The 1997 season was the fifth season of the J-League. The league began in March and ended in November. For this year, the division was contested by 17 teams. Kashima Antlers won the 1st stage and Júbilo Iwata won the 2nd stage. Júbilo won the J.League title after winning both matches in the Suntory Championship.

First stage

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	PKW	OTL	PKL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Kashima Antlers	16	12	0	1	0	0	3	32	15	+17	37
2	Yokohama Flügels	16	11	1	0	0	0	4	35	16	+19	35
3	Kashiwa Reysol	16	10	1	0	1	1	3	34	18	+16	32
4	Bellmare Hiratsuka	16	8	2	0	0	0	6	25	20	+5	28
5	Yokohama Marinos	16	7	3	1	0	0	5	31	31	0	28
6	Júbilo Iwata	16	8	1	0	3	0	4	32	21	+11	26
7	Shimizu S-Pulse	16	7	2	0	2	0	5	25	24	+1	25
8	Gamba Osaka	16	8	0	0	0	0	8	28	23	+5	24
9	Urawa Red Diamonds	16	6	1	1	0	0	8	25	24	+1	21
10	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	16	6	1	1	2	0	6	22	23	−1	21
11	Cerezo Osaka	16	6	0	1	2	1	6	21	26	−5	19
12	Nagoya Grampus Eight	16	6	0	0	1	0	9	18	24	−6	18
13	Kyoto Purple Sanga	16	6	0	0	1	1	8	19	32	−13	18
14	Vissel Kobe	16	5	1	0	2	0	8	24	34	−10	17
15	JEF United Ichihara	16	3	2	0	0	0	11	21	34	−13	13
16	Verdy Kawasaki	16	2	2	0	1	2	9	16	27	−11	10
17	Avispa Fukuoka	16	3	0	0	2	0	11	11	27	−16	9

Second stage

Key

• PLD = Games Played
• W = Games Won - 3 points for a win
• OTW = Games won in overtime - 2 points for overtime win
• PKW = Games won by penalty kicks after overtime played - 1 point for a win
• OTL = Games lost in overtime - zero points for overtime loss
• PKL = Games lost by penalty kicks after overtime played - zero points for a penalty loss
• GF = Goals scored for
• GA = Goals conceded
• GD = Goal difference - GF - GA = GD

Championship

Suntory Championship

December 6, 1997
15:03

Júbilo Iwata	3 – 2	Kashima Antlers
Nakayama 1', 46' Shimizu  119'		Bismarck 62' Mazinho Oliveira 88'

Yamaha Stadium, Iwata

Attendance: 17,269

Referee: Masayoshi Okada

December 13, 1997
19:36

Kashima Antlers	0 – 1	Júbilo Iwata
		Nakayama 81'

Kashima Soccer Stadium, Kashima

Attendance: 15,276

Referee: Leslie Mottram

Golden Boots Ranking

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Patrick M'Boma	Gamba Osaka	25
2	Edílson	Kashiwa Reysol	23
3	Mazinho	Kashima Antlers	22
	Akihiro Nagashima	Vissel Kobe	22
5	Masahiro Fukuda	Urawa Red Diamonds	21
	Julio Salinas	Yokohama Marinos	21
7	Válber	Yokohama Flügels	20
8	Wagner Lopes	Bellmare Hiratsuka	18
	Masashi Nakayama	Bellmare Hiratsuka	18
10	Paulo Jamelli	Kashiwa Reysol	14

Awards

Individual awards

Award	Recipient	Club	Notes
Most Valuable Player	Dunga	Júbilo Iwata
Rookie of the Year	Atsushi Yanagisawa	Kashima Antlers
Manager of the Year	João Carlos	Kashima Antlers
Top Scorer	Patrick M'Boma	Gamba Osaka	25 goals.

Best Eleven

Pos	Footballer	Club	Nationality
GK	Tomoaki Ogami	Júbilo Iwata	Japan
DF	Naoki Soma	Kashima Antlers	Japan
DF	Masami Ihara	Yokohama Marinos	Japan
DF	Yutaka Akita	Kashima Antlers	Japan
MF	Bismarck	Kashima Antlers	Brazil
MF	Hidetoshi Nakata	Bellmare Hiratsuka	Japan
MF	Motohiro Yamaguchi	Yokohama Flügels	Japan
MF	Hiroshi Nanami	Júbilo Iwata	Japan
FW	Dunga	Júbilo Iwata	Brazil
FW	Masashi Nakayama	Júbilo Iwata	Japan
FW	Patrick M'Boma	Gamba Osaka	Cameroon