The J2/J3 100 Year Vision League kicked off at the weekend, so Jon Steele and James Taylor got together to discuss the big talking points from the opening round of fixtures. In part 1, Jon reviews the East groups, with a particular focus on Yokohama FC v Yamagata, then picks his East MBP and games to watch for matchday 2 (to 24:25). Then in part 2, James talks about Imabari v Kanazawa and Kagoshima v Miyazaki, discusses the postponements, picks a West MBP and games to watch (to end).

Thank you for your support of the J-Talk Podcast and J-Talk: Extra Time.

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The Chaos Energy J.League Cup got underway over the weekend, and in Part 1 of this episode Jonny and Ben were very pleased to welcome new Hiroshima correspondent Robert Turner to the pod to chat about Sanfrecce's opening night win over Nagasaki, and his thoughts on their prospects this season (to 23:55).

Then in Part 2 your co-hosts round up the other four games from the west group (to 37:30), before moving on to Kawasaki's 5-3 triumph over Kashiwa on Sunday and the rest of the games from the east, before rounding off the pod with a look ahead to upcoming ACL and J1 fixtures.

Jon Steele and James Taylor return with a preview of the J.League’s half-season tournament for J2 and J3 teams. First, James runs through the tournament setup and prize money (to 04:45). Then Jon talks about Yokohama FC and Tochigi City from the East-A group (to 15:30) and Sapporo and Matsumoto in East-B (to 25:20). After that, James looks at Imabari and FC Osaka from West-A (to 33:50) and West-B teams Tosu and Yamaguchi (to 46:05). The boys finish with a discussion of the different ways clubs might approach the HYVL (to end).

Big thanks to Mike Innes for sharing his detailed notes on the J3 teams.

Thank you for your support of the J-Talk Podcast and J-Talk: Extra Time. We hope you’ll enjoy the HYVL with us.

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We wrap up our top flight previews with the final five teams from the east group, beginning in the capital with FC Tokyo (to 18:15), Tokyo Verdy (to 30:40) and Machida (to 44:40), before Kawasaki correspondent Neil Debnam joins us to chat about Frontale's interesting moves in the transfer market, and their prospects for The Chaos Energy J.League Cup (to 1:19:10).

Then Jonny and Ben preview Yokohama F.Marinos (to 1:33:35), take care of some housekeeping, and preview J1 Matchday 1.

Check out Neil's Frontale Rabbit blog, and Jonny's Top 50 Japanese University Players (link is to Part 2, here's Part 1), take your swing at J.League Fantasy (and enter our mini-league with code sjWwSZ9k), and try your luck at JPred for ultimate bragging rights!

We wrap up the west on this week's episode, and after celebrating Japan's triumph in the Under 23 Asian Cup, Jonny and Ben welcome Kyoto correspondent Jamie Meikle back to the pod to chat about Sanga's tremendous 2025 season, and to look ahead to their 2026 by discussing their dealings in the transfer market, key players and ones to watch, and our final thoughts on their prospects for the Chaos Energy J.League Cup (to 32:45).

Later Jonny and Ben follow the same pattern in chatting about Cerezo Osaka (to 48:50), Gamba Osaka (to 1:09:05), Nagoya (to 1:25:55) and Shimizu (to end), with those final three teams all under the stewardship of new managers.

We head west for this week's previews, and we were thrilled to be joined by Daniel Kuroda, one half of the Vivi Cast podcast, to chat about Nagasaki's 2025 campaign, and their long-awaited return to J1 in the Chaos Energy J.League Cup (to 42:30).

In Part 2 Jonny and Ben begin with a depth chart explainer and praise for the collaboration between Yokohama FC and J.League Journeys, then run the rule over Fukuoka (to 1:01:45), Hiroshima (to 1:15:00), Okayama (to 1:27:45) and Kobe (to end).

As a special bonus, we've smashed down the Patreon paywall this week so that all listeners can access Jonny's depth charts for the five teams featured on this episode by clicking on this link.

We kick off our Chaos Energy J.League Cup previews with five teams from the East group, and after Jonny and Ben run the rule over J1 Champions Kashima (to 14:13), Jon Steele guests to chat about the sensational promotions achieved by J2 Champions Mito and Playoff winners Chiba, and how both teams might fare in the top flight (Mito to 45:20, Chiba to 1:08:10).

In Part 3 Jonny and Ben finish off the episode by checking in on Kashiwa (to 1:23:20) and Urawa (to end).

The JTET team (with special guests) are back to conclude their J2 retrospective for 2025.

In the first segment, James and Jon discuss the fortunes of Kofu (Start to 06:35), Fujieda (06:35 to 11:00), and then Oita (11:00 to 19:25).

Then we hand over to pod debutant Tom for his take on Sapporo's 2025 campaign (19:25 to 24:55). After that, we welcome Fin back to the show for his thoughts on Sendai (24:55 to 37:45).

James and Jon reconvene to run through a quartet of teams from the (very) wrong end of the J2 table: Toyama (37:45 to 43:55), Yamaguchi (43:55 to 49:00), Ehime (49:00 to 53:30), and Kumamoto (53:30 to 01:03:00).

To make sure that we round things off on a positive note, we end with Allen's look back on an unforgettable season for JEF Chiba (01:03:00 to Finish).

Thanks to all of our contributors, and to all of you for listening - we'll be taking a short podcasting break until the first week of February (when we'll post a 100 Year Vision League preview episode)!

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*Join in with the discussion on our JLeague Chat Discord server: https://discord.gg/6Tr3MBAy

Happy New Year to you all, and welcome back to another season of The J-Talk Podcast. We're beginning the year with a bang, as we celebrate our 600th episode, and after a brief catch-up (and explanation of the pod for new listeners), Jonny and Ben welcome in Dan Orlowitz, to chat about the highs of 2025, as detailed in the J.League Season Review, (all in Japanese, use browser translation) and to look ahead to the Chaos Energy J.League Cup.

Happy New Year, everyone!

In a vainglorious attempt to get 2026 off to a flying start, we do our best to review the J2 season across a pair of bumper episodes (Part 2 is on the way).

In the early stages of this pod, James and Jon wax lyrical about a quartet of J2 clubs: champions Mito (Start to 04:30), runners-up Nagasaki (04:30 to 08:30), as well defeated Play-Off sides Tokushima (08:30 to 11:00) and Iwata (11:00 to 15:45).

Then there's a chance for James to take a breather as Jon chats in-depth to special guest contributor Steve Fryer about another team vanquished in the Play-Offs, Omiya (15:45 to 59:40).

James is back on deck to talk to Jon about a further trio of teams after that: Tosu (59:40 to 01:03:55), Yamagata (01:03:55 to 01:08:00), and finally Imabari (01:08:00 to 01:12:55).

The pod ends with dynamite drop-ins from two of our regular club-specific contributors: Martin Spivey tells us all about Akita's 2025 campaign (01:12:55 to 01:21:40), before Leslie Mabon does similar for Iwaki (01:21:40 to Finish).

We hope everyone enjoys the bumper pod - thank you to all of our contributors!

*Support The J-Talk Podcast Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/jtalkpod

*Join in with the discussion on our JLeague Chat Discord server: https://discord.gg/6Tr3MBAy