2017 J1 League

The 2017 J1 League (known as the Meiji Yasuda J1 League for sponsorship reasons) is the 25th season of the J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1993. The season began on 25 February 2017 and is scheduled to end on 2 December. Fixtures for the 2017 season were announced on 26 January 2017.

Kashima Antlers are the defending champions. Consadole Sapporo, Shimizu S-Pulse and Cerezo Osaka have entered as the three promoted teams from the 2016 J2 League.

Clubs
A total of 18 clubs will contest the league, including 15 sides from the 2016 season and three promoted from the 2016 J2 League. This will include the two top teams; Consadole Sapporo and Shimizu S-Pulse from the J2 League, and the winners of the play-offs; Cerezo Osaka.

The three promoted clubs replace Nagoya Grampus, Shonan Bellmare and Avispa Fukuoka. Former J1 League champion Nagoya Grampus were relegated to the J2 League for the first time in their history.

Top scorers
As of matches played on 22 April 2017.

Foreign players
The total number of foreign players is restricted to five per club. For matchday squad registration, a club can register up to four foreign players, but a maximum of three can be from outside the AFC. Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, and Qatar) are exempt from these club registration and matchday squad registration restrictions.