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Championship Series | | December 6 | Jubilo Iwata | 3 - 2 | Kashima Antlers |
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0 min Masashi Nakayama
46min Masashi Nakayama
119 min Nobuhisa Shimizu | . | 62 min Bismarck
88 min Mazinho | | December 13 | Jubilo Iwata | 1 - 0 | Kashima Antlers |
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| 126 min Masashi Nakayama | . | . |
Scoring Leaders |
| 25 | 9 Patrick Mboma | Gamba Osaka |
| 23 | 10 Edilson | Kashiwa Reysol |
| 22 | 8 Mazinho | Kashima Antlers |
| 22 | 13 Ahihiro Nagashima | Vissel Kobe |
| 21 | 9 Masahiro Fukuda | Urawa Reds |
| 21 | 7 Julio Salinas | Yokohama Marinos |
| 20 | 9 Bauvel | Yokohama Flugels |
| 18 | 10 Wagner Lopes | Bellmare Hiratsuka |
| 18 | 9 Masashi Nakayama | Jubilo Iwata |
J.League Awards |
| MVP | Carlos Dunga | Jubilo Iwata |
| Rookie of the Year | Atsushi Yanagisawa | Kashima Antlers |
Best Eleven |
| GK | Tomoaki Ogami | Jubilo Iwata |
| DF | Yutaka Akita | Kashima Antlers |
| Masami Iihara | Yokohama Marinos |
| Naoki Soma | Kashima Antlers |
| MF | Carlos Dunga | Jubilo Iwata |
| Hidetoshi Nakata | Bellmare Hiratsuka |
| Hiroshi Nanami | Jubilo Iwata |
| Bismarck | Kashima Antlers |
| Motohiro Yamaguchi | Yokohama Flugels |
| FW | Patrick Mboma | Gamba Osaka |
| Masashi Nakayama | Jubilo Iwata |
| Golden Boot | Patrick Mboma | Gamba Osaka |
| Coach of the Year | Joao Carlos | Kashima Antlers |
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Just one team joined the J.League in 1997, Vissel Kobe. It was becoming clear that the leage was trying to grow too fast. The league started to set more exacting criteria for the teams wanting to join, and it started to take steps that would lead to a complete restructuring after the 1998 season.
. . . but that is getting a bit ahead of the story. The main changes implemented in 1997 were a reversion to the First Stage-Second Stage format with a championship playuoff at the end of the year. From this year on, each stage would consist of just a single round robin (16 matches). Teams that played at home during the first stage would play the same opponent away during the second stage. The Nabisco Cup (a league cup for the J.League) was instituted, with matches played on many Wednesday nights, when there were no regular league fixtures. A majority of the league matches were played on Saturday. Another rule change was implemented to try to address continued complaints about the scoring method. Teams that won a match in regulation time received a full three points, teams what won by golden goal received two, and those that won by PKs would get just one point. This 3-2-1 scoring system became fairly popular, and although the league would fiddle with the scoring system once more in 1998, a 3-2-1 point system would become the standard scoring system for J-League play for the next seven years.
In the first half of the season, 1996 champions Kashima Antlers came storming out of the gate to take a dominant lead. Although the exciting Yokohama Flugels would chase them towards the end of the season, Antlers stamped their dominance on the league in the first half. However, the team was entering a period of transition, between generations, as veterans and rookies started to clash somewhat. In the secdond half, Jubilo Iwata would emerge as a key contender, and they woudl become the Antlers' greatest rivals over the subsequent 2-3 years.
As a taste of things to come, the two teams played one of the most exciting championship series ever, with the first match decided 3 - 2 on an extra time goal by little-used substitute Nobuhisa Shimizu. In the second leg, the two teams played each other to a scoreless draw over the full 90 minutes of regulation time and most of two 20-minute overtime periods, but as the clock wound down, Jubilo's ace striker Masashi Nakayama scored a "golden goal" that sent Jubilo to victory in a thrilling win for the newcomers and a heartbreaking defeat for the Antlers. This wold define the rivalry between the two teams for the remainder of the decade.
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