Now, on J.LEAGUE’s 30th anniversary, the number of clubs has grown from the initial 10 to a total of 60 today. In the area of club level football, J.Clubs have won the AFC Champions League (ACL) five times, and the Japan National Team and U-23 Japan National Team have each raised their performance to be able to regularly compete at the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Football Tournament. Furthermore, Japanese players are playing in the UEFA Champions League, a tournament at the highest global level, and are even at the point of being able to drive their own club’s performance in the knockout stages of the tournament, which is a level of growth that cannot be overlooked.
For the continuous extention in the next decade, not only in terms of the level of footballing performance, but also in terms of management scale, it must not merely offer the “artwork” of football matches, but become a globally viable footballing stage, with the appeal of Japanese football being recognised as being world-class. In order to further strengthen and expand clubs’ performance, J.LEAGUE will set out steps for continual growth by changing the way tournaments are played, including a season transition, arranging world-class matches, developing various systems and policies, and keeping a timely and accurate track of our progress against our vision. Here we take a look back at our initiatives for player development, which are essential for further J.LEAGUE growth.

FC Tokyo wins J.LEAGUE Best Youth Scheme

During the 2023 season, FC Tokyo won the Best Youth Scheme for the third time (*1). This award is given based on specific evaluation criteria, namely the club’s development path for players who signed professional contracts ahead of the 2023 season and the number of players who came through to a top team from the academy of their contracted club, as well as the actual minutes played in official matches in the 2023 season by players who are under the age of 21 (U-21) and have been members of a J.Club’s academy for at least three years. FC Tokyo logged a total of 5,562 minutes in “performance record,” a new metric established this season.
The fact that FC Tokyo won this award demonstrates not only how many players coming out of FC Tokyo’s academy have signed professional contracts, but also that players under 21 who have been members of FC Tokyo’s (or another J.Club’s) academy for more than three years had more playing time in the official matches of FC Tokyo than those of any other club during the 2023 season. For example, Kota TAWARATSUMIDA of FC Tokyo was a final nominee for the Goal of the year (2017-19 FC Tokyo U-15 Musashi, 2020-22 FC Tokyo U-18). Examples at other J.Clubs include Riku YAMANE of Yokohama F･Marinos (2010-15 Yokohama F･Marinos Primary, 2016-18 Yokohama F･Marinos Junior Youth, 2019-21 Yokohama F･Marinos Youth), who contributed to his team finishing second in the league, and Kota TAKAI of Kawasaki Frontale, who signed a professional contract at the age of 17 in the 2022 season. These are typical examples of players who enjoyed success on the pitch during the 2023 season, after playing in J.Club academies for more than three years.
As a notable result from this year, take Oita Trinita, for example. The club produced only two players (Josei SATO and Kenshin YASUDA), but seven U-21 players from its academy were subject to consideration, and the club was nominated for a top spot in the selection process based on their participation record. In addition, although not nominated this time, Vissel Kobe was rated highly in the award’s selection process for producing players, having signed five players from its own academy to professional contracts in the 2023 season.
Furthermore, 56 of the 60 J.LEAGUE clubs (93.3%) were eligible for the award for performance record, but only 27 clubs (45.0%) saw academy players promoted to a top team.
Playing record data shows that in official matches in the 2023 season, players from J.Club academies played in the matches of more than 90% of J.Clubs. The degree to which these players were active in official matches differs from club to club, but it is worth noting that these players were able to play in matches at more than 90% of all clubs. On the other hand, the fact that less than half of all clubs produced professional players from academies in the 2023 season suggests that this is an area that requires further improvement.
In order to ensure that players can participate in official matches as professionals, it is of course necessary to make the required preparations, but when and how should those preparations be started? Next, let us look back at the game programme for youth players organised by J.LEAGUE in the 2023 season, which is one of the essential elements of the preparation.

• *1 FC Tokyo won the award in 2010 and 2017.

Awards overview

Clubs are nominated based on two evaluation criteria: the number of players who came through a J.Club academy to a club’s top team for the 2023 season (players produced), and the playing time (playing record) of eligible players under 21 who have played more than three years at a J.Club academy (U-15 or U-18). The nominees were determined by the selection committee.

Eligible players from the clubs nominated for 2023 J.LEAGUE Best Youth Scheme

Name of winning club and nominated clubs	FC TOKYO（Win）	Sagan Tosu	Oita Trinita
Players signed professionally from an academy for the 2023 season (affiliation at time of selection)	Kanta DOI Kota TAWARATSUMIDA Naoki KUMATA Ryunosuke SATO Renta HIGASHI(Sagamihara)	Shunya SAKAI Koma OSATO Ryotaro TAKEUCHI Yoshiki NARAHARA Kenshin YASUDA(Oita)※ Ryotaro TAKEUCHI(Criacao Shinjuku)	Josei SATO Kenshin YASUDA※
U-21 players who had a playing record in the 2023 season (if coming from another J.Club’s academy)	Taishi Brandon NOZAWA(FC RYUKYU U-15, FC TOKYO U-18) Kanta DOI Masataka KOBAYASHI Soma ANZAI Kota TAWARATSUMIDA Naoki KUMATA Ryunosuke SATO	Shunya SAKAI Koma OSATO Ryotaro TAKEUCHI Yoshiki NARAHARA Jun NISHIKAWA(Yokohama F･M ACADEMY） Kiriya SAKAMOTO(C-Osaka Nishi U-15)	Masaki YUMIBA Yusei YASHIKI Josei SATO Kenshin YASUDA Taiga KIMOTO Hayato MATSUOKA Shunsuke ONO

• ※Kenshin YASUDA (Oita) played more than three years respectively at Sagan Tosu U-15 and Oita Trinita U-18, making him eligible for both clubs.
• ※※U-21 player spending three years playing in U-15 and U-18 teams.

2023 J.YOUTH LEAGUE
Widely adopted for providing opportunities for players to stretch themselves (*2). Growing significance placed on academy players’ participation in matches.

In the 2023 season, the game programme organised by J.LEAGUE for youth players included the NEXT GENERATION MATCH, J.YOUTH LEAGUE, and J.LEAGUE UNDER14.
J.YOUTH LEAGUE is the game programme for players in the age group closest to becoming professional. First launched in 1994, this tournament has changed its form over the years to provide better match opportunities for players and licensed coaches (*3), and since the 2021 season, U-17 players have been its main participants.

Status of participation by age in the J.YOUTH LEAGUE

Until now, tournaments for U-17 players have predominantly involved players who are 17 or close to turning 17, but in the 2023 season, the next generation, 16 and under, accounted for 56.8% (*4) of all playing time. This figure was 44.6% in the 2022 season (*5), marking a symbolic change. So, what does this mean?

The best aspect of J.Clubs is that they provide opportunities to play in different classes

Looking at the data for under-16 players’ playing time in the 2023 season, we see that 14 and 15-year-olds accounted for 8.4% of the total (total number of people: 303, 10.1% of the total). In other words, while this is a tournament for under-17s, it can be said that for each match, 1.21 players under 15 (estimated at 10.1% of the 11 members playing in the match) played for 7.56 minutes (estimated at 8.4% of 90 minutes per match) (*6). The fact that 14 and 15-year-olds are playing in matches in teams made up of mainly 17-year-olds means that second-year junior high school students are playing in matches together with second-year high school students (*7). The tournament for the 2023 season was a case in point, with participating players in the 14-18 age range, encompassing various classes, with one or two elite players selected from among players under 15 competing in matches with players two or more years older. It can therefore be seen that clubs have begun to use these matches to ensure that players acquire the requisite qualities and skills needed as professional players. Of course, even for 16-year-old players, whose total playing time accounted for approximately half of all play (48.4%), playing alongside players one or two years older offered a good opportunity to stretch themselves.

From a similar perspective, the 17-year-old elite players seek opportunities for growth in matches where players are mainly 18 years old, such as the Prince Takamado Trophy JFA U-18 Football Premier League and Prince League. As can be seen with Ryunosuke SATO (FC Tokyo), Kota TAKAI (Kawasaki Frontale), Sota KITANO (Cerezo Osaka) and Yutaka MICHIWAKI (Roasso Kumamoto) (*8), this is now starting to produce players who are signing professional contracts while still in their second year of high school. J.LEAGUE should continue to play a role in providing a match-playing environment that transcends the confines of each class.

• *2 J.LEAGUE takes initiatives for a player who has demonstrated consistently high performance in matches with people of the same age-group, whereby that player is encouraged, using an individual development plan (IDP), to push their boundaries by skipping to a higher age-group, overcome the challenges they found there when they return to their original age-group, and strive for further development using a systematic approach. This is called “Stretch and Integrate.”
• *3 This was cancelled in the 2020 season due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• *4 Playing time for 17-year-old players in the 2023 season accounted for 37.8% of the total. 5.4% was accounted for by players 18 years old (up to three players can play in the over-age slot).
• *5 Playing time for 17-year-old players in the 2022 season accounted for 46.2% of the total. 9.3% was accounted for by players 18 years old (up to three players can play in the over-age slot).
• *6 Playing time for players under 15 years old in the 2022 season was just 2.7 minutes (3%) per match, showing that in the space of one season, the playing time for this age-group has increased 2.8-fold.
• *7 In the Japanese football community, club activities that are a part of school education have a history of driving the development of football in Japan. Because the junior high school age-group is categorised as Class 3 and the high school age-group as Class 2, and these groups are linked to tournament eligibility and player registration systems, there have been systemic hurdles to participating in matches beyond these specific predetermined classes.
• *8 Kota TAKAI signed a professional contract with Kawasaki Frontale in 2022 at 17 years old. Sota KITANO signed with Cerezo Osaka in 2022 at 17. Yutaka MICHIWAKI was 17 when he signed with Roasso Kumamoto in 2023. Ryunosuke SATO was 16 when he signed a professional contract with FC Tokyo in 2023.

State of participation by age in the J.YOUTH LEAGUE

The playing time of U-15 and U-16 players increased from last year, indicating that utilisation of this tournament as an opportunity for these players to stretch themselves is spreading.
【Stretch opportunities for Class 3 players (affiliated to U-15 and U-14 teams) 】
◾️ Playing time: The playing time for players under 15 (U-15, U-14), was 14,412 minutes, 8.4% of the total (2022 results: 5,501 minutes, 3.0% of the total)
◾️ Total number of players: Total number of 303 players under 15 (U-15, U-14), 10.1% of the total (2022 results: 126 players, 4.4% of the total)

• ※As of the end of December 3, 2023. Overall match progress rate: 100/123 matches (81%).

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Event 2023

J.LEAGUE offered four events in the 2023 season. These events were for the purpose of ensuring continuing professional development (CPD) for academy coaches and included developing academy management personnel and leaders in coaching, providing opportunities to expand the number of coaching colleagues active at J.Clubs, helping academy coaching staff to acquire and share knowledge required by future leaders in the development of youth players, and providing opportunities to acquire the appropriate tools and concepts.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Event 2023 Part1

Theme	Playing philosophy & Individual Development
Purpose	Understanding the playing philosophy, coaching philosophy and individual development plans (IDP) for players necessary for embodying the club footb
Date	May 15-16, 2023
Place	J-GREEN Sakai
Participants	13 participants from J.Club academies, three from the Japan Football Association (JFA) (including one observer)
Overview	Over the course of two days, the above 16 participants took part in four lecture themes and two related group discussion sessions, as well as a session with two overseas guest speakers and an on-the-pitch session and group discussions relating to the session. From the guest speakers, they learned about specific examples of club football philosophies and club visions that professional football clubs with a track record in world-class player development have devised, and also heard how academies can contribute to building player pathways. In addition, they learned specific procedures and review methods about how to incorporate the “elements required of players” into on-the-pitch training, which are needed to produce players capable of contributing to achieving the club’s vision.

• *9 Continuing professional development (CPD) refers to a process whereby individual licensed coaches voluntarily attend continuing education programmes and workshops with a view to maintaining and improving their own expertise and skills.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Event 2023 Part2

Theme	Playing philosophy & Individual Development
Purpose	Learning about best practices on the CPD programme: Playing philosophy, coaching philosophy, and staff and player IDPs at Avispa Fukuoka academy
Date	July 10-11, 2023
Place	Avispa Fukuoka’s club house
Participants	21 participants from J.Club academies, one from JFA
Overview	The 22 participants spent two days learning based around two lecture themes, after which they looked at Avispa Fukuoka as a case study for best practices, inviting the following personnel as lecturers: Yoshitaka FUJISAKI , academy technical advisor and member of the team management department; Takahiro INOUE , academy director; and Yusuke IKI , academy head of coaching. On the first day, the participants took part in a group discussion, in preparation for the on-the-pitch training session as actual IDP coaches the following day. On the second day, after first learning in detail about Avispa Fukuoka academy’s player development systems, the participants took part in a training session for U-18 Avispa Fukuoka players, acting in the role of Fukuoka IDP coaches. Local coaches, including those from Fukuoka Football Association, also took part as observers.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Event 2023 Part3

Theme	Coaching curriculum & Individual Development
Purpose	Understanding the content that is necessary for embodying the club football philosophy (CFP), including the elements required of players, the coaching curriculum, the individual development plans (IDP) for players, and stretch and integrate opportunities, both on and off the pitch.
Date	September 25-26, 2023
Place	Prince Takamado Memorial JFA YUME Field
Participants	16 participants from J.Club academies
Overview	Over the course of two days, the 16 participants listened to lectures on four themes and engaged in related group discussions, as well as participated in a session with an overseas guest speaker and an on-the-pitch session and group discussions relating to the session. Through the formulation of a coaching curriculum and the practice of IDP on the pitch, they learned specifically how the football philosophy of professional football clubs with world-class track records in player development and the elements required of players are linked. They also learned from the guest speaker about how IDP coaches are involved in player development at academies and experienced specific approaches to session planning for how to incorporate IDP elements into overall training.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Event 2023 Part4

Theme	Observe FIFA U-17 World Cup
Purpose	By observing matches at the tournament, learn from the latest tactics and playing styles that are used at the world-class level, improve skills and tactical understanding as licensed coaches, and gain ideas that will help to improve the competitive level of their own players. Moreover, by interacting with the national teams and officials from the football associations of each country, including JFA, the aim is to build and strengthen networks within the international football community, and, by analysing the play of promising elite players from all countries, seek to set new standards for elite players in their own teams and enhance their competitiveness.
Date	November 13-19, 2023
Place	Indonesia(Bandung, Jakarta)
Participants	8 participants from J.Club academies
Overview	The eight participants from J.Club academies observed a total of eight matches, including Japan’s matches, at two venues in Indonesia, out of a total of 52 matches in the FIFA U-17 World Cup  (24 participating countries). By seeing the performance of elite global players for themselves and compiling detailed match reports, not only did they identify the tactics and playing style demonstrated by the team as a whole, they also pinpointed the technical, tactical, physical, and psychosocial characteristics of individual elite players, using these observations as an opportunity to update the image they have for an ideal player at their own academy and the elements that are required of such a player. Furthermore, ten hours of classroom-based lectures and discussions were also held, including lectures by guest speakers from overseas who are specialists in scouting. There were also two opportunities to observe the U-17 Japan National Team train, in addition to which 16 impressive elite players were selected and discussed from among the 128 players from 12 countries that were the subjects of analysis.

Unique J.LEAGUE initiatives: Player education in J.LEAGUE

Training for new players in the J.LEAGUE 2023 season (hereinafter “training for new players”) was attended by 228 players and staff from 60 clubs, with the aim of “boosting the presence and value of being a J.LEAGUE player.” Through courses implemented throughout the year via an online platform, participation in online player exchange sessions, two information-sharing meetings among staff responsible for training for new players at each club, and the sharing of best practices by FC Tokyo, Mito Hollyhock, and FC Gifu, the new players were able to think deeply about their own role and self-image as a player. The people responsible for training for new players supported their growth by implementing their own training based on a “social skills action plan” that reflects each club’s football philosophy.

“Player education platform” that supports training for new players and player education

In 2023, J.LEAGUE provided a total of 36 courses (20 compulsory courses for new players and 16 optional courses), including courses that are updated annually such as “Message from J.LEAGUE” by J.LEAGUE Chairman Yoshikazu NONOMURA and lectures by former players such as Shunsuke NAKAMURA, as well as courses that remain the same each year. Attendance of the courses was managed using facial recognition technologies. This player education platform is also used for the provision of courses for club license application purposes such as for anti-doping.

JHoE（J.LEAGUE Head of Education course）

The 2023 season marked the third year for Head of Education (HoE) development training to be implemented at J.Clubs. The HoE is a person who manages educational performance plans and is responsible for the education of elite players from the top team to academy players. Participants attended a total of 13 lectures during the year on such topics as the roles and responsibilities of the HoE, the qualifications and skills required to fulfil the role, and how to acquire them. They also submitted work for assignments such as the formulation of an annual calendar for player and staff education. After completing some facilitation exercises at player education-related events organised by J.LEAGUE, a total of 10 participants successfully graduated from the course. The HoE course has now produced a total of 32 alumni in the three years it has been in operation (2021-2023).

Promotion of “Understand how J. LEAGUE works” course and “Pre-pro training”

©N.G.E.

J.LEAGUE provides the “Understand how J. LEAGUE works” course to each J.Club, targeting U-14 players. Since 2010, this course has been taken by approximately 10,000 students at more than 50 clubs. In recent years, approximately 50 J.Clubs have come on board. The classes provide knowledge about the management and operation of the J.LEAGUE and J.Clubs, and help students understand the roles of staff and top team players at each club. Another aim is to develop a sense of ownership and nurture the ability to process and utilize information to develop a fulfilling career outlook, with a view to building a pathway to becoming a professional football player. Guests, parents/guardians and staff also join in the classes and students create a future career image plan through group discussions and exchanges of views with other participants.
In addition, “Pre-professional” (Pre-pro) training for U-16 players began in 2019. The aim of this training is for players to understand their club’s football philosophy, recognise the importance of incorporating it in their own activities, bridge the gap between their current status and future goals, and strengthen their determination to become professional players. By verbalising their thoughts and recording their goals and achievements in a repeated feedback process, players in the U-16 group, the recommended age-group for this training, acquire the skills to formulate clear plans and check their own progress in order to achieve high goals.
Training sessions for facilitators were also held in the 2023 season, with participants hearing from invited external lecturers about the latest forms of education in Japanese schools. Participants also heard about best practices at Omiya Ardija, Vegalta Sendai, FC Imabari, Albirex Niigata, Yokohama FC, and Shimizu S-Pulse, which motivated them to implement such practices themselves. A review and reflect session was also held in December, where participants heard about best practices at Yokohama FC, Montedio Yamagata, FC Imabari, and Avispa Fukuoka, and each club had the opportunity to reflect as they looked ahead to the 2024 season.

Operation of J.LEAGUE Academy Quality Standard (JAQS *10)

Many departments and personnel are involved in player development. JAQS defines the standards by which the organisation as a whole is organised.
In the 2023 season, the running of the JAQS programme was left to the discretion of each club. Of the club aiming to achieve 1-star and 2-star standards, 41 clubs continued to implement action plans as recommended in the report, predominantly with Academy Support Manager (ASM) support. Ultimately, five clubs newly achieved 1-star status and 2 clubs met the criteria for 2-star status. This means that in the first cycle of JAQS (2021-2023), a total of nine club academies have fulfilled 1-star criteria, and two academies have reached 2-star status. Of the clubs aiming to achieve 3-star and 4-star standards, a feedback meeting was held for 12 clubs, and through the issuance of feedback reports, J.LEAGUE continued to provide support, while also confirming the direction of future activities.

• *10 JAQS is the acronym for J.LEAGUE Academy Quality Standard. Until FY2022, JAQS was classed in four stages (1 to 4 star), from 1-star clubs that have a system in place that enables them to train their own club’s professional players, to 4-star clubs that operate a world-leading system for the training of players, and each academy selected the star rating they wanted to aim for, in line with their club’s ideas and plans, and registered this with J.LEAGUE. In FY2023, the system was made discretionary and J.LEAGUE is providing support for initiatives implemented by club academies using JAQS, primarily through J.LEAGUE Academy Support Managers (ASM).

Looking back on Project DNA

Launched in the 2019 season, Project DNA came to an initial close after the 2022 season. The 2023 season provided an opportunity to look back and reflect on the project and make preparations for new initiatives in the 2024 season. This project aimed to create a development system unique to Japan and establish world-class academies capable of nurturing outstanding players and staff. While fostering human resources for developing players and increasing the number of our colleagues active in the football community, we sought to promote outreach to management (senior leaders) within clubs, generating a culture of activities for promoting individual development, and thereby build an elite, world-class academy environment. While learning from best practices around the world, we operated five human resource development courses, establishing the standards required of a world-class academy. We have promoted a match environment and player education that each contribute to building player pathways and, at the same time, implemented initiatives that seek to foster a footballing environment where players can play safely and securely through the advancement of safeguarding. The result has been that many clubs have adopted a football philosophy as something that is needed to attain an optimal consistency between the club, top team and academy. Symbolic of this approach is that Technical Committees (the precise name differs from club to club) have begun to function at each club. As a concrete outcome of the efforts that have been implemented since the 2019 season, we hope to see players who have come through club academies start to contribute to the quality of the J.LEAGUE match.

Summary

In its vision for the next ten years, J.LEAGUE aims to become a “J.LEAGUE that can win titles in Asia and take on the world,” have “Japan National Team members from European League clubs and J.LEAGUE clubs,” and “Boost total J.LEAGUE sales by 1.5 to 2 times.” To attain these goals, the development of new players and on-field action for U-21 players, whereby players coming through the academies get opportunities to play in official matches as professional players for their own club (or another J.Club) at as young an age as possible, are indispensable perspectives.
Rather than write a conclusion to round off this report, it is perhaps better to finish with this comment, made by J.LEAGUE ASM Naofumi KOIKE upon his return from the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2023 in Indonesia, which he observed as a member of the JFA Technical Study Group.
“Looking at the countries that participated in the tournament, what I found most impressive is that most of the players on the European teams played for the second team of the top team or for the U-19s. There were also players who have experience playing not only in the top leagues, but also in the UEFA Champions League. In Spain, Lamine Yamal (FC Barcelona), who was the top scorer in the European qualifiers, is already a member of the Spain national team and was not entered in the tournament. Furthermore, about half of Spain’s starting line-up consists of players who are a year younger, born in 2007, and most of them are already playing in the third division. The same is true for other countries in Europe, and South and North America (USA), where members of the second teams have experience playing for third division teams, with some also having played in matches for the top team. In Japan too, there are three players who debuted in J2 and have played in the J.LEAGUE YBC Levain CUP and the Emperor’s Cup (Yutaka MICHIWAKI/Roasso Kumamoto, Ryunosuke SATO/FC Tokyo U-18, Ryunosuke YADA/Shimizu S-Pulse Youth team; affiliations as of time of tournaments). However, compared with Spain, there is a definite sense that we’re not doing enough. I felt that the ongoing challenge is for the J.LEAGUE and JFA to continue to provide a stable post-Youth (U-18 and older) playing environment where young players are not just able to play in 90-minute matches, but are required to perform at a world-class level.”
Looking ahead to the 2024 season, J.LEAGUE will continue its quest to attain the very highest level of player development.