Who are going to be Japan's best? The 94th annual Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships is set to kick off on 5th July.

Through the regional finals in each prefecture that had been played by 29th June, 45 prefectures have had their own representatives, with only Gunma Prefecture (will have theirs on 6th July) and Hokkaido (will have theirs on 19th July) having yet to determined their representatives. The faces for the first round are nearly set.
Among the participating teams so far, there are six teams that will make their first appearances in the Emperor's Cup, including FC Osaka (Osaka Prefecture). Fukuoka University will make the most appearance for their 29th time, fourth straight year, followed by the 28th time, fourth consecutive year, for Tsukuba University (Ibaraki Prefecture). In the first round, Meiji University will take on Yamanashi Gakuin University High School, while Tsukuba will face Sony Sendai FC, who will make their ninth consecutive tournament appearance for the 17th time overall.

Meanwhile, among the teams in the high school generation, Montedio Yamagata Youth, who defeated Haguro High 3-0 in the Yamagata Prefectural general championships final, will roll into the Emperor's Cup for their first time ever.
The other high school team, Tokushima Municipal High, have earned a spot in the tournament for the first time since 1998, second time ever. They will face first-timer Kagoshima United FC.

While a total of 3,759 teams have participated in the regional qualifiers around the nation, Tokyo (384), Fukuoka Prefecture (320) and Chiba Prefecture (245) were the most competitive regions in terms of the number of the clubs playing. And Meiji University in Tokyo, Fukuoka University in Fukuoka and Urayasu SC in Chiba punched the tickets for the Emperor's Cup by winning in their respective regions.
Meiji University notably beat a J3 side FC Machida Zelvia in the semifinals and Yokogawa Musashino FC in the final to advance to the All-Japan for the first time since 2009, 13th time overall.

A total of eight J3 clubs made the national tourney, except AC Nagano Parceilo, who were selected the best amateur team last year and are seeded. The J3 team's first-round match-ups are: Fukushima United FC vs. Nara Club, Grulla Morioka vs. Urayasu SC, Y.S.C.C. Yokohama vs. SRC Hiroshima, Blaublitz Akita vs. Saitama SC, Zweigen Kanazawa vs. FC Osaka, Fujieda MYFC (Shizuoka Prefecture) vs. Arterivo Wakayama, Gainare Tottori vs. Todotsu FC, and FC Ryukyu vs. Kumamoto teachers squad.

The Emperor's Cup's first round will be played on 5th-6th July (The Gunma and Hokkaido teams will play on 26th July), and the first-round winners will challenge J1 and J2 squads in the second round (12th-13th July; A game between J2 side Consadole Sapporo and Gunma representatives or Hokkaido representatives will be held on 6th August).
The third round will be played on 20th August, and the round of 16 (fourth round) will be held on 6th-7th August (makeup date 10th August). The card for the quarterfinals, which will be played on 11th-12th October (makeup date 15th October) will be determined through a draw that will be hosted after the found of 16. The semifinals are held on 26th November, and the championship will be played on 13th December at Nissan Stadium.