| Sport | Rugby union football |
|---|---|
| Inaugural season | 2004 |
| Country | Japan |
| Holders | Suntory Sungoliath (5th title) (2018) |
| Most titles | Toshiba Brave Lupus & Suntory Sungoliath (5 titles each) |
| Website | www.top-league.jp |
The Top League Championship is Japan's highest-level knockout tournament for rugby union clubs. Held annually, the leading teams from the Top League regular season qualify for the playoffs to decide the Cup title. From 2018 onward, the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship has doubled as the Top League Championship Cup. Previously, teams competed for the Lixil Cup, from 2014 to 2016,[1] and Microsoft Cup (prior to 2009).
The Top League competition is a Japanese industrial league that presently consists of sixteen teams, all owned by major companies.
Initially sponsored by Microsoft Japan, the knockout tournament was first contested by the top eight teams from the Top League in 2004. It was considered a separate competition to the Top League for the first three seasons but was officially integrated for the 2006–07 season. The number of teams was also cut to four to give a format of two semi-finals and a final, and from that time onward until the 2016–17 season the winner of the knockout cup was recognised as the Top League champion.
There were no title-play-offs in 2016–17, and the team on top of the league after the round-robin stage won the Top League title.