Japanese Non-league Football News

... struggling FC Ryukyu have signed Ryutsu Keizai University midfielder Kota Gima... Koji Ota, a 23-year-old defender, has moved from Rosso Kumamoto to ambitious Prefectural League side FC Ganju Iwate on loan until the end of the year... continuing their strengthening process are Tochigi SC, who have signed Korean defender Kim Ki-Duck from K-League giants Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors... two more Koreans - defender Soo Man-Hi and forward Chon Kwan-Shik - have joined Gainare Tottori, from FC Goal of the Aichi League and Tokai Leaguers MIE Rampole respectively...

A catch-up too in the results of the Tokai League Division 2, where Mind House Yokkaichi are now at the top after a series of good results, including most notably a 1-0 win at previous leaders Konica Minolta Toyokawa. Both sides have two games to play and are already confirmed as being promoted to the top division for next season.

MIE Rampole have finished their fixtures and therefore must be satisfied with a third-place finish in their first season at Regional level. At the other end of the table, with only one game to play FC Kawasaki are already relegated, while Morishin's FC have only the slimmest chance of avoiding the drop with Fuyo Club the only other team in danger.

Sun 02 Sep: Toyota Football Group 0-0 Fuyo Club

Sun 09 Sep: Konica Minolta Toyokawa 3-3 FC Kawasaki
Sun 09 Sep: Mind House Yokkaichi 2-1 MIE Rampole
Sun 09 Sep: Nagoya Club 2-2 Morishin's FC

Sun 16 Sep: MIE Rampole 3-0 FC Kawasaki
Sun 16 Sep: Morishin's FC 1-1 Toyota Football Group
Sun 16 Sep: Nagoya Club 1-2 Konica Minolta Toyokawa

Sun 23 Sep: MIE Rampole 2-0 Morishin's FC
Sun 23 Sep: Mind House Yokkaichi 2-1 Nagoya Club
Sun 23 Sep: Toyota Football Group 0-0 FC Kawasaki

Sun 30 Sep: Nagoya Club 1-1 Fuyo Club
Sun 30 Sep: Toyota Football Group 1-1 MIE Rampole

Sun 07 Oct: FC Kawasaki 3-2 Morishin's FC
Sun 07 Oct: Fuyo Club 1-2 Toyota Football Group
Sun 07 Oct: Konica Minolta Toyokawa 0-1 Mind House Yokkaichi
Sun 07 Oct: Nagoya Club 1-2 MIE Rampole

1. Mind House Yokkaichi 25 (+9)
2. Konica Minolta Toyokawa 24 (+14)
3. MIE Rampole 24 (+11)
4. Toyota Football Group 18 (+2)
5. Nagoya Club 15 (+3)
6. Fuyo Club 12 (-6)
7. Morishin's FC 10 (-15)
8. FC Kawasaki 7 (-18)

The draw has been announced for the Fourth Round of this season's Emperor's Cup competition, the stage of the tournament at which J1 clubs become involved. There are now only four non-league teams remaining and the two college sides, Juntendo University and Meiji University, have by coincidence been drawn against Shizuoka neighbours Jubilo Iwata and Shimizu S-Pulse respectively.

JFL leaders Sagawa Kyubin SC travel to giants Yokohama F Marinos, while TDK SC's reward for knocking out J2 leaders Consadole Sapporo in the Third Round is a trip to FC Tokyo. the full draw is as follows:

Sun 04 Nov: Albirex Niigata - Sagan Tosu
Sun 04 Nov: FC Tokyo - TDK SC
Sun 04 Nov: Gamba Osaka - Montedio Yamagata
Sun 04 Nov: JEF United - Oita Trinita
Sun 04 Nov: Jubilo Iwata - Juntendo University
Sun 04 Nov: Kashima Antlers - Mito Hollyhock
Sun 04 Nov: Kashiwa Reysol - Honda FC
Sun 04 Nov: Kawasaki Frontale - Cerezo Osaka
Sun 04 Nov: Nagoya Grampus 8 - Thespa Kusatsu
Sun 04 Nov: Omiya Ardija - Yokohama FC
Sun 04 Nov: Sanfrecce Hiroshima - Shonan Bellmare
Sun 04 Nov: Shimizu S-Pulse - Meiji University
Sun 04 Nov: Urawa Reds - Ehime FC
Sun 04 Nov: Ventforet Kofu - Tokushima Vortis
Sun 04 Nov: Vissel Kobe - Avispa Fukuoka
Sun 04 Nov: Yokohama F Marinos - Sagawa Kyubin SC

A brief catch-up on results in Division 1 of the Tokai League, where one single fixture remains to be played at the end of this month - a more or less meaningless mid-table affair between Sagawa Kyubin Chukyo and Fujieda City Hall. As expected, Shizuoka FC have bounced back from the disappointment of losing out last year to FC Gifu and have re-taken the title with only one game lost during the whole year. Following them into the Regional League Championship Winners' Play-off are prefectural neighbours Yazaki Valente, who finished fully seventeen points ahead of a weak field.

Indeed the other clubs were mainly concentrating on staying out of the relegation places in a close battle at the wrong end of the table. In the end it was Kasugai Club and Honda Suzuka who went down to Division 2, both clubs having played just a single season in the top flight since winning promotion twelve months ago. The well-established Maruyasu Industries club just avoided the drop with a vital draw against Honda in their last match, but overall it is clear that there is little in the Tokai region to challenge Shizuoka and Yazaki.

Sat 08 Sep: Shizuoka FC 3-0 Fujieda City Hall
Sat 08 Sep: Yazaki Valente 3-1 Honda Suzuka

Sun 09 Sep: Maruyasu Industries 1-0 Chukyo University
Sun 09 Sep: Sagawa Kyubin Chukyo 1-0 Kasugai Club

Sun 16 Sep: Honda Suzuka 1-1 Fujieda City Hall
Sun 16 Sep: Kasugai Club 2-0 Chukyo University
Sun 16 Sep: Maruyasu Industries 1-5 Shizuoka FC
Sun 16 Sep: Sagawa Kyubin Chukyo 0-3 Yazaki Valente

Sat 22 Sep: Shizuoka FC 6-0 Sagawa Kyubin Chukyo
Sat 22 Sep: Yazaki Valente 5-0 Maruyasu Industries

Sun 23 Sep: Chukyo University 5-0 Honda Suzuka
Sun 23 Sep: Kasugai Club 2-0 Fujieda City Hall

Sat 29 Sep: Yazaki Valente 1-3 Shizuoka FC

Sun 30 Sep: Chukyo University 4-0 Fujieda City Hall
Sun 30 Sep: Honda Suzuka 0-1 Kasugai Club
Sun 30 Sep: Maruyasu Industries 2-6 Sagawa Kyubin Chukyo

Sun 07 Oct: Kasugai Club 1-4 Sagawa Kyubin Chukyo
Sun 07 Oct: Maruyasu Industries 2-2 Honda Suzuka

1. Shizuoka FC 39 (+39)
2. Yazaki Valente 34 (+27)
3. Fujieda City Hall 17 (-3)
4. Sagawa Kyubin Chukyo 16 (-13)
5. Chukyo University 15 (-1)
6. Maruyasu Industries 14 (-17)
7. Kasugai Club 13 (-10)
8. Honda Suzuka 12 (-22)