2018 J2 League
The 2018 Meiji Yasuda J2 League season was the 47th season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 20th season since the establishment of J2 League.
Clubs
The participating clubs are listed in the following table:| Club Name | Home Town | Note |
| Albirex Niigata | Niigata & Seirō, Niigata | Relegated from J1 |
| Omiya Ardija | Saitama | Relegated from J1 |
| Fukuoka City, Fukuoka | ||
| Ehime FC | All cities/towns in Ehime | |
| Fagiano Okayama | All cities/towns in Okayama | |
| All cities/towns in Gifu | ||
| JEF United Chiba | Chiba & Ichihara, Chiba | |
| Kamatamare Sanuki | Takamatsu, Kagawa | |
| Southwestern cities/towns in Kyoto | ||
| Machida Zelvia | Machida, Tokyo | |
| Matsumoto Yamaga | Central cities/towns in Nagano | |
| Mito, Ibaraki | ||
| All cities/towns in Yamagata | ||
| Oita Trinita | Ōita | |
| Renofa Yamaguchi | All cities/towns in Yamaguchi | |
| Roasso Kumamoto | Kumamoto | |
| Tochigi SC | Utsunomiya, Tochigi | Promoted from J3 |
| All cities/towns in Tokushima | ||
| Ventforet Kofu | All Yamanashi Prefecture | Relegated from J1 |
| All cities/towns in Tokyo | ||
| Yokohama FC | Yokohama, Kanagawa | |
| Zweigen Kanazawa | Kanazawa |
Personnel and kits
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Ventforet Kofu |  | 30 April 2018 | | 30 April 2018 |
| Kyoto Sanga | | 11 May 2018 |  | 11 May 2018 |
| Ehime FC | | 15 May 2018 | | 15 May 2018 |
| Albirex Niigata | | 8 August 2018 | Koichiro Katafuchi | 22 August 2018 |
Foreign players
The total number of foreign players is restricted to five per club. Clubs can register up to four foreign players for a single match-day squad, of which a maximum of three are allowed from nations outside the Asian Football Confederation. Players from J.League partner nations are exempt from these restrictions.| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Other | Former |
| Albirex Niigata |  Alex Muralha | Cauê | Jonathan Reis | Thalles |  Song Ju-hun | Bruno Meneghel | |
| Omiya Ardija | Marcelo Toscano | Mateus |  David Babunski |  Robin Simović | Kim Dongsu | Cauê | |
| Dudu | Léo Mineiro | Won Du-jae | Yu In-soo | Euller Túlio de Melo | |||
| Ehime FC | Park Seung-su | Woo Sang-ho | |||||
| Fagiano Okayama | Ricardo Santos | Choi Jung-won | Jeong Chung-geun | Lee Kyung-tae | Lee Yong-jae | ||
 Ezequiel Ham | Michael |  Ryan De Vries | Jeon San-hae |  Víctor Ibáñez | Woo Sang-ho | ||
| JEF United Chiba | Joaquín Larrivey | Diego Rodríguez |  Jason Geria | Hebert |  Jorge Salinas | ||
| Kamatamare Sanuki | Alex | Park Chan-yong | Song Young-min | ||||
| Juninho | Kaio |  Wu Shaocong | Kim Cheol-ho |  Renzo López | Matías Caseras Alexandre | ||
| Machida Zelvia | Dorian Babunski |  Romero Frank | Jung Han-cheol |  Ri Han-jae | |||
| Matsumoto Yamaga | Dinei | Paulinho | Serginho | Goh Dong Min | Jo Jin-woo |  Anders Aplin | |
| Batista | Diego | Jefferson Baiano |  Danny Carvajal | ||||
| Álvaro | Bruno Lopes | Felipe Alves | Jairo | ||||
| Oita Trinita | Willian | Mun Kyung-gun | Hwang Song-su | Lim Seung-gyeom | |||
| Renofa Yamaguchi | Julinho | Renan | Washington | Gerson Min Kyung-jun | |||
| Roasso Kumamoto | Lim Jin-woo | Yang Sang-jun | An Byong-jun | ||||
| Tochigi SC | Alex | Paulao | Henik | Mendes |  Johnny Leoni | Diogo Ferreira  Nejc Pečnik | |
| Bueno |  Peter Utaka | Kim Jong-pil | David Barral | Sisinio | Nathan Júnior Danny Carvajal | ||
| Ventforet Kofu | Diego | Éder Lima | Ferrugem | Junior Barros | Byeon Jun-byum | Dinei Lins | |
| Alan Pinheiro | Douglas | Leandro | Ri Yong-jik | Carlos Martínez | |||
| Yokohama FC | Bruno Meneghel | Leandro Domingues |  Calvin Jong-a-Pin |  Ibba Laajab | Bae Seung-jin | Jeong Chung-geun | |
| Zweigen Kanazawa | Allan | Rodrigo Maranhão |
League table
Results
Promotion–Relegation Playoffs
Because Machida Zelvia did not own a J1 license for the 2019 season, they were ineligible to participate in the play-offs. Thus, Yokohama FC, finishing third in the season, received a bye into the second round, from which the winner will play the team finishing 16th in J1.First Semi-Final
----Second Semi-Final
----Final
Top scorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| Genki Omae | Omiya Ardija | ||
| Ado Onaiwu | Renofa Yamaguchi | ||
| Takayuki Funayama | JEF United Chiba | ||
| Ibba | Yokohama FC | ||
| Douglas Vieira | Tokyo Verdy | ||
| Masashi Oguro | Tochigi SC | ||
| Seigo Kobayashi | Renofa Yamaguchi | ||
| Yuki Nakashima | Machida Zelvia | ||
| Mateus | Omiya Ardija | ||
| Kenji Baba | Oita Trinita | ||
| Noriaki Fujimoto | Oita Trinita |