| Competition: | Japan Football League |
| Season: | 2022 |
| Dates: | 13 March – 20 November |
| Winners: | Nara Club |
| Promoted: | Nara Club FC Osaka |
| Relegated: | FC Kagura Shimane (withdrawn) |
| League Topscorer: | Hayato Asakawa (15 goals) |
| Matches: | 240 |
| Total Goals: | 597 |
| Highest Attendance: | 16,218 (Criacao Shinjuku vs Suzuka Point Getters; 9 October) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 39 (Honda Lock vs MIO Biwako Shiga; 11 May) |
| Average Attendance: | 1,126 |
| Prevseason: | 2021 |
| Nextseason: | 2023 |
| Updated: | 20 November 2022 |
The was the ninth season having a fourth-tier status in Japanese football, and the 24th season since the establishment of Japan Football League. The slogan for this season was "Enchant with a different play!"[1] The matches were mostly broadcast/streamed live at Japan Football League's channel.[2] The league's awards, not held since 2020 due to special measures regarding COVID-19, was held on 6 December 2022.[3]
Iwaki FC won the league for the first time in their history, after joining the league only two seasons ago. So, they were promoted and joined J3 for the 2022 season. Then, sixteen clubs featured in this season of Japan Football League. FC Kariya were relegated after losing the playoff against Criacao Shinjuku, who were duly promoted to the JFL after qualifying in the top two spots of the 45th Regional Play-off Series.[4] Honda Lock kept their stay at JFL, as despite having finished 16th last season, they won their playoff match against FC Ise-Shima to avoid relegation to the Regional Leagues.
As of November 2022, there were six teams eligible for promotion to the J3 League, as the only way teams from JFL can be promoted to the J3, is by having a license (the same applies for teams being promoted from J3 to J2, and from J2 to J1). Up from none to 2 teams could be promoted from the Japan Football League, or relegated to the Regional Leagues, depending on the circumstances.
The league is played under a round-robin format, with the 16 teams playing home-and-away matches against each other, playing in total 30 matches across the competition, starting from 13 March and ending on 20 November. [5] It features the usual point-earning format, with 3 points for winning, 1 for drawing, and no points for losing.
Regarding the breaks during the match, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the JFL continued to follow FIFA's recommendation of a maximum of 5 available substitutions, and 3 substitution windows per team in each match (excluding the half-time).[6] The teams are allowed a water break at each half of the matches regardless of the WBGT on the matchday. The decision to have or not to have a water break is up to whose teams are playing the match.[7]
The teams which possess promotion-enabler licenses are highlighted in green in the following table.
| Club Name | Home town | Stadium | Capacity | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo | AGF Field | 2,800 | Winners of KSL and 45th RPS | 100 Year Plan status. [8] J3 license application was declined by J.League. [9] | |
| Honda Miyakoda Soccer Stadium | 2,506 | JFL (2nd) | |||
| Hinata Athletic Stadium | 20,000 | JFL (16th) | |||
| Kōchi Haruno Athletic Stadium | 25,000 | JFL (13th) | 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders. | ||
| Okazaki Ryūhoku Stadium | 5,000 | JFL (14th) | |||
| Matsue Municipal Athletic Stadium | 24,000 | JFL (5th) | Renamed from "Matsue City FC" | ||
| Higashiōmi Nunobiki Green Stadium | 5,060 | JFL (12th) | 100 Year Plan status applicants | ||
| Rohto Field Nara | 30,600 | JFL (10th) | 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders | ||
| Higashiōsaka, Osaka | Hanazono Rugby Stadium 2nd Ground | 1,722 | JFL (7th) | 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders; renamed from "F.C. Osaka" | |
| Kakuhiro Group Athletic Stadium | 20,809 | JFL (9th) | 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders | ||
| Miyagi Seikyō Megumino Soccer Stadium | 10,000 | JFL (6th) | |||
| AGF Suzuka Athletic Stadium | 1,450 | JFL (4th) | Former J3 license holders | ||
| Hirakata Municipal Athletic Stadium | 2,500 | JFL (8th) | |||
| Musashino Municipal Athletic Stadium | 5,188 | JFL (15th) | |||
| Asahi Gas Energy Tōin Stadium | 5,142 | JFL (11th) | 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders | ||
| Shōwa Denkō Soccer/Rugby Field | 4,700 | JFL (3rd) | 100 Year Plan status and J3 license holders.[11] | ||
| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criacao Shinjuku |  Ichiro Naruyama | gym master | ||
| Honda FC | Hiroyuki Abe | Yuki Kusumoto | Umbro | |
| Daichi Takahara | Umbro | |||
| Kagura Shimane | Keishiro Sato | soccer junky | ||
| Kochi United SC |  ATHLETA | |||
| Maruyasu Okazaki | Eitaro Tsunoi | ATHLETA | ||
| MIO Biwako Shiga | JOGARBOLA | |||
| Nara Club |  Julián Marín Bazalo | Squadra | ||
| Shinya Tsukahara | bonera | |||
| Kei Shibata | Umbro | |||
| Sony Sendai FC | Jun Suzuki | Ren Yoshino | Umbro | |
| Suzuka Point Getters | ATHLETA | |||
| FC Tiamo Hirakata | Shota Inoue | JOGARBOLA | ||
| Tokyo Musashino United FC | Hiroki Yoda | Yonex | ||
| Veertien Mie | Yasuhiro Higuchi | Lwond | ||
| Verspah Oita | YASUDA |
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criacao Shinjuku |  Hwang Song-su | ||||||
| Honda FC | |||||||
| Honda Lock | |||||||
| Kagura Shimane | |||||||
| Kochi United |  Yoo Jong-min |  Tando Velaphi | |||||
| Maruyasu Okazaki | |||||||
| MIO Biwako Shiga | Cho Hyeong-in | ||||||
| Nara Club | Arnau Riera | ||||||
| FC Osaka | Efrain Rintaro | Gabriel Pires | Luiz Fernando | Kim Soo-han | Woo Sang-ho | ||
| ReinMeer Aomori | Halef Pitbull | ||||||
| Sony Sendai | |||||||
| Suzuka Point Getters | Vinícius Faria | Kim Tae-woo | |||||
| TIAMO Hirakata | João Siqueira | Yuri Messias |  Noah Fortune | Emeka Basil | |||
| Tokyo Musashino United | Ko Kyung-te | Ryang Hyon-ju | |||||
| Veertien Mie | Kim Song-sun | ||||||
| Verspah Oita |
Nara Club and FC Osaka have been promoted to J3 League, so there will be no relegation from the 2022 JFL.
.[14]
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hayato Asakawa | Nara Club | 16 |
| 2 | Hiroki Maeda | Verspah Oita | 14 |
| Himan Morimoto | Tiamo Hirakata | ||
| Tatsuma Sakai | Maruyasu Okazaki | ||
| 5 | Kaito Miyake | Suzuka Point Getters | 13 |
| Shota Tamura | Veertien Mie | ||
As of 20 November 2022.[15]
| Tatsuma Sakai3 | Maruyasu Okazaki | Suzuka Point Getters | 4–2 | 20 March 2022 | |
| Tomoki Hino4 | Honda Lock | Kagura Shimane | 5–1 | 3 April 2022 | |
| Yuhi Hayashi3 | Maruyasu Okazaki | Kochi United | 5–3 | 3 July 2022 | |
| Daiki Kawato3 | Tokyo Musashino United | Criacao Shinjuku | 4–2 | 31 July 2022 | |
| Himan Morimoto3 | Tiamo Hirakata | Honda Lock | 3–0 | 20 November 2022 |
The awards were announced and presented on 6 December 2022.[16]
| Award | Team |
|---|---|
| Fair Play Award | Honda Lock |
| Special Prize | Criacao Shinjuku |
| Award | Winner | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Player (MVP) | Nara Club | ||
| Top Scorer (16 goals) | Nara Club | ||
| Rookie of the Year | Honda FC | ||
| Best Manager Award | Nara Club | ||
| Special Award | Suzuka Point Getters | ||
| Fighting Spirit Award | Tokyo Musashino United | ||
| Excellent Referee Award | – |