2016 J1 League

Meiji Yasuda J1 League
Season2016
ChampionsKashima Antlers
8th J.League title
8th Japanese title
RelegatedNagoya Grampus
Shonan Bellmare
Avispa Fukuoka
AFC Champions LeagueKashima Antlers
Urawa Red Diamonds
Kawasaki Frontale
Gamba Osaka
Club World CupKashima Antlers
Matches played306
Goals scored805 (2.63 per match)
Top goalscorerLeandro (Vissel Kobe)
Peter Utaka (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
(19 goals each)
Highest attendance59,837
Urawa vs Kashima
(3 December)
Lowest attendance5,870
Fukuoka vs Nagoya
(2 July)
Average attendance17,968
2015
2017
All statistics correct as of 3 November 2016.

The 2016 Meiji Yasuda J1 League (2016 明治安田生命J1リーグ) season was the 51st season of top-flight football in Japan and the 24th since the establishment of the J.League in 1992. This was second season of J1 League as renamed from J. League Division 1.

For a five-year period starting in 2015, the J.League changed to a newly conceived multistage system, with the year split into two halves and a third and final championship stage. The winners of the first and second stages and the highest ranking club of the aggregate table (other than the first or second stage winners) qualified for the Championship Stage. Kashima Antlers, the winner of the Championship Stage, advanced to the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup as the host nation's entrant.