Introduction
The Emperor’s Cup is the oldest football competition in Japan. Its full name is the Emperor’s Cup JFA Japan Football Championship. It is one of Japan’s three major domestic football titles, alongside the J1 League (Japan’s top professional football league) and the LEVAIN Cup (a domestic cup competition open only to J-League clubs).
The Beginning: A Silver Cup from England
The story of the Emperor’s Cup goes back to 1919. William Haigh, an assistant secretary at the British Embassy in Japan, put forward a special request. Thanks to his efforts, the Football Association (The FA) of England sent a solid silver cup to Japan. The idea was to create a national tournament in Japan, modelled on England’s FA Cup.
This gift set things in motion. In 1921, the Dai-Nippon Football Association — now known as the Japan Football Association (JFA) — was founded. That same year, the first national tournament was held under the name “Association Football National Championship.” This was the birth of what we now call the Emperor’s Cup. The inaugural winners were Tokyo Football Club, and they received the trophy from the British Ambassador.
In short, the Emperor’s Cup was born as Japan’s answer to England’s FA Cup. As of 2026, the competition is in its 106th edition — a record that speaks for itself.
Why Is It Called the “Emperor’s Cup”?
In 1947, Emperor Showa attended a football match between East and West Japan representative teams. This event led to a key decision. The Imperial Household Agency — the office that manages the Emperor’s affairs — agreed to present a cup to the JFA. From the 31st edition in 1951, the winning club officially received the Emperor’s Cup trophy, and the competition took on its current name.
The name “Emperor’s Cup” also exists in other Japanese sports, such as rugby and judo. But the football Emperor’s Cup is the oldest, and it holds a special place in Japanese sport.
How It Works: Why Upsets Happen So Often
The Emperor’s Cup is a single-match knockout tournament. Lose once, and you are out. There are no draws — every game must produce a winner.
This format is very different from a league competition, where teams play home and away matches across a full season, or from a two-legged tie such as those in the AFC Champions League Elite. In a one-game knockout, even a big gap in quality between two clubs does not guarantee the stronger side wins. Amateur teams and lower-league clubs can — and regularly do — beat big J1 clubs.
A total of 88 teams take part. These include 20 clubs from the J1 League (Japan’s top flight), 20 clubs from the J2 League (the second division), 47 regional representatives — one from each of Japan’s 47 prefectures, selected through local qualifying rounds — and a number of university teams chosen as amateur seeds. The mix of professional and amateur clubs on the same stage is one of the things that makes the Emperor’s Cup unique.
Past Winners: A Mirror of Japanese Football History
The list of Emperor’s Cup winners tells the story of Japanese football itself.
From the first edition through the early 1960s, university teams and amateur clubs dominated the competition. When the Japan Soccer League — the forerunner of the J-League — was founded in 1965, company-backed teams began to take over. Toyo Kogyo (now Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Furukawa Electric (now JEF United Ichihara Chiba), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (now Urawa Red Diamonds), and Nissan Motors (now Yokohama F. Marinos) all won the cup during this era.
Since the J-League launched as Japan’s professional football league in 1993, every Emperor’s Cup has been won by a J-League club.
The competition has also produced some unforgettable moments. In the 1998 edition (the 78th), Yokohama Flügels — a club that was set to be dissolved at the end of the season due to financial difficulties — won the title in their final match as a club. The scenes of joy and heartbreak that followed moved fans across the whole country. Then in the 2022 edition (the 102nd), Ventforet Kofu, who had just finished 18th in the J2 League, beat one top-flight J1 club after another and claimed the trophy — and it genuinely caught the whole country off guard.
The New Year’s Day Final — And Its Return in 2027
For many years, the Emperor’s Cup final was played on January 1st — New Year’s Day. Starting the new year by crowning Japan’s best club at the National Stadium was a tradition that football fans across the country looked forward to each year.
Over time, however, the New Year’s Day final became harder to hold. In years when the AFC Asian Cup was scheduled in January, the timing clashed with the Japan national team’s schedule. There were also concerns about giving players enough rest, and the end of the J-League season had to be considered. As a result, the final was moved to late December. The most recent New Year’s Day final was the 100th edition in 2020, when Kawasaki Frontale beat Gamba Osaka 1–0. The winning goal was scored by midfielder Kaoru Mitoma, who would later go on to make his name in Europe.
Now, the New Year’s Day final is coming back. The final of the 106th edition (which begins in 2026) is scheduled for January 1st, 2027, at MUFG Stadium (Japan National Stadium) in Tokyo — the first time in six editions.
The reason for the return is clear. From the 2026/27 season, the J-League switched from a spring-to-autumn calendar to an autumn-to-spring calendar. This means the New Year period is no longer the off-season — it falls in the middle of the season instead. As a result, scheduling the final on New Year’s Day is possible again.
What Winning Means: A Ticket to Asia
The Emperor’s Cup winner earns a place in an Asian club competition.
In the past, the winning club received a spot in the AFC Champions League (now called the AFC Champions League Elite, or ACLE) — Asia’s top club competition.
However, the rules changed from the 2024 edition (the 104th). Now, the Emperor’s Cup winner enters the AFC Champions League Two (ACL2), not the ACLE. A place in the ACLE instead goes to the club that finishes third in the J1 League.
The ACL2 follows in the tradition of the former AFC Cup Winners’ Cup — a competition for domestic cup winners across Asia, similar to the old UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in Europe. The spirit of that format lives on in the ACL2 today.
As a recent example, FC Machida Zelvia, who won the 2025 Emperor’s Cup, earned a place in the ACL2 2026/27.
Summary
The Emperor’s Cup was born in 1921, inspired by England’s FA Cup. With more than 100 years of history, it remains one of Japanese football’s most important competitions — an open knockout tournament where professional and amateur clubs compete on the same stage. The New Year’s Day final tradition was on hold for several years, but it returns in 2027. And beyond the trophy itself, the prize is a place on the Asian stage. If you are new to Japanese football, this is a competition worth following.
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