The 1996 J.League season was the fourth season since the establishment of the J.League. The season began on March 16 and ended on November 9.

Clubs

The following sixteen clubs participated in J.League during the 1996 season. Of these clubs, Kyoto Purple Sanga, and Avispa Fukuoka were newly promoted teams from Japan Football League.

Personnel

1 Subject to change during the season.

Foreign players

Format

In the 1996 season, the league abolished the split-season format and followed a single-season format; sixteen clubs played in double round-robin format, a total of 30 games per club. The games went to golden-goal extra time and penalties if needed after regulation. A club received 3 points for any win, 1 point for PK loss, and 0 pts for regulation or extra time loss. The clubs were ranked by points, and tie breakers are in the following order: The club that finished at the top of the table was declared season champion.

Final standings

Top scorers

Awards

Individual awards

Best Eleven