Japan's Emperor's Cup finalizes 47 prefectural teams, Kumamoto quake leads to Roasso entry

The Japan Football Association (JFA) announced that all 47 prefectural representatives for the 106th Emperor's Cup have been decided ahead of the tournament’s opening round on 19 August. Winners of the recent prefectural finals include AC Nagano Parseeiro (2‑0 over Matsumoto Yamaga), FC Osaka (3‑1 over FC Tiago Hirakata) and Okinawa SV (3‑0 over FC Ryukyu).

Four J3 clubs – SC Sagamihara, Matsumoto, Zweigen Kanazawa and FC Ryukyu – failed to qualify, while the amateur seed Tsukuba University remains in the field. The line‑up also features first‑time entrants such as Akita University, Yamanashi Gakuin University and Nagasaki International University.

In Kumamoto Prefecture, the qualifying tournament was cancelled after the recent Kumamoto earthquake. Under competition rules, the J2 side Roasso Kumamoto was selected to represent the prefecture in the national cup.