From the 2026/27 season the J.League has moved to an autumn-spring calendar. J1 plays through Matchweek 20 on Saturday, December 19, 2026, then breaks for about eight weeks before resuming with Matchweek 21 on Saturday, February 13, 2027. For J2 and J3 the last matchday of the year is Sunday, December 13, and play resumes on Saturday, February 20. Reading the official J.League fixtures matchweek by matchweek, December — a month that had only one J1 matchday in the 2025 season — now carries 32 J1 matches spread over seven days. This article extracts from the official fixtures the venue cities that host matches during this “first autumn-spring winter,” and sets out as baselines the room stock within a 5km radius of each stadium and the estimated settled ADR for December and February (finalized months) in the host prefectures and municipalities. It is written for hotel operators and revenue managers in stadium cities, and for the tourism departments of local governments.
• ADR (average daily rate) = estimated settled rate (tax-exclusive equivalent), calculated by applying segment-specific adjustment factors to the lowest-plan level each property publishes on OTAs (per-room rate for 2 guests, tax-inclusive). Checked against property-level results disclosed by listed hotel REITs (91 properties, most recent 3 months), the median error is about 7%. These are estimates and differ from each property’s actual settled prices and accounting figures.
• Area-level (prefecture / municipality) ADR is the median of the estimated settled rates of the properties covered (the level of a typical property in the area).
• Where listed prices are mentioned, they are per-room rates for 2 guests (tax-inclusive).
• OCC (occupancy) = rooms sold as a share of total rooms in the area (estimate based on OTA sales inventory).
• Source: MetroEngines Research (continuous tracking of OTA public prices for about 168,000 properties, of which about 27,000 are confirmed as operating)
- — December J1 matches rise from 10 to 32: from a single matchday in the 2025 season to seven days between 12/4 and 12/19 this season. J2 and J3 each go from 0 to 20 matches; the last matchday of the year is 12/19 for J1 and 12/13 for J2/J3.
- — Six venues have fewer than 700 operating rooms within 5km: from 166 rooms in Kashima to 656 in Suita. Japan National Stadium, by contrast, has 74,238 rooms — about 45% of the simple 20-venue total of 165,587.
- — The finalized ADR baseline spans a 2.6x range: in December 2025, from ¥17,900 in Kyoto to ¥6,900 in Ibaraki. In February 2026, 12 of the 14 prefectures were below their December level — all except Nagasaki and Ibaraki.
- — Home matches in snow country are limited: of the 14 clubs based in Hokkaido, Tohoku, Hokuriku, Shin’etsu, Gifu and Tottori, only three — Sapporo (indoor), Yamagata and Iwaki — have home matches from the second week of December onward and on 2/20.
32 matches over 7 days in December — comparing dates with the 2025 season
First, let us confirm the difference from last year by date. In the 2025 season, J1 kicked off on Friday, February 14 and closed with a simultaneous Matchweek 38 on Saturday, December 6. J2 and J3 started on Saturday, February 15 and finished on Saturday, November 29. In other words, the only league matches last December were J1’s single matchday of 10 matches; J2 and J3 had none. In the 2026/27 season, by contrast, J1 plays Matchweek 18 on December 4–6, Matchweek 19 on December 12–13, two postponed Matchweek 16 matches on Wednesday, December 16, and Matchweek 20 on Saturday, December 19, bringing December’s total to 32 matches. J2 and J3 each add 10 matches on December 5–6 and another 10 on December 12–13, for 20 matches each.
February, on the other hand, is less of a “new month” than it looks. J1 played 30 matches in February 2025 (the opening matchweek, Matchweek 2 and Matchweek 3), and in 2026 the special tournament “Meiji Yasuda J.League 100 Year Vision League” also kicked off on February 6–8. February 2027 for J1 consists of three matchweeks and 30 matches on Saturday 13 / Sunday 14, Saturday 20 and Saturday 27 — about the same number as last year. What changes is the role: February weekends that used to be “opening day” become “restart matches after the break” from this season. J2 and J3 also play 20 matches each in February, roughly the same scale as last year (20 for J2, 18 for J3). From a lodging-demand perspective, mid-December is a net addition, while February is a month that arrives slightly earlier and in the middle of the title and promotion races.
| Item | 2025 season (spring-autumn) | 2026/27 season (autumn-spring) |
|---|---|---|
| J1 opening | Fri, February 14, 2025 | Fri, August 7, 2026 |
| J1 last match of the calendar year | Sat, December 6 — Matchweek 38 = season end | Sat, December 19 — Matchweek 20 |
| J1 matches in December | 10 matches (1 matchday) | 32 matches (12/4-6, 12/12-13, 12/16, 12/19) |
| J1 matches in February | 30 matches (2/14-16, 2/22-23, 2/26) | 30 matches (2/13-14, 2/20, 2/27) *restart on 2/13 |
| J2/J3 last match of the calendar year | Sat, November 29 — Matchweek 38 = season end | Sun, December 13 — Matchweek 22 |
| J2/J3 matches in December | 0 matches | 20 matches each (12/5-6, 12/12-13) |
| J2/J3 matches in February | J2 20 / J3 18 matches (opening 2/15) | 20 matches each (restart 2/20, 2/27) |
| Season end | J1 12/6, J2/J3 11/29 | J1 June 5-6, 2027; J2/J3 May 22-23 |
Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from the J.League official website and the J.League official data site “Fixtures & Results” (accessed October 31, 2026)
Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from the J.League official data site “Fixtures & Results”. February 2027 includes matchdays with kick-off times not yet set
12/12-13, 12/16, 12/19 — venues of the last three matchweeks of the year and room stock within 5km
Next, we listed the venues with matches in the second and third weeks of December straight from the official fixtures, and counted the rooms within a 5km radius of each stadium. The 20 venues covered are the 18 December venues plus Machida GION Stadium and Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium, which are used only in February. “Listed” means facilities with 10 or more rooms listed on major booking sites; “operating” means facilities whose selling prices were confirmed in the most recent three months. A simple sum of the 20 venues’ 5km areas gives 213,755 listed rooms and 165,587 operating rooms, but the breakdown is extremely skewed. The 5km area around Japan National Stadium (Shinjuku) alone holds 74,238 operating rooms, followed by Best Denki Stadium (Fukuoka) with 21,000, EDION Peace Wing Hiroshima with 16,267, Noevir Stadium Kobe with 9,761 and Nagai (Osaka) with 9,275. In the official fixtures Nagai alternates between Yanmar Hanasaka Stadium and Yanmar Stadium Nagai (February 13 only), but since the two stand side by side in Nagai Park, we counted them as one venue.
In contrast, six venues have fewer than 700 operating rooms within 5km: Panasonic Stadium Suita (6 hotels, 656 rooms), K’s denki Stadium Mito (6 hotels, 628 rooms), Machida GION Stadium (4 hotels, 578 rooms), Sanga Stadium (Kameoka, 4 hotels, 379 rooms), Saitama Stadium 2002 (3 hotels, 353 rooms) and Mercari Stadium (Kashima, 5 hotels, 166 rooms). At these venues, even a few hundred away visitors can easily fill the rooms within 5km, and overnight stays are likely to spill into neighboring cities — Mito, Narita and the Tokyo area for Kashima, central Kyoto for Kameoka, and central Osaka for Suita. Note also that weekday night games are scheduled at Kashima and Suita on Wednesday, December 16; spectator demand overlapping with weekday business demand is a reason to revisit weekday rates around both venues.
| Date | Fixture (home vs away) | Venue | 5km listed | 5km operating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/12 (Sat) | Shimizu vs Kobe | IAI Stadium Nihondaira | 24 hotels / 1,258 rooms | 13 hotels / 894 rooms |
| 12/12 (Sat) | C-Osaka vs Machida | Yanmar Hanasaka Stadium (Nagai) | 187 hotels / 14,155 rooms | 105 hotels / 9,275 rooms |
| 12/12 (Sat) | G-Osaka vs Tokyo Verdy | Panasonic Stadium Suita | 13 hotels / 1,203 rooms | 6 hotels / 656 rooms |
| 12/13 (Sun) | Yokohama FM vs Nagasaki | Nissan Stadium | 40 hotels / 6,537 rooms | 26 hotels / 5,341 rooms |
| 12/13 (Sun) | Kyoto vs Chiba | Sanga Stadium | 5 hotels / 408 rooms | 4 hotels / 379 rooms |
| 12/13 (Sun) | Okayama vs Kashiwa | JFE Harenokuni Stadium | 89 hotels / 9,911 rooms | 55 hotels / 7,673 rooms |
| 12/13 (Sun) | Hiroshima vs Kashima | EDION Peace Wing Hiroshima | 216 hotels / 21,667 rooms | 137 hotels / 16,267 rooms |
| 12/13 (Sun) | Urawa vs Kawasaki F | Saitama Stadium 2002 | 4 hotels / 363 rooms | 3 hotels / 353 rooms |
| 12/13 (Sun) | Nagoya vs Mito | Toyota Stadium | 24 hotels / 2,161 rooms | 19 hotels / 1,914 rooms |
| 12/13 (Sun) | Fukuoka vs FC Tokyo | Best Denki Stadium | 274 hotels / 26,233 rooms | 186 hotels / 21,000 rooms |
| 12/16 (Wed) | Kashima vs Machida | Mercari Stadium (Kashima) | 15 hotels / 335 rooms | 5 hotels / 166 rooms |
| 12/16 (Wed) | G-Osaka vs Kashiwa | Panasonic Stadium Suita | 13 hotels / 1,203 rooms | 6 hotels / 656 rooms |
| 12/19 (Sat) | Chiba vs C-Osaka | Fukuda Denshi Arena | 59 hotels / 6,549 rooms | 37 hotels / 4,551 rooms |
| 12/19 (Sat) | Kyoto vs Okayama | Sanga Stadium | 5 hotels / 408 rooms | 4 hotels / 379 rooms |
| 12/19 (Sat) | Mito vs FC Tokyo | K’s denki Stadium Mito | 11 hotels / 730 rooms | 6 hotels / 628 rooms |
| 12/19 (Sat) | Nagoya vs Hiroshima | Paloma Mizuho Stadium | 29 hotels / 2,705 rooms | 17 hotels / 1,970 rooms |
| 12/19 (Sat) | Fukuoka vs Shimizu | Best Denki Stadium | 274 hotels / 26,233 rooms | 186 hotels / 21,000 rooms |
| 12/19 (Sat) | Nagasaki vs Urawa | PEACE STADIUM | 95 hotels / 8,168 rooms | 68 hotels / 6,701 rooms |
| 12/19 (Sat) | Kashima vs Tokyo Verdy | Japan National Stadium | 661 hotels / 94,178 rooms | 465 hotels / 74,238 rooms |
| 12/19 (Sat) | Kobe vs Yokohama FM | Noevir Stadium Kobe | 90 hotels / 12,556 rooms | 61 hotels / 9,761 rooms |
| 12/19 (Sat) | Kawasaki F vs Kashiwa | Uvance Todoroki Stadium | 26 hotels / 2,014 rooms | 18 hotels / 1,690 rooms |
| 12/19 (Sat) | G-Osaka vs Machida | Panasonic Stadium Suita | 13 hotels / 1,203 rooms | 6 hotels / 656 rooms |
Source: Fixtures and venues from the J.League official data site “Fixtures & Results”; room stock from MetroEngines Research (5,000m radius, 10+ rooms, as of October 31, 2026); compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team
Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from MetroEngines Research (operating rooms within a 5,000m radius, as of October 31, 2026; horizontal axis on a logarithmic scale)
Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from MetroEngines Research. Circle size reflects operating rooms within a 5km radius
2/13-14, 2/20 — venues of the two restart matchweeks (only dates are fixed for 2027 matches)
The two restart matchweeks in February are played at 16 of these 20 venues (one Nagoya match has no venue yet). On restart day, Saturday, February 13, Kashima, Kashiwa, Machida, Nagoya, Kyoto, C-Osaka, Kobe, Hiroshima and Nagasaki play at home, and the next day, Sunday the 14th, Tokyo Verdy host Urawa at Japan National Stadium. Nagoya’s venue is listed as undecided in the official fixtures, and unlike the 2026 matches, kick-off times await an early-December announcement. The following week, on Saturday, February 20, Mito, Urawa, Chiba, FC Tokyo (at the National Stadium), Yokohama FM, Shimizu, C-Osaka, Okayama, Hiroshima and Fukuoka are at home. Because Kashiwa, Machida, Saitama (Urawa), Yokohama (Nissan Stadium), Shizuoka and Okayama — which had no match on December 19 — appear in the February table, every one of the 20 venues hosts at least one home match across the two winter months.
| Date | Fixture (home vs away) | Venue | 5km listed | 5km operating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2/13 (Sat) | Kashima vs Mito | Mercari Stadium (Kashima) | 15 hotels / 335 rooms | 5 hotels / 166 rooms |
| 2/13 (Sat) | Kashiwa vs Shimizu | Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium | 11 hotels / 1,552 rooms | 11 hotels / 1,552 rooms |
| 2/13 (Sat) | Machida vs Chiba | Machida GION Stadium | 9 hotels / 1,072 rooms | 4 hotels / 578 rooms |
| 2/13 (Sat) | Nagoya vs FC Tokyo | TBD (listed as undecided in the official schedule) | — | — |
| 2/13 (Sat) | Kyoto vs Yokohama FM | Sanga Stadium | 5 hotels / 408 rooms | 4 hotels / 379 rooms |
| 2/13 (Sat) | C-Osaka vs G-Osaka | Yanmar Stadium Nagai | 187 hotels / 14,155 rooms | 105 hotels / 9,275 rooms |
| 2/13 (Sat) | Kobe vs Kawasaki F | Noevir Stadium Kobe | 90 hotels / 12,556 rooms | 61 hotels / 9,761 rooms |
| 2/13 (Sat) | Hiroshima vs Okayama | EDION Peace Wing Hiroshima | 216 hotels / 21,667 rooms | 137 hotels / 16,267 rooms |
| 2/13 (Sat) | Nagasaki vs Fukuoka | PEACE STADIUM | 95 hotels / 8,168 rooms | 68 hotels / 6,701 rooms |
| 2/14 (Sun) | Tokyo Verdy vs Urawa | Japan National Stadium | 661 hotels / 94,178 rooms | 465 hotels / 74,238 rooms |
| 2/20 (Sat) | Mito vs Kashiwa | K’s denki Stadium Mito | 11 hotels / 730 rooms | 6 hotels / 628 rooms |
| 2/20 (Sat) | Urawa vs Kashima | Saitama Stadium 2002 | 4 hotels / 363 rooms | 3 hotels / 353 rooms |
| 2/20 (Sat) | Chiba vs Kawasaki F | Fukuda Denshi Arena | 59 hotels / 6,549 rooms | 37 hotels / 4,551 rooms |
| 2/20 (Sat) | FC Tokyo vs Nagasaki | Japan National Stadium | 661 hotels / 94,178 rooms | 465 hotels / 74,238 rooms |
| 2/20 (Sat) | Yokohama FM vs Machida | Nissan Stadium | 40 hotels / 6,537 rooms | 26 hotels / 5,341 rooms |
| 2/20 (Sat) | Shimizu vs Kyoto | IAI Stadium Nihondaira | 24 hotels / 1,258 rooms | 13 hotels / 894 rooms |
| 2/20 (Sat) | C-Osaka vs Kobe | Yanmar Hanasaka Stadium (Nagai) | 187 hotels / 14,155 rooms | 105 hotels / 9,275 rooms |
| 2/20 (Sat) | Okayama vs G-Osaka | JFE Harenokuni Stadium | 89 hotels / 9,911 rooms | 55 hotels / 7,673 rooms |
| 2/20 (Sat) | Hiroshima vs Tokyo Verdy | EDION Peace Wing Hiroshima | 216 hotels / 21,667 rooms | 137 hotels / 16,267 rooms |
| 2/20 (Sat) | Fukuoka vs Nagoya | Best Denki Stadium | 274 hotels / 26,233 rooms | 186 hotels / 21,000 rooms |
Source: Fixtures and venues from the J.League official data site “Fixtures & Results” (kick-off times for 2027 matches not yet set); room stock from MetroEngines Research (5,000m radius, as of October 31, 2026); compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team
Note that the line-up of venues in February differs from December. Machida GION Stadium (578 rooms) and Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium (1,552 rooms) appear only in February, while Panasonic Stadium Suita, Uvance Todoroki Stadium, Toyota Stadium and Paloma Mizuho Stadium appear only in December (Nagoya’s February 13 venue is undecided). Nagasaki has home matches on both December 19 and February 13, and its February 13 opponent is Fukuoka. Fukuoka and Nagasaki are as little as about 1 hour 20 minutes apart by limited express connecting to the Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen, making it a fixture where fans can choose between a day trip and an overnight stay.
Estimated settled ADR in host prefectures for December and February — using finalized months as the baseline
Even when the demand calendar changes, the starting point for pricing is last year’s result for the same month. Here we line up the estimated settled ADR (tax-exclusive equivalent, area median) for the finalized months of December 2025 and February 2026 for the 14 prefectures that contain the 20 venues, each with its year-on-year change. December is highest in Kyoto at ¥17,900 (+13.2% YoY, N=580), followed by Tokyo at ¥15,800 (+12.0%) and Shizuoka at ¥15,500 (+19.3%). At the other end, the six J1-venue prefectures with December ADR below ¥10,000 are Aichi, Saitama, Okayama, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Ibaraki; the lowest, Ibaraki, was ¥6,900 (+7.6%, N=304). That the prefecture home to two J1 clubs, Kashima and Mito, has the lowest December rate of the 14 is the baseline for thinking about Kashima (playing at the National Stadium) and Mito on December 19 and Kashima’s home match on December 16.
In February, most prefectures sit below their December level; Kyoto, at ¥12,900 (+2.2% YoY), shows the largest gap from December, which includes the early-December autumn-foliage season. Osaka in February 2026 was ¥8,700, down 9.9% YoY — the only month among the 14 prefectures to fall below the prior year. There are exceptions, however. Nagasaki’s February rate of ¥8,300 (+6.7%) exceeds its December ¥8,000, and Ibaraki’s February ¥7,000 is roughly level with December’s ¥6,900. February in Nagasaki City is the month of the Nagasaki Lantern Festival (February 6–23 in 2026); the 2027 edition has been announced for February 5–21, so the February 13 Nagasaki–Fukuoka match falls within the festival period. The Emperor’s Parade is also scheduled for that day.
Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from MetroEngines Research (estimated settled ADR, finalized months, area median; N is the number of properties covered in each month)
| Prefecture | Dec 2025 ADR | YoY | N | Feb 2026 ADR | YoY | N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyoto | ¥17,918 | +13.2% | 580 | ¥12,892 | +2.2% | 589 |
| Tokyo | ¥15,814 | +12.0% | 1074 | ¥13,855 | +4.0% | 1130 |
| Shizuoka | ¥15,546 | +19.3% | 802 | ¥13,462 | +9.4% | 844 |
| Kanagawa | ¥15,289 | +14.1% | 545 | ¥13,424 | +8.9% | 571 |
| Hyogo | ¥15,145 | +11.7% | 540 | ¥13,402 | +7.0% | 562 |
| Fukuoka | ¥12,824 | +15.0% | 460 | ¥12,141 | +8.7% | 469 |
| Osaka | ¥11,120 | +10.0% | 627 | ¥8,690 | -9.9% | 644 |
| Chiba | ¥10,646 | +6.1% | 406 | ¥9,743 | +2.9% | 419 |
| Aichi | ¥9,056 | +8.7% | 495 | ¥8,340 | +4.3% | 512 |
| Saitama | ¥8,136 | +3.5% | 209 | ¥7,922 | +4.7% | 219 |
| Okayama | ¥8,057 | +6.0% | 191 | ¥7,823 | +0.7% | 191 |
| Hiroshima | ¥8,002 | +5.2% | 294 | ¥7,746 | +2.1% | 299 |
| Nagasaki | ¥7,964 | +1.7% | 250 | ¥8,290 | +6.7% | 254 |
| Ibaraki | ¥6,942 | +7.6% | 304 | ¥6,989 | +7.4% | 311 |
Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from MetroEngines Research (estimated settled ADR, tax-exclusive equivalent, finalized months; YoY compares with the same metric for December 2024 and February 2025)
Drilling down to the wards and cities that host venues reveals a different picture from the prefectural medians. Hakata Ward, Fukuoka is ¥15,300 in December (N=142) and ¥14,700 in February (N=144), above the prefecture as a whole, and Shinjuku is ¥17,500 in December (N=84) and ¥15,300 in February (N=100). Hyogo Ward, home to Noevir Stadium Kobe, has fewer than 10 covered properties, so we look at neighboring Chuo Ward, Kobe, which drops from ¥12,200 in December to ¥10,100 in February. Nagasaki City, on the other hand, is higher in February — ¥11,600 (N=62) vs ¥9,800 (N=63) in December — and Machida also rises from ¥7,500 in December to ¥8,700 in February (N=11). Mito is ¥7,400 in December and ¥7,100 in February (N=33–34), low among the municipalities hosting the 20 J1 venues. Kashima, Kameoka, Suita, Hyogo Ward (Kobe), Nakahara Ward (Kawasaki), Midori Ward (Saitama) and Mizuho Ward (Nagoya), which have fewer than 10 covered properties, and Higashisumiyoshi Ward, Osaka (Nagai), for which a value cannot be calculated, are not shown in the municipal table.
| Venue municipality | Dec 2025 ADR | N | Feb 2026 ADR | N | Feb / Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shinjuku City | ¥17,502 | 84 | ¥15,345 | 100 | -12.3% |
| Hakata Ward, Fukuoka | ¥15,263 | 142 | ¥14,674 | 144 | -3.9% |
| Chuo Ward, Kobe (adjacent to the venue’s Hyogo Ward) | ¥12,189 | 63 | ¥10,136 | 63 | -16.8% |
| Kohoku Ward, Yokohama | ¥10,708 | 16 | ¥10,754 | 16 | +0.4% |
| Chuo Ward, Chiba | ¥9,922 | 32 | ¥9,525 | 34 | -4.0% |
| Nagasaki City | ¥9,817 | 63 | ¥11,554 | 62 | +17.7% |
| Naka Ward, Hiroshima | ¥8,708 | 56 | ¥7,876 | 60 | -9.6% |
| Kashiwa | ¥8,321 | 13 | ¥8,166 | 13 | -1.9% |
| Shimizu Ward, Shizuoka | ¥8,228 | 18 | ¥7,558 | 18 | -8.1% |
| Machida | ¥7,523 | 11 | ¥8,653 | 11 | +15.0% |
| Toyota City | ¥7,506 | 29 | ¥7,006 | 30 | -6.7% |
| Mito | ¥7,383 | 33 | ¥7,068 | 34 | -4.3% |
| Kita Ward, Okayama | ¥7,291 | 49 | ¥7,557 | 46 | +3.6% |
Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from MetroEngines Research (estimated settled ADR, finalized months, only municipalities with 10+ properties covered)
Estimates for December 2026 and February 2027 based on listed prices at the time of the survey do exist, but they are interim figures reflecting the level of plans currently on sale and cannot be compared on the same footing as finalized months. This article does not publish future-month figures and limits its baselines to finalized months.
Clubs in Hokkaido, Tohoku, Hokuriku, Shin’etsu, Gifu and Tottori — home matches in December and February per the official fixtures
The most debated aspect of the autumn-spring calendar has been the clubs in snowy regions. Here we report only the venues listed in the official J2 and J3 fixtures, without speculation. In J2, Sapporo play two home matches at the indoor Daiwa House PREMIST DOME on Saturday, December 5 and Saturday, December 12, play away at Tochigi City on February 20, and return home on February 27. Yamagata host two home matches at ND Soft Stadium Yamagata on Sunday, December 6 and Sunday, December 13, while both February matches (Miyazaki, Yokohama FC) are away. Niigata’s two December matches (Sapporo, Iwata) and two February matches (Tosu, Miyazaki) are all away, and likewise Akita (Fujieda, Kofu; Imabari, Tokushima) and Hachinohe (Yokohama FC, Yamagata; Shonan, Sapporo) have no home matches in either December or February. Toyama host Omiya at home on December 6, then play three consecutive away matches from December 12 through the end of February. Sendai are at home on December 6, away at Omiya on December 12, away at Oita on February 20, and back home on February 27.
In J3, Nagano host Kanazawa at home on December 6 and then play three straight away matches — December 12 (Shiga), February 20 (Gunma) and February 27 (Gifu) — and Matsumoto, after a home match on December 5 (Kochi), play away at Kagoshima, Sagamihara and Yamaguchi in succession. All four of Kanazawa’s matches in December (Nagano, Kumamoto) and February (Kagoshima, Fukushima) are away; the February 27 match against Fukushima is a Fukushima home match held at Japan National Stadium. Fukushima themselves play both December matches away at Sanuki and Kitakyushu, and play away at Shiga on February 20. Gifu and Tottori each have a home match in the first week of December (Gifu 12/5, Tottori 12/6), are away in the second week of December and on February 20, and Gifu return home on February 27.
| Club | 12/5-6 | 12/12-13 | 2/20 | 2/27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sapporo (J2) | Home (dome) | Home (dome) | Away (Tochigi City) | Home (dome) |
| Hachinohe (J2) | Away (Yokohama FC) | Away (Yamagata) | Away (Shonan) | Away (Sapporo) |
| Akita (J2) | Away (Fujieda) | Away (Kofu) | Away (Imabari) | Away (Tokushima) |
| Yamagata (J2) | Home | Home | Away (Miyazaki) | Away (Yokohama FC) |
| Sendai (J2) | Home | Away (Omiya) | Away (Oita) | Home |
| Iwaki (J2) | Away (Yamagata) | Home | Home | Away (Sendai) |
| Niigata (J2) | Away (Sapporo) | Away (Iwata) | Away (Tosu) | Away (Miyazaki) |
| Toyama (J2) | Home | Away (Sapporo) | Away (Tokushima) | Away (Imabari) |
| Fukushima (J3) | Away (Sanuki) | Away (Kitakyushu) | Away (Shiga) | Home (at Japan National Stadium) |
| Nagano (J3) | Home | Away (Shiga) | Away (Gunma) | Away (Gifu) |
| Matsumoto (J3) | Home | Away (Kagoshima) | Away (Sagamihara) | Away (Yamaguchi) |
| Kanazawa (J3) | Away (Nagano) | Away (Kumamoto) | Away (Kagoshima) | Away (Fukushima, at National Stadium) |
| Gifu (J3) | Home | Away (Tochigi SC) | Away (Yamaguchi) | Home |
| Tottori (J3) | Home | Away (Gunma) | Away (Tochigi SC) | Away (Sagamihara) |
Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from the J.League official data site “Fixtures & Results” (accessed October 31, 2026; kick-off times for February 2027 not yet set)
What this table shows is that from the second week of December onward and in the February 20 restart round, only three of the 14 clubs — the 12 based in Hokkaido, Tohoku, Hokuriku and Shin’etsu plus Gifu and Tottori — have home matches: Sapporo (indoor), Yamagata and Iwaki; on February 20 alone, only Iwaki. Put the other way, supporters of these clubs will travel to away matches continuously from mid-December to late February, and the receiving side will be the venue cities of their J2 and J3 opponents, such as Sagamihara, Gunma, Tochigi, Shiga, Yamaguchi, Kagoshima, Miyazaki, Tosu, Oita, Tokushima and Imabari.
Implications for operators — overlaying match days on the winter baseline
To sum up, the first autumn-spring winter is a change in which “new matchdays arrive in mid-December, and in February opening matches are replaced by restart matches.” This article does not estimate the size of lodging demand. The J.League spectator survey (2025 season, analyzed by KPMG Consulting, 191,686 total responses) covers spectator satisfaction and reasons for attending, but does not publish spectators’ place of residence or whether they stayed overnight, so there is currently no published figure that can ground an estimate of away-trip nights. Instead, we highlight three points operators can check in their own markets.
First, at venues with fewer than 700 operating rooms within 5km (Kashima, Saitama, Kameoka, Machida, Mito, Suita), match-day lodging demand tends to overflow beyond the local market. Kashima does not have enough covered properties for its December/February finalized ADR to appear in the municipal table, so the prefectural median (¥6,900 in December, ¥7,000 in February) is the only baseline. Around such venues, hotels in neighboring cities are positioned as the “match-day overflow,” and it is worth reviewing Saturday rates for December 19 (Sat) and February 20 (Sat) against the same-month Saturday results of last year. Second, at venues such as the National Stadium, Fukuoka and Hiroshima with more than 10,000 operating rooms, or Kobe and Nagai in the 9,000-room range, the visitors from a single match are limited relative to total market demand; what matters more for allocating plan inventory is knowing where match days fall within December’s high-rate period (in Kyoto, Tokyo, Shizuoka and Kanagawa, December was +12–19% YoY). Third, the weekday matches at Kashima and Suita on Wednesday, December 16, and short-distance fixtures such as Nagasaki–Fukuoka on February 13, have two sides: day-of-week and distance make them less likely to translate into overnight stays, yet weekday night games can create new post-match stays. Which effect is stronger can only be confirmed by how bookings come in, and this article does not yet use booking-curve observations. The 45-day lead-time snapshot for December 19 becomes available in early November, so a follow-up will test this against inventory depletion.
Using the same approach as our article on the 2026 Climax Series, which examined how late venues are confirmed for Japanese professional baseball’s postseason and the room stock around them, and our article on lodging demand for the Common Test, which counted rooms within 2km of exam venues, this article first establishes “how many rooms exist where an event’s dates are already fixed.” Our comparison of Fukuoka Saturday booking curves by property type should serve as a reference point when reading booking progress around Best Denki Stadium for Saturday, December 19.
⚠ Note on future dates: The ADR figures in this article are estimated settled ADR for finalized months (December 2025 and February 2026); figures for December 2026 and February 2027 are not published. Reference values for future months estimated from selling prices published on OTAs at the time of the survey change as check-in approaches, with new plans added and prices adjusted, so they cannot be compared on the same footing as finalized months. Match schedules are based on the official fixtures as of October 31, 2026; kick-off times and the venue (Nagoya) for 2027 matches will be confirmed with the early-December announcement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Under the autumn-spring calendar, until when in December and from when in February are J.League matches played?
A. In the 2026/27 season, J1’s last match of the calendar year is Matchweek 20 on Saturday, December 19, and play resumes with Matchweek 21 on Saturday, February 13 and Sunday, February 14, 2027. For J2 and J3, the last matchday of the year is Sunday, December 13, and play resumes on Saturday, February 20. The J.League has announced that kick-off times and broadcasts for 2027 matches will be published in early December.
Q. How many more December matches are there compared with last year?
A. In December of the 2025 season there were only the 10 matches of J1’s final matchweek, and no J2 or J3 matches. In the 2026/27 season, J1 plays 32 matches in December and J2 and J3 play 20 each. In February, J1 plays 30 matches, about the same as last year.
Q. How are the rooms around each stadium counted?
A. We count lodging facilities with 10 or more rooms listed on major booking sites within a 5km radius of each stadium, and treat facilities whose selling prices were confirmed in the most recent three months as “operating.” Figures are compiled by MetroEngines Research as of October 31, 2026.
Summary
The first winter of the J.League’s autumn-spring calendar is fixed by date: J1 plays until December 19 and resumes on February 13; J2 and J3 play until December 13 and resume on February 20. Whereas J1 had only 10 matches last December, this season brings 32 J1 matches and 20 each for J2 and J3 in December, making mid-December a new set of matchdays for the lodging market. February has about the same number of matches as last year, but opening matches are replaced by restart matches after the break. The 20 venues have a combined 165,587 operating rooms within 5km, yet six venues have fewer than 700, and Kashima has only 166. Finalized ADR in host prefectures spans a 2.6x range in December, from ¥17,900 in Kyoto to ¥6,900 in Ibaraki, and in February every prefecture except Nagasaki and Ibaraki is below its December level. Of the 14 clubs — the 12 in Hokkaido, Tohoku, Hokuriku and Shin’etsu plus Gifu and Tottori — only Sapporo, Yamagata and Iwaki have home matches from the second week of December onward and on February 20. How bookings build toward match days can be tested with observations within 45 days of lead time from November onward, and a follow-up will track inventory depletion.
Related Articles
- Climax Series 2026 Hotels: Venues Set 2-8 Days Out, 298x Room Gap
- Japan Common Test Hotel Demand: 4,600-23,200 Rooms/Night, 159 Venues
- Fukuoka Saturday Booking Curves: Ryokan 59.2%→88.4%, Business 97.8%
- APA 755 Rooms in Kobe Sannomiya, 2029: +13.9% Supply, ADR ¥12,100
- Japan’s Largest Hotels by Room Count 2026: Top 30 & Okinawa Top 20
References and Sources
■ Data sources
Match schedules and venues are from the J.League official website and official data site (accessed October 31, 2026). Room stock and estimated settled ADR are compiled by MetroEngines Research.
■ Assumptions
This article does not estimate attendance, away-trip nights or lodging demand. Room stock covers facilities with 10 or more rooms (excluding leisure/love hotels) within a 5,000m radius centered on each stadium; ADR is the estimated settled ADR (area median) for the finalized months of December 2025 and February 2026.
■ Limitations
The 20-venue room total is a simple sum and does not deduct the overlap between the partially overlapping areas of Nissan Stadium and Uvance Todoroki Stadium. The 5km radius is straight-line distance and does not reflect transport access. Prefectural and municipal ADR reflects the area as a whole and does not indicate rates around the stadiums or on match days. Venues and kick-off times for 2027 matches are subject to change.
- J.League, “About the 2026/27 Season Period” (J.League official website) (Japanese)
- J.League, “2026/27 Meiji Yasuda J.League Fixtures Announced” (July 1, 2026) (Japanese)
- J.League, “Announcement Schedule for 2026/27 J.League Fixtures” (May 25, 2026) (Japanese)
- J.League, “2026/27 Meiji Yasuda J.League Home Opening Fixtures Announced” (June 13, 2026) (Japanese)
- J.League official data site, “Fixtures & Results” 2026/27 J1, J2, J3 (accessed October 31, 2026) (Japanese)
- J.League official data site, “Fixtures & Results” 2025 J1, J2, J3 (Japanese)
- J.League, “2025 Meiji Yasuda J.League Season Fixtures Decided!” (December 13, 2024) (Japanese)
- Soccer King, “Meiji Yasuda J.League 100 Year Vision League Schedule” (kicking off February 6–8, 2026) (Japanese)
- Soccer King, “J.League board decides to move to an autumn-spring calendar from the 2026/27 season” (December 19, 2023) (Japanese)
- KPMG Consulting, “J.League Stadium Spectator Survey 2025 Season Report” (July 31, 2026; 191,686 total responses) (Japanese)
- Toretabi, “Nagasaki Lantern Festival 2026” (February 6–23, 2026) (Japanese)
- Nagasaki City official tourism site, “Nagasaki Lantern Festival” (February 5–21 in 2027; accessed October 31, 2026)
- MetroEngines Research — estimated settled ADR (prefectures and municipalities; finalized months December 2025 and February 2026, YoY vs December 2024 and February 2025) and room stock within a 5,000m radius of stadiums (as of October 31, 2026, 20 venues)