The 97th Emperor’s Cup All Japan Football Championship that determines the best football club in the nation will kick off its matches this weekend, when 24 first round contests are held all over Japan on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 April.

Honda FC (Shizuoka), who clinched a seeded spot in this final tournament by winning last year’s Japan Football League (JFL), will take on Biwako Seikei Sport College (Shiga). The Shizuoka side’s run in the last year’s tournament where they knocked out three J.League clubs in a row and reached the best 16 caught many football fans’ attention. They are proving to be in good form again this year with their lossless record of three wins and two draws so far in the ongoing JFL season. Whether they will display another great run this year is definitely this tournament’s must-see.

Another intriguing matchup is Nara Club (Nara) against Vanraure Hachinohe FC (Aomori) both belonging to the JFL just as Honda FC. While Vanraure led by coach HASHIRATANI Tetsuji started off this season with five straight wins, coach SATSUKAWA Norihiro’s Nara Club in contrast are sitting at the bottom of the league with one draw and four losses. As they both look to be promoted to the J.League, the match of the rivals will most likely be heated.

Furthermore, there is a team who pulled off a giant-killing act at the stage of the prefectural qualifying round. Iwaki FC (Fukushima) made their first Emperor’s Cup appearance with a 2-0 win in the prefecture final over J.League division 3 leaders Fukushima United FC, who had took part in the finals for nine straight years. In the final match, 19-year-old forward YOSHIDA Tomoki and 21-year-old forward HIRAOKA Masahide tallied a goal each. The young strikers are expected to show another great performance in this finals tournament. Iwaki FC will face Norbritz Hokkaido FC (Hokkaido) in the first round.

Just as Iwaki FC, azul claro Numazu (Shizuoka) is also one of the Emperor’s Cup debutants. Although Numazu, who are playing in the J3 league for the first time this season, had been hampered by high barriers of so-called “Football Kingdom” featuring clubs like Fujieda MYFC and Honda FC, the new J3 club clinched the spot in the finals with a 3-0 win over MYFC Fujieda. Numazu’s registered squad features Japanese football legends such as ITO Teruyoshi, who has played 54 Emperor’s Cup matches which is the sixth all-time in the cup history, and former Japanese international star NAKAYAMA Masashi. Their memorial debut match is against Saurcos Fukui (Fukui).

There are other interesting fixtures unique to the Emperor’s Cup as Grulla Morioka (Iwate) and FC Sony Sendai FC (Miyagi) square off in the Tohoku derby. Who will grab the right to challenge J1 and J2 clubs? Even the first round already includes many can’t-miss contests.

22 April 2017 (Sat.) ～ 1 January 2018 (Mon, New Year's Day)

Tournament Information
Ticket Information (Japanese version only)