was the original league cup for clubs in the Japan Soccer League, the top level of Japanese football before the creation of the J. League and its cup. The cup was first played in 1973, but only become an annual tournament in 1976.
The JSL Cup included clubs from both the First Division and the Second Division. The format varied; sometimes the clubs played small group stages, other times it was an outright elimination, including only the clubs that were not recent promotions to the Second Division. During the season timeframe change of 1985, the cup was played within the year, a rule that stayed until the advent of the J. League.
| Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Towa Real Estate (shared) | 1–1 | Yanmar Diesel (shared) | Nishigaoka National Stadium, Tokyo | |
| 1976 | Hitachi | 1–0 | Eidai | National Olympic Stadium, Tokyo | |
| 1977 | 4–0 | Yanmar Diesel | National Olympic Stadium, Tokyo | ||
| 1978 | 2–1 | Fujita Industries | Kanko Stadium, Okayama | ||
| 1979 | 3–2 | Furukawa Electric | Nagai Stadium, Osaka | ||
| 1980 | 3–1 | Hitachi | Nagai Stadium, Osaka | ||
| 1981 | Mitsubishi Motors (shared) | 4–4 | Toshiba (shared) | Utsunomiya Soccer Field, Utsunomiya | |
| 1982 | 3–2 | Yanmar Diesel | Shizuoka Athletic Stadium, Shizuoka | ||
| 1983 | 1–0 | Nissan Motors | Kofu Midorigaoka Stadium, Kofu | ||
| 1984 | Yanmar Diesel | 3–0 | Toshiba | Komazawa Stadium, Tokyo | |
| 1985 | 2–0 | Nissan Motors | Toyohashi Soccer Stadium, Toyohashi | ||
| 1986 | 4–0 | Nissan Motors | Mizuho Athletic Stadium, Nagoya | ||
| 1987 | 3–0 | Sumitomo Metal | Mizuho Athletic Stadium, Nagoya | ||
| 1988 | 3–0 | Toshiba | Yokkaichi Stadium, Yokkaichi | ||
| 1989 | Nissan Motors | 1–0 | Yamaha Motors | Toyohashi Soccer Stadium, Toyohashi | |
| 1990 | Nissan Motors | 3–1 | Furukawa Electric | Mizuho Athletic Stadium, Nagoya | |
| 1991 | 4–3 | Honda Motors | Mizuho Athletic Stadium, Nagoya |
Teams are named using current nomenclature, or last one if they are defunct (denoted in italics).
| Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning seasons | Runners-up seasons | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 3 | 3 | 1988, 1989, 1990 | 1983, 1985, 1986 | |
| JEF United Chiba | 3 | 2 | 1977, 1982, 1986 | 1979, 1990 | |
| Cerezo Osaka | 3 | 2 | 1973 (shared), 1983, 1984 | 1977, 1982 | |
| Tokyo Verdy | 3 | 0 | 1979, 1985, 1991 | ||
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 2 | 0 | 1978, 1981 (shared) | ||
| NKK SC | 2 | 0 | 1980, 1987 | ||
| Shonan Bellmare | 1 | 1 | 1973 (shared) | 1978 | |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 1 | 1 | 1976 | 1980 | |
| Consadole Sapporo | 1 | 1 | 1981 (shared) | 1988 | |
| Eidai SC | 0 | 1 | 1976 | ||
| Kashima Antlers | 0 | 1 | 1987 | ||
| Júbilo Iwata | 0 | 1 | 1989 | ||
| Honda FC | 0 | 1 | 1991 |