The 2025 Emperor's Cup or the JFA 105th Japan Football Championship (Japanese: 天çÂÂæ¯ JFA 第105Ã¥ÂÂå ¨æ¥拵ãÂÂã«ã¼é¸æÂÂ権大ä¼Â) was the 105th edition of the annually known contested cup. It featured 88 teams representing the prefectural football associations, university football federation, J1 League and the J2 League.
Vissel Kobe were the title holders, winning the 2024 final against Gamba Osaka, just before becoming 2025 J1 League champions, winning the domestic double. They joined the competition along other J1 and J2 League teams in the second round. They were beaten in the final by Machida Zelvia, who won their first ever major title.
Due to the participation of Urawa Red Diamonds in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, they were given automatic qualification to the Round of 16 of the Emperor's Cup, as the Club World Cup takes place between June and July, just when the rest of the J1 League teams are participating in the second and third round of the Emperor's Cup.
The schedule for the first round to the Round of 16 was announced on 4 February 2025.
As the norm, only J1 and J2 League clubs qualify directly for the first round. All the teams from lower divisions (starting from the J3 League) who wants to qualify to the Emperor's Cup (exception being made to the JFA-seeded team), have to undergo a prefectural qualification, with regulations and schedules varying from one association to another. In total, there are 47 prefectural cup qualifications, with the winners of each prefectural cup earning their right to play in the Emperor's Cup, with all of them assigned to start the competition in the first round.
In bold, it will be displayed the teams that won each final, and not necessarily the home team. All the matches are played on a neutral venue.
All teams playing in the 2024 J1 League join the competition in the second round, except 2025 FIFA Club World Cup participants Urawa Red Diamonds, who join in the Round of 16.
Out of 20 participating teams in the 2025 J2 League, 14 join the competition in the second round. Six teams (highlighted with a "â ") join the tournament in the first round: the three worst-ranked non-relegated 2024 J2 League teams and those promoted from the 2024 J3 League.
Toyo University was selected by the JFA to receive the automatic qualification for the tournament. They are the defending national university champions, having won the 2024 All Japan University Football Championship.
All the 47 prefectural tournament winners (prefectural representatives) join in the first round.
On 7 March 2025, the JFA announced the match pairings for the tournament, with its respective dates and kick-offs being revealed up to the Round of 16. Match pairings for the quarter-finals onwards were not announced at the time.
The match-ups from this stage onwards was determined on 14 August 2025.