We identified 220 real signings for the first-team squad — academy promotions, loan returns and transfers that never went through are excluded. 7 youth investments (under-23) are classified separately. This edition introduces the adjusted hit rate, which statistically weights clubs with few signings to avoid small-sample distortions.
Club Ranking
| Club | League pos. | Signings | Evaluated |
Successful | Fair | Unsuccessful | Raw % | Adjusted % |
|---|
| 1 | Urawa | 6º | 11 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 64% | 51% |
| 2 | Avispa Fukuoka | 8º | 25 | 25 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 48% | 45% |
| 3 | Kashima | 4º | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 75% | 43% |
| 4 | Sagan Tosu | 7º | 14 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 46% | 42% |
| 5 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 2º | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 50% | 41% |
| 6 | Shonan Bellmare | 16º | 8 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 44% | 39% |
| 7 | Shimizu S-pulse | 14º | 18 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 41% | 39% |
| 8 | Cerezo Osaka | 12º | 13 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 38% | 36% |
| 9 | Kashiwa Reysol | 15º | 8 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 38% | 36% |
| 10 | Nagoya Grampus | 5º | 7 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 36% | 35% |
| 11 | Vegalta Sendai | 19º | 10 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 30% | 32% |
| 12 | Kawasaki Frontale | 1º | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 25% | 30% |
| 13 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 11º | 7 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 25% | 30% |
| 14 | Consadole Sapporo | 10º | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 17% | 30% |
| 15 | Tokushima Vortis | 17º | 22 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 27% | 29% |
| 16 | Yokohama FC | 20º | 19 | 17 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 26% | 29% |
| 17 | Vissel Kobe | 3º | 9 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 22% | 28% |
| 18 | Oita Trinita | 18º | 17 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 24% | 27% |
| 19 | Gamba Osaka | 13º | 8 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8% | 23% |
| 20 | FC Tokyo | 9º | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7% | 22% |
The Adjusted % applies Bayesian weighting toward the league average (35%), proportional to the volume of signings — the ranking's official order.
Hit rate by transfer window
| Window | Signings | Hit rate % |
|---|
| Start-of-season window (Dec-Apr) | 180 | 34% |
| Mid-year window (May-Aug) | 40 | 37% |
Season Highlights
| Player | Club | Pos | Min | G+A | Nota | Rating |
|---|
| Thiago Santana | Shimizu S-pulse | F | 3190 | 12+2 | 6.94 | Excellent |
| Élber | Yokohama F. Marinos | M | 2550 | 5+6 | 7.12 | Excellent |
| Ken Iwao | Tokushima Vortis | M | 3144 | 3+3 | 7.23 | Excellent |
| Léo Ceará | Yokohama F. Marinos | F | 1343 | 10+5 | 7.17 | Excellent |
| Yoshinori Muto | Vissel Kobe | F | 1186 | 5+7 | 7.15 | Excellent |
| Takeru Kishimoto | Tokushima Vortis | D | 3110 | 5+2 | 6.98 | Excellent |
Methodology
Each evaluated signing is classified into five tiers from a score that combines match ratings, attacking output adjusted for game time, collective contribution and consistency, in comparison with the other players in the competition. Successful signings count as a full point; Fair ones, half a point. Signings without relevant game time are unsuccessful, except for youth investments (under-23) and serious, documented injuries.
Appendix — Signings by club
* Youth investment (under-23, no game time) — outside the calculation.
Avispa Fukuoka (25 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Hiroyuki Mae | 38 | 3340 | 2 | 1 | Excellent |
| Masaaki Murakami | 38 | 3330 | 0 | 0 | Good |
| Douglas Grolli | 34 | 2700 | 1 | 0 | Fair |
| Takaaki Shichi | 30 | 2366 | 1 | 3 | Good |
| Takeshi Kanamori | 37 | 2199 | 4 | 2 | Good |
| Tatsuki Nara | 25 | 2072 | 1 | 0 | Good |
| Daiki Miya | 37 | 1954 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Yuya Yamagishi | 29 | 1860 | 5 | 4 | Excellent |
| Juanma Delgado | 27 | 1526 | 5 | 0 | Good |
| Taro Sugimoto | 26 | 1505 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Masato Yuzawa | 38 | 1482 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Sotan Tanabe | 27 | 1352 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Takuya Shigehiro | 25 | 1337 | 0 | 3 | Fair |
| Bruno Mendes | 19 | 1225 | 4 | 0 | Good |
| Jordy Croux | 25 | 1101 | 4 | 2 | Good |
| Shun Nakamura | 13 | 992 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Daiki Watari | 27 | 952 | 2 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Daisuke Ishizu | 15 | 787 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Naoki Wako | 16 | 601 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| John Mary | 17 | 551 | 5 | 0 | Fair |
| Caue | 13 | 535 | 1 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Carlos Gutiérrez | 12 | 439 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Masakazu Yoshioka | 10 | 334 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Hisashi Jogo | 14 | 272 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Rikihiro Sugiyama | 13 | 90 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Cerezo Osaka (13 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Riki Harakawa | 26 | 2016 | 2 | 3 | Excellent |
| Mutsuki Kato | 37 | 1640 | 7 | 0 | Fair |
| Yoshito Okubo | 30 | 1417 | 6 | 1 | Good |
| Tiago Pagnussat | 18 | 1122 | 4 | 0 | Fair |
| Ryosuke Shindo | 21 | 674 | 2 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Adam Taggart | 12 | 643 | 1 | 0 | Fair |
| Takashi Inui | 8 | 573 | 1 | 2 | Fair |
| Dankler | 6 | 540 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Riki Matsuda | 24 | 404 | 1 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Naoto Arai | 15 | 299 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Koji Toriumi | 11 | 118 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Hirotaka Tameda | 3 | 45 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Taishi Matsumoto * | 7 | 35 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Consadole Sapporo (3 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Ryota Aoki | 35 | 1766 | 4 | 1 | Fair |
| Daihachi Okamura | 32 | 504 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Yanagi Takahiro | 34 | 360 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
FC Tokyo (7 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Takuya Aoki | 33 | 2233 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Yuto Nagatomo | 10 | 900 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Ryoma Watanabe | 18 | 803 | 2 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Junya Suzuki | 9 | 439 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Bruno Uvini | 6 | 56 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Shuto Okaniwa | 1 | 45 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Rick | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Gamba Osaka (8 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Leandro Pereira | 24 | 1316 | 5 | 0 | Fair |
| Se-jong Ju | 25 | 989 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Wellington Silva | 24 | 739 | 0 | 2 | Did not deliver |
| Ko Yanagisawa | 16 | 689 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Tiago Alves | 20 | 551 | 2 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Hiroto Yamami * | 5 | 121 | 1 | 0 | Investment |
| Jun Ichimori | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Lee Yun-Oh * | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Kashima (2 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Diego Pituca | 26 | 1925 | 2 | 3 | Good |
| Arthur | 14 | 466 | 5 | 0 | Fair |
Kashiwa Reysol (8 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Seung-gyu Kim | 35 | 3150 | 0 | 0 | Good |
| Keiya Shiihashi | 33 | 1873 | 2 | 2 | Fair |
| Douglas Moreira | 16 | 1073 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Yuki Muto | 13 | 694 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Emerson Santos | 9 | 574 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Pedro Raúl | 8 | 548 | 3 | 1 | Fair |
| Ippei Shinozuka | 20 | 418 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Rodrigo | 11 | 373 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Kawasaki Frontale (6 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| João Schmidt | 25 | 1874 | 0 | 2 | Good |
| Marcinho | 11 | 707 | 1 | 3 | Fair |
| Kenta Tanno | 38 | 450 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Koki Tsukagawa | 17 | 275 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Kazuki Kozuka | 12 | 77 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Shunsuke Ando | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Nagoya Grampus (7 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Yoichiro Kakitani | 36 | 2413 | 5 | 0 | Good |
| Yasuki Kimoto | 36 | 1730 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Kazuki Nagasawa | 37 | 1434 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Min Tae Kim | 12 | 1070 | 1 | 0 | Good |
| Ryoya Morishita | 32 | 929 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Jakub Świerczok | 14 | 784 | 7 | 0 | Fair |
| Manabu Saito | 28 | 719 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
Oita Trinita (17 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Kento Misao | 36 | 3109 | 1 | 2 | Good |
| Hokuto Shimoda | 33 | 2761 | 1 | 7 | Excellent |
| Henrique Trevisan | 28 | 2041 | 2 | 0 | Fair |
| Arata Watanabe | 33 | 1772 | 4 | 0 | Fair |
| Shun Nagasawa | 33 | 1753 | 4 | 0 | Fair |
| Yuki Kobayashi | 28 | 1730 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Keisuke Saka | 20 | 1551 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| William Popp | 37 | 1260 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Asahi Masuyama | 12 | 665 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Hiroto Goya | 14 | 658 | 2 | 1 | Fair |
| Kenta Fukumori | 10 | 536 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Katsunori Ueebisu | 14 | 519 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Matheus Pereira | 12 | 284 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Junya Nodake | 5 | 222 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Hayato Kurosaki | 7 | 151 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Tsukasa Umesaki | 5 | 64 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Shun Yoshida | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Sagan Tosu (14 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Keiya Sento | 38 | 3090 | 3 | 2 | Excellent |
| Nanasei Iino | 35 | 2668 | 0 | 2 | Good |
| Seok Ho Hwang | 28 | 2141 | 0 | 1 | Good |
| Yoshihiro Nakano | 29 | 1918 | 1 | 1 | Good |
| Keita Yamashita | 35 | 1709 | 9 | 0 | Excellent |
| Toshio Shimakawa | 27 | 1537 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Noriyoshi Sakai | 33 | 1518 | 8 | 2 | Fair |
| Ryohei Shirasaki | 12 | 973 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Kei Koizumi | 11 | 777 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Yuto Iwasaki | 14 | 567 | 1 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Masaya Tashiro | 31 | 340 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Ismael Dunga | 10 | 105 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Yuto Uchida | 5 | 21 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Chico Ofoedu | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Sanfrecce Hiroshima (7 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Júnior Santos | 36 | 1949 | 7 | 2 | Good |
| Yuta Imazu | 25 | 1033 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Shun Ayukawa | 24 | 614 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Tsukasa Shiotani | 5 | 308 | 1 | 0 | Fair |
| Jelani Reshaun Sumiyoshi | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Goro Kawanami | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Osamu Iyoha * | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Shimizu S-pulse (18 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Shuichi Gonda | 38 | 3420 | 0 | 0 | Good |
| Thiago Santana | 37 | 3190 | 12 | 2 | Excellent |
| Teruki Hara | 29 | 2553 | 2 | 2 | Good |
| Eiichi Katayama | 29 | 2465 | 2 | 0 | Good |
| Yoshinori Suzuki | 26 | 1796 | 2 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Katsuhiro Nakayama | 29 | 1564 | 2 | 1 | Fair |
| Daiki Matsuoka | 15 | 1346 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Akira Ibayashi | 16 | 1336 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Keita Nakamura | 20 | 846 | 1 | 3 | Fair |
| Ronaldo | 11 | 821 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Noriaki Fujimoto | 9 | 584 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Akira Silvano Disaro | 26 | 564 | 1 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Benjamin Kololli | 8 | 535 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Naoya Fukumori | 16 | 356 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Hiroshi Ibusuki | 17 | 193 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Reon Yamahara * | 6 | 134 | 0 | 1 | Investment |
| William Matheus | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Kengo Nagai | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Shonan Bellmare (8 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Shuto Machino | 31 | 1794 | 4 | 4 | Good |
| Wellington | 27 | 1621 | 6 | 1 | Good |
| Shintaro Nago | 20 | 1166 | 3 | 1 | Fair |
| Shun Nakamura | 11 | 748 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Masaki Ikeda | 22 | 730 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Shuto Yamamoto | 8 | 704 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Welinton Junior | 4 | 44 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Shunya Mori | 2 | 14 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
Tokushima Vortis (22 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Ken Iwao | 37 | 3144 | 3 | 3 | Excellent |
| Takeru Kishimoto | 36 | 3110 | 5 | 2 | Excellent |
| Naoto Kamifukumoto | 37 | 3060 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Taisei Miyashiro | 32 | 2559 | 7 | 2 | Good |
| Yuki Kakita | 36 | 2349 | 8 | 2 | Excellent |
| Shota Fukuoka | 34 | 2279 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Cacá | 26 | 2276 | 1 | 0 | Fair |
| Diego | 33 | 2152 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Tokuma Suzuki | 34 | 2048 | 0 | 2 | Fair |
| Kazuki Nishiya | 23 | 1544 | 1 | 3 | Fair |
| Joel Chima Fujita | 31 | 1478 | 1 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Akira Hamashita | 20 | 1048 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Hidenori Ishii | 15 | 816 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Dušan Cvetinović | 20 | 791 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Taiki Tamukai | 14 | 602 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Cristian Battocchio | 10 | 563 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Seiya Fujita | 21 | 429 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Kazunari Ichimi | 12 | 411 | 2 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Atsushi Kawata | 16 | 405 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Takashi Abe | 7 | 328 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Akihiro Sato | 5 | 58 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Yuto Uchida | 2 | 53 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Urawa (11 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Takahiro Akimoto | 33 | 2581 | 4 | 1 | Good |
| Yoshio Koizumi | 34 | 2409 | 2 | 5 | Excellent |
| Daigo Nishi | 26 | 1753 | 1 | 3 | Fair |
| Kasper Junker | 21 | 1303 | 9 | 1 | Excellent |
| Alexander Scholz | 15 | 1237 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Ataru Esaka | 16 | 1216 | 5 | 1 | Excellent |
| Hiroki Sakai | 14 | 1161 | 2 | 0 | Good |
| Tatsuya Tanaka | 30 | 1042 | 4 | 2 | Fair |
| Yuichi Hirano | 13 | 1004 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Daiki Kaneko | 18 | 452 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Kosuke Kinoshita | 2 | 22 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Vegalta Sendai (10 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Rikiya Uehara | 34 | 2578 | 1 | 4 | Excellent |
| Ryoma Kida | 30 | 1546 | 3 | 0 | Fair |
| Naoya Fukumori | 15 | 890 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Cayman Togashi | 12 | 858 | 3 | 2 | Fair |
| Quenten Martinus | 16 | 733 | 3 | 0 | Fair |
| Felippe Cardoso | 23 | 732 | 1 | 2 | Fair |
| Foguinho | 14 | 619 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Yusuke Minagawa | 16 | 415 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Yosuke Akiyama | 3 | 169 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Emmanuel Oti | 7 | 121 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Vissel Kobe (9 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Tetsushi Yamakawa | 33 | 1740 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Yoshinori Muto | 14 | 1186 | 5 | 7 | Excellent |
| Shion Inoue | 28 | 1029 | 0 | 2 | Did not deliver |
| Yuya Osako | 11 | 883 | 4 | 4 | Fair |
| Lincoln | 14 | 330 | 1 | 0 | Fair |
| Ayub Timbe Masika | 10 | 190 | 0 | 2 | Did not deliver |
| Bojan Krkić | 7 | 159 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Ryotaro Hironaga | 19 | 122 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Nagisa Sakurauchi | 10 | 99 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Yokohama F. Marinos (6 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Élber | 37 | 2550 | 5 | 6 | Excellent |
| Tomoki Iwata | 37 | 2466 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Léo Ceará | 27 | 1343 | 10 | 5 | Excellent |
| Kenyu Sugimoto | 11 | 332 | 3 | 0 | Fair |
| Ryonosuke Kabayama | 5 | 75 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Ryo Miyaichi | 3 | 46 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Yokohama FC (19 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Hideto Takahashi | 25 | 1936 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Han Hogang | 29 | 1801 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Yuya Takagi | 30 | 1757 | 1 | 3 | Fair |
| Yota Maejima | 27 | 1730 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Ryo Germain | 31 | 1650 | 2 | 2 | Fair |
| Svend Brodersen | 16 | 1440 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Kazuma Watanabe | 36 | 1365 | 4 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Katsuya Iwatake | 22 | 1191 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Kleber | 20 | 1167 | 3 | 1 | Good |
| Keijiro Ogawa | 26 | 1061 | 1 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Gabriel | 11 | 825 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Saulo | 11 | 682 | 4 | 0 | Fair |
| Sho Ito | 15 | 537 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Arthur Feitoza | 11 | 494 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Felipe Vizeu | 13 | 481 | 2 | 0 | Fair |
| Daiki Nakashio | 7 | 360 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Riku Furuyado | 3 | 94 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Ryo Tabei * | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
| Haruki Saruta * | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |