| Season | 1973 |
|---|---|
← 1972 1974 → | |
The 1973 season of Japanese football.
Tanabe Pharmaceuticals was relegated, thereby becoming the first Japanese team to go straight back down one season after promotion.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mitsubishi Motors | 18 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 35 | 12 | +23 | 30 | Champions |
| 2 | Hitachi | 18 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 35 | 18 | +17 | 25 | |
| 3 | Yanmar Diesel | 18 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 40 | 17 | +23 | 23 | |
| 4 | Towa Real Estate | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 29 | 22 | +7 | 21 | |
| 5 | Furukawa Electric | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 31 | 27 | +4 | 21 | |
| 6 | Nippon Steel | 18 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 25 | 26 | −1 | 16 | |
| 7 | Toyota Motors | 18 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 22 | 31 | −9 | 15 | |
| 8 | Toyo Industries | 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 28 | −12 | 14 | |
| 9 | Nippon Kokan | 18 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 24 | 32 | −8 | 12 | To promotion/relegation Series |
| 10 | Tanabe Pharmaceutical | 18 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 7 | 51 | −44 | 3 |
| JSL Division 1 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | JSL Division 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nippon Kokan | 2-1 | 2-2 | Kofu SC |
| Tanabe Pharmaceutical | 2-1 | 0-2 | Eidai Industries |
Eidai promoted, Tanabe relegated.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eidai Industries | 18 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 51 | 24 | +27 | 26 | To promotion/relegation Series with Division 1 |
| 2 | Kofu SC | 18 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 39 | 25 | +14 | 26 | |
| 3 | Yomiuri | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 40 | 21 | +19 | 24 | |
| 4 | Fujitsu | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 33 | 28 | +5 | 22 | |
| 5 | NTT Kinki | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 31 | 29 | +2 | 21 | |
| 6 | Dainichi Nippon Cable Industries | 18 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 30 | 34 | −4 | 16 | |
| 7 | Kyoto Shiko | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 31 | 35 | −4 | 14 | |
| 8 | Teijin Matsuyama | 18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 21 | 43 | −22 | 13 | |
| 9 | Toyoda Automatic Loom Works | 18 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 30 | 34 | −4 | 9 | To promotion/relegation Series with Senior Cup Finalists |
| 10 | Hagoromo Club | 18 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 25 | 48 | −23 | 9 |
Sumitomo, at the time based in Osaka, would move to Kashima, Ibaraki in 1975 and become today's Kashima Antlers.
| JSL | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Senior Cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toyoda Automatic Loom Works | 1-1 | 1-2 | Hitachi Ibaraki (Cup runner-up) |
| Hagoromo Club | 2-2 | 1-2 | Sumitomo Metal (Cup winner) |
Hitachi Ibaraki and Sumitomo promoted, Toyota Industries and Hagoromo Club relegated.