J1 League 2021 Shirt Guide. Who deserves the title of Japanese football design?
First special of the year. We are going to Japan to present the jerseys that will be used during the J1 League 2021. The premiere of the league was started on February 26, all the participating clubs have already launched, at least, their starting look.
This year the competition will have 20 teams, two more than usual, since due to Covid-19 it was decided to suspend the descents, but the promotions were maintained.

J1 League 2021 Kits
Teams has Puma, the brand with the most teams in the league. With 3 it is followed by Mizuno and Nike, while adidas, New Balance and Yonex score with 2. They close with 1, Asics, Penalty, Soccer Junky and Umbro. Now. Straight to the point:
Avispa Fukuoka
Sponsor: Yonex
Back in the J1 League, the Avispa uses the same template for its two jerseys.
Its design consists of a central celestial stripe that represents the future of the team, while the other four pillars, with a honeycomb pattern, symbolize the club, the fans, the shareholders and the people of the city of Fukuoka.
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Cerezo Osaka
Sponsor: Puma
The graphic motif is a classic: the cherry blossom or sakura, symbol of renewal and optimism in Japanese culture.
The formula is repeated in both jerseys and only their colors alternate.
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Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo
Sponsor: Mizuno
One of the teams that changes sponsor on their jerseys for the J1 League 2021, leaving Kappa on the way.
Both the starter and the alternative, in one way or another, include a checkered pattern saluting fan flags at the Sapporo Dome.
The third, finally, seeks to summarize the character of Hokkaido with a snow-white T-shirt, Nordic patterns, ice crystals and the wings of the owl that he carries on his shield.
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FC Tokyo
Sponsor: New Balance
The team from the capital leaves Umbro and joins the NB family. The titular model is a more traditional fringed than in recent seasons and is adorned with a camo weave.
The reserve, they say, is inspired by the Ajinomoto stadium, but is quite similar to the substitute jersey of Athletic Bilbao of Spain, also New Balance.
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Gamba Osaka
Sponsor: Umbro
Asymmetrical but always ascending diagonals are Umbro's choice for the Gamba in 2021.
Always with the traditional colors and with the idea of representing the desire and goal of the club to aim for the top and be at the top. Or at least that's what they say. Good, right?
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Kashima Antlers
Sponsor: Nike
Eleven diagonals to the left, eleven diagonals to the right. The cross that forms, they say, are the horns of two deer fighting. Poetic, but traced to the current idea, although the Germans do not speak of deer or other complex narratives.
More direct, simpler is the alternative: white, with blue and red alternating neck and cuffs. Both have messages in Portuguese that reaffirm their close ties with Brazil.
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Kashiwa Reysol
Sponsor: Yonex
Same template in both models, same sponsor as Avispa Fukuoka and similar explanation of the design.
According to them, the vertical lines allude to the first team, youth teams, fans, sponsors and the city of Kashiwa.
Kawasaki Frontale
Sponsor: Puma
The Japanese soccer champion will have one more model with Puma.
His model of stripes and gradients certainly has a complicated and not so obvious explanation: it represents the connection between club, players, fans, partners and everyone involved in the Frontale. In light blue for the starter, gray for away games and green for the goalkeepers.
Nagoya Grampus
Sponsor: Mizuno
More poetry? The Nagoya 2021 J1 League jerseys try to put the sun's rays that fall on the players during a football match on the fabric. On an orange base in the holder and a white one in the alternative.
If you don't see it, it's because you don't have enough sensitivity. Seriously. Anyway, beyond the narrative, we love the result.
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Oita Trinita
Sponsor: Puma
One of our favorites. Puma does a good combination of local elements and puts them in the fabric of this jersey.
The most striking are the triangles that represent the trinity and the "T" of its shield that is applied as if it were the steam that emanates from the famous hot springs of the city of Oita. #Nice.
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Sagan Tosu
Sponsor: New Balance
Probably not for all tastes, but different at least. That's what we can agree on when looking at New Balance's proposal for the Sagan Tosu.
The headline is in halves, one blue and the other with a pink pixelation, while the alternative is white with lines (also blue and pink) that express dynamism.
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Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Sponsor: Nike
The topography of the region, the emblems of the Mōri family and the triangles with which the famous origami paper cranes are made are part of the ideas that justify the Sanfrecce starting kit. It looks super cool, but there is no line that it is also the same design from Germany's Eintracht Frankfurt.
The reserve is white. Yawn.
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Shimizu S-Pulse
Sponsor: Puma
The tonal chevron pattern this year hints at a tea leaf, an important industry in the Shizuoka region.
The globe, the hallmark of the club's jerseys, is reflected in reference to the art of wire. Of the two, the gray alternative is our favorite.
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Shonan Bellmare
Sponsor: Penalty
The jersey combines the classic club colors, green and blue, in a tonal and wavy graphic that represents an “infinite wave”. The idea refers to the coastal location of Shonan and Bellmare, a word derived from the Italian Bello Mare (Beautiful Sea).
The alternative kit is white and offers a diamond pattern, with the club's green and blue half-tone, almost faded.
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Tokushima Vortis
Sponsor: Mizuno
The other promoted to the division arrives with the mark of the roadrunner on his shirt.
Its design (blue in the headline and white in the reserve) represents the famous eddies that form in the waters of the Naruto Strait.
Urawa Red Diamonds
Sponsor: Nike
Officially, the pattern that adorns the new Urawa is inspired by the roof of the Saitama Stadium. Curiously, the plot is the same as the Spartak of Moscow, in Russia.
The alternate model is white and stands out for its red NFL-type shoulder pads.
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Vegalta Sendai
Sponsor: adidas
Using the miadidas platform and a design that we have seen in Tigres, Houston Dynamo and FC Copenhagen, among others, Vegalta uses a couple of shades of yellow to channel the concept that will guide its new campaign: “Light of Hope, Again” of hope, again).
Very clear, right?
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Vissel Kobe
Sponsor: Asics
Andrés Iniesta's team redoubled in 2021 the idea of the diamonds that he introduced in the jerseys that he used in the previous season of the J1 League.
The difference is that the diamonds are much smaller and introduce a stripe to the center for Rakuten, its sponsor.
The holder combines garnet and white, the alternative refers to the original colors of the club (black and white), while the third bet on a variation of white and gray.
Yokohama FC
Sponsor: Soccer Junky
The truth is that the shirts are not very pretty and that high neck, almost turtle, seems uncomfortable. But we think it can be a cult model.
This is because Yokohama FC is Kazuyoshi Miura's team, King Kazu, who will have already turned 54 when the league begins. #Legend
Yokohama F. Marinos
Sponsor: adidas
Repeated designs of the German brand, but to which a narrative of its own is added. The headline, similar to a Real Madrid alternative from last season, symbolizes the waters of Yokohama Bay.
The foreigner, meanwhile, is from the miadidas platform and we have already seen them in Cagliari and Union Berlin. For the Japanese team, the model is “inspired” by the famous Yokohama Bridge.
Now is the time for you: What do you think are the best jerseys of the J1 League 2021?
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