When the J. League was launched on May 13, 1993, it had 10 teams in a single-division format. Since then, the league has grown and now consists of 28 teams in two divisions.
The J. League was an enormous hit over the first three years or so. In 1994, 5,173,817 people came out to watch the 264 games on show, averaging 19,598 fans per game. In 1995, some 6,159,691 fans watched 364 games at an average of 16,922 per game.
As the boom wore off, the average attendance declined. Last year, 3,996,373 people came out to watch the regular-season games in J1 and J2, with J1 averaging 11,079 fans per game.