been featured if his final six months with Fuijeda MYFC were not so-and-so, before joining Vegalta Sendai.

10. Takaya Numata | Machida Zelvia » Fujieda MYFC

Incredible rollercoaster of a career. Just four years ago, Takaya Numata debuted in the second division with Renofa Yamaguchi. He had a magistral campaign (41 caps, seven goals), calling up on him the attention of Machida Zelvia, back then still in J2. The move didn’t work out, especially when Zelvia reached the top-flight, and Numata ended up getting loan to Kagoshima United FC for six months in 2024.

Once back to Tokyo, Numata remained out of the rotations, playing just once in the last six months. Basically, it was inevitable to see him leave. But the choice of Fujieda MYFC might be a blessing in disguise, because the club showed a certain style of football which might fit Numata’s characteristics. Furthemore, Fujieda lost Asakura, and they don’t have too many players on the left flank – it could be a match made in heaven.

9. Hiroki Abe & Takuhiro Nakai | Urawa Red Diamonds & CD Leganès B (SPA) » FC Imabari

It’s a double surprise, and probably it’s a needed one. The “100-Year Vision League” saw FC Imabari as one of the most disappointing teams, given the premises. Their first J2 season was a pretty decent one, and they lost only Shuta Sasa to Urawa Red Diamonds in the Summer. Nonetheless, the last six months should have given chills to the fans’ spine, and the loss of Marcus Vinicius was vehemently felt. That’s why two jokers might have a use here.

Hiroki Abe’s career deserves a sociological treaty or case study: I don’t get what happened in these years between his rise at Kashima Antlers and the fact he played 142 minutes in the last four years of his career… injuries are not enough to explain this. Different case for Takuhiro Nakai, who was hyped a lot given his stint at Real Madrid in the B-team, but then ended up not playing even at the fourth level of Spanish football. They both need a reset, just like FC Imabari.

8. Wataru Iwashita | Roasso Kumamoto » Iwaki FC

This is the kind of signing that ends up working pretty well for Iwaki FC. Grown up through the youth ranks of Kashiwa Reysol, Wataru Iwashita never made into the first team, despite a first loan to J3 showed some potential. Once it was clear that he was never gonna make it at Reysol, Iwashita left to join permanently Roasso Kumamoto, where he became captain and a key-player, before getting relegated last season.

Iwashita couldn’t just stay in the third tier, and Iwaki FC scooped him up… and he’s also the only main acquisition from the club. Nonetheless, he could an interesting tool to use against defences in the second division, and Iwaki has this “scouting reputation” of finding potential in players down the Japanese football ladder.

7. Kaiga Murakoshi | Matsumoto Yamaga » Tegevajaro Miyazaki

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting this. I mean, Kaiga Murakoshi has been one of the few good notes for Matsumoto Yamaga in the years spent in the third tier. So much so that the 24-year-old winger is actually the fourth all-time for goals scored with the club (30, all in J3). But the loss of one of the few players Yamaga had actually tells us a lot about their situation, and a bit more about where currently Tegevajaro Miyazaki stand.

Because the club didn’t just get promoted from J3 – which was already a miracle – and kept a super high level in the “100-Year Vision League”, winning their group with a huge margin and without captain Keigo Hashimoto. Now they’ve added another offensive piece to the table. It’s not gonna be Murakoshi who sprints Miyazaki towards an improbable promotion run to the top-flight, but it’s another sign that Tegevajaro are damn serious about this.

6. Daiki Sato | Blaublitz Akita » Júbilo Iwata

There are three strange things about Júbilo Iwata and what they’ve been through in the last 8-9 months: a) their Summer transfer window could have seen other players ending up on this list; b) their “100-Year Vision League” was abysmal, to the point that fans started booing the players and the stands looked pretty empty; c) with great surprise, after leading local rivals Shimizu S-Pulse back to J1 and a stint as an assistant coach at Vissel Kobe… Tadahiro Akiba is back in the dugout. With Júbilo.

These are already ingredients to watch closely what Iwata will do, but I think their most low-key acquisition might be the most interesting one: Daiki Sato joined from Blaubtliz Akita after two solid seasons there, and to fill up the shoes of departing Gustavo Silva (who surprisingly wasn’t kept around despite the fans wanted so). He might be a silent bargain for an environment which needs a turnaround.

5. Kai Chidi Kitamura | Fujieda MYFC » Tokushima Vortis

Well, normally Kai Chidi Kitamura by himself wouldn’t probably be worth a fifth spot in this special ranking. But you have to put a few elements together: a) Tokushima Vortis have lost two head coaches in the space of six months, but they kept their style intact; b) Vortis lost as well Hayate Tanaka to FC Tokyo and no one seemed capable of replacing him in the last six months (three different goalkeepers in the HYVL); c) Kitamura fell out of favour at Fujieda MYFC.

A miniature version of what Zion Suzuki is right now, Kitamura joined Tokushima Vortis at the right time. He hasn’t been exactly a shot-stopper, but rather a keeper capable of building up the play from behind. And Vortis just hired former Kochi United SC head coach, Takafumi Yoshimoto, who made Kochi look like a juggernaut in the “100-Year Vision League” (including defeating Tokushima). I’m very curious of how all of this will mix together.

4. Toshiki Takahashi | Shimizu S-Pulse » Sagan Tosu

There was probably too much uncertainty around the name of Toshiki Takahashi. Is he a J2 striker? Is he up for the task in J1? Does he need a quiet environment, or can he make it in front of a big crowd? It’s been three years since he left Roasso Kumamoto and those questions haven’t found yet a definitive answer. Takahashi didn’t make an impact with Urawa Red Diamonds; his loan in J2 to Yokohama FC was a bit disappointing, while his stint with Shimizu S-Pulse left something undone.

And while his performances at the Nihondaira showed potential (especially in 2025), S-Pulse didn’t retain him and Reds let him go. Next destination? A place where Takahashi could actually leave a mark – I’d say it’s his final chance for a certain level. In the last decade, only one striker scored 10+ goals at any league level with Sagan Tosu (Marcelo Ryan in 2024), and the club desperately needs someone capable of scoring goals up front.

3. Suphanat Mueanta & Carlinhos Junior | Burinam United (THA) & JEF United Chiba » RB Omiya Ardija

When one signing isn’t enough to push you over the hurdle… have two of them. Well, RB Omiya Ardija came out of the 2025 season with a scorching disappointment – the comeback loss against JEF United Chiba in the play-offs, where they were leading away in the semifinal 3-0 and then lost 4-3. I talked with them about the vibe for this season here, but definitely these two additions have a different meaning.

Carlinhos Junior hasn’t been able to replicate his J1 form, but in the second tier he’s a guarantee: 30 goals in 98 games are a good pace, and RBOA needed some goals upfront. Having Suphanat Mueanta joining from Burinam United, instead, has a double scope: bringing Red Bull closer to Thailand and pushing the J.League in that area, given how Thai players have been followed closely by the fans wherever they play. The list of his records is incredible.

2. Kazuki Dohana | Iwaki FC » Shonan Bellmare

There are signigs which put you above the rest. Shonan Bellmare are down to J2 for the first time in a while, and they looked a bit contrasting in the “100-Year Vision League”. But a move like the one bringing Kazuki Dohana to Kanagawa moves the needle towards a promotion run. Dohana was the captain at Iwaki FC, where he joined back in 2024 mid-season after some good performances for local rivals, Fukushima United FC.

Dohana has been silently growing his stocks as a commodity, and his last season was rock solid. I can see the midfielder taking over Shonan Bellmare as a sort of floor general, capable of playing both as a holding midfielder or centre-back. The squad isn’t getting any younger, and new head coach Tetsu Nagasawa needs that kind of leadership on the pitch. It’s not an accident that Dohana has been nominated indeed captain of the squad for this 2026-27 season.

1. Motohiko Nakajima | Cerezo Osaka » Vegalta Sendai

I wonder how many times Motohiko Nakajima had to take flights or trains to go back and forth between Osaka and Sendai. His whole career became just a major Groundhog Day, in which the winger leaves Cerezo Osaka with a loan move to Vegalta Sendai, in the hope of coming back and become a major player for the club he was raised by. This game went on for three seasons – plus another year on loan to Albirex Niigata, between 2021 and 2024.

After those four years, Nakajima probably expected to stay. He gathered enough experience at the J2 level to face a proper top-flight season. And indeed, under head coach Arthur Papas, the winger played tons of minutes: 36 league games in 2025, plus 19 more in the “100-Year Vision League”. At 27 years old, it seemed he finally reached his goal – becoming a key player for Cerezo Osaka, the club he always played for, since he was 17.

And then, a few days before Papas left Osaka for Saudi Arabia, in the run-up towards the 2026-27 season, Nakajima was let go, this time for good, to Vegalta Sendai. Honestly, it’s hard to imagine what happened. Nonetheless, for the class ’99, it’s probably destiny: he’s destined to bring Sendai back to J1, something he tried already his hand at, losing the play-offs final back in 2024. That season saw Nakajima scoring 13 goals in 38 games, plus a brace in the play-offs: he’s gonna do it again.