The 1998 season was the sixth season of the J-League. The league began in March and ended in November. For this year, the division was contested by 18 teams. Júbilo Iwata won the 1st stage and Kashima Antlers won the 2nd stage. Kashima Antlers 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	Júbilo Iwata	17	13	0	0	0	0	4	52	18	+34	39
2	Shimizu S-Pulse	17	13	0	0	0	0	4	32	14	+18	39
3	Nagoya Grampus Eight	17	9	3	0	0	1	4	37	21	+16	33
4	Yokohama Marinos	17	10	1	0	1	0	5	39	21	+18	32
5	Kashima Antlers	17	10	1	0	0	0	6	41	28	+13	32
6	Verdy Kawasaki	17	10	0	0	1	1	5	34	25	+9	30
7	Urawa Red Diamonds	17	8	1	2	1	0	5	30	23	+7	28
8	Yokohama Flügels	17	7	2	1	0	0	7	33	32	+1	26
9	Cerezo Osaka	17	7	1	0	1	0	8	36	47	−11	23
10	Kashiwa Reysol	17	6	1	2	1	0	7	32	35	−3	22
11	JEF United Ichihara	17	7	0	0	2	0	8	31	31	0	21
12	Bellmare Hiratsuka	17	5	2	1	1	0	8	27	34	−7	20
13	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	17	5	2	0	2	1	7	22	33	−11	19
14	Gamba Osaka	17	4	2	1	1	0	9	27	29	−2	17
15	Kyoto Purple Sanga	17	4	2	0	3	0	8	20	33	−13	16
16	Consadole Sapporo	17	3	1	0	2	3	8	28	44	−16	11
17	Vissel Kobe	17	3	0	0	1	0	13	20	48	−28	9
18	Avispa Fukuoka	17	2	0	1	2	2	10	22	47	−25	7

Second stage

Playoffs

Suntory Championship

November 21, 1998
14:04

Júbilo Iwata	1 – 2	Kashima Antlers
Nakayama 7'		Hasegawa 72' Muroi  110'

Tokyo National Stadium, Tokyo

Attendance: 40,263

Referee: Masayoshi Okada

November 28, 1998
19:35

Kashima Antlers	2 – 1	Júbilo Iwata
Akita 39' Bismarck 41'		Fujita 84'

Kashima Soccer Stadium, Kashima

Attendance: 16,991

Referee: Leslie Mottram

Relegation playoffs

On the aggregate table, JEF United Ichihara, Avispa Fukuoka, and Vissel Kobe had earned within the 15th-18th places in the tables for both 1997 and 1998, while Consadole Sapporo had achieved within the same span on its sole season on the J.League. (Gamba Osaka, who had finished between Sapporo and Kobe, was reprieved because of the collapse and resignation of Yokohama Flügels.) These clubs thus were entered in an elimination promotion/relegation tournament along with Japan Football League runners-up Kawasaki Frontale, who unlike champions Tokyo Gas had a base more qualifiable for the J.League.

First round

Avispa Fukuoka v Kawasaki Frontale

November 19, 1998	Avispa Fukuoka	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Kawasaki Frontale	Hakata no Mori Football Stadium, Fukuoka
	Kudo 24' Yamashita 89' Fernando ,  104'		Ito 17' Tuto 61'	Attendance: 12,535 Referee: Alfredo Rodas

Kawasaki forms J.League Division 2 the next season. Fukuoka advances to the next round.

Second round

The winners of this round stay in J.League Division 1 and the losers play a final elimination series to determine the club relegated to Division 2.

Final round

Fukuoka stays in J.League Division 1. Consadole is relegated to new J.League Division 2.

Awards

Individual awards

Award	Recipient	Club	Notes
Most Valuable Player	Masashi Nakayama	Júbilo Iwata
Rookie of the Year	Shinji Ono	Urawa Red Diamonds
Manager of the Year	Osvaldo Ardiles	Shimizu S-Pulse
Top Scorer	Masashi Nakayama	Júbilo Iwata	36 goals.

Best Eleven

Pos	Footballer	Club	Nationality
GK	Seigo Narazaki	Yokohama Flügels	Japan
DF	Naoki Soma	Kashima Antlers	Japan
DF	Makoto Tanaka	Júbilo Iwata	Japan
DF	Yutaka Akita	Kashima Antlers	Japan
MF	Shinji Ono	Urawa Red Diamonds	Japan
MF	Daisuke Oku	Júbilo Iwata	Japan
MF	Toshiya Fujita	Júbilo Iwata	Japan
MF	Hiroshi Nanami	Júbilo Iwata	Japan
MF	Dunga	Júbilo Iwata	Brazil
FW	Masashi Nakayama	Júbilo Iwata	Japan
FW	Atsushi Yanagisawa	Kashima Antlers	Japan