35 J2 League managers

Yutaka Akita is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan national team.

Osvaldo César Ardiles, often referred to in Britain as Ossie Ardiles, is a football manager, pundit and former midfielder who won the 1978 FIFA World Cup as part of the Argentina national team. He now runs his own football school in the UK called the Ossie Ardiles Soccer School.

Paulo Autuori de Mello, known as Paulo Autuori, is a Brazilian football executive and former manager who is the current technical director of Athletico Paranaense.

Stuart William Baxter is a British football manager and former player who manages South African Premier Soccer League side Kaizer Chiefs.

Péricles Raimundo Oliveira Chamusca, known as Péricles Chamusca, is a Brazilian football manager who is the current manager of Saudi club Al-Shabab.

Levir Culpi is a Brazilian professional football manager and former player who played as a central defender.

Henk Duut is a retired Dutch footballer who played as a defender. Currently, he works as a coach at the Guangzhou Evergrande youth academy.

Gert Engels is a former German footballer and current coach of Nadeshiko League club INAC Kobe Leonessa.

Boško Gjurovski is a Serbian professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He also holds Macedonian citizenship.

Kenta Hasegawa is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for the Japan national team.

Hiroshi Jofuku is a former Japanese football player and manager. He is the current manager of Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

Sugao Kambe is a football manager and former Japanese football player. He formerly managed The Philippines, Guam and Northern Mariana Islands national teams.

Pierre Michael Littbarski is a German professional football manager and former player of 1. FC Köln and the West Germany national team. Known for his dribbling abilities, he was mainly used as an attacking midfielder or winger. Littbarski was a FIFA World Cup winner with West Germany in 1990, and the runner-up in both 1982 and 1986. Littbarski was the caretaker manager of VfL Wolfsburg after taking over from Steve McClaren from 7 February to 17 March 2011.

Miguel Ángel Lotina Oruechebarría is a Spanish former footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager.

Naohiko Minobe is a former Japanese football player and manager.

Toshiya Miura is a former Japanese football player and manager. Now he is a manager for FC Gifu in J3 League.

Masashi Nakayama is a Japanese football manager and former player who is the head coach of Júbilo Iwata. He played as a forward in his playing career. Born in Shizuoka, Nakayama attended Fujieda Higashi High School and University of Tsukuba before he joined Yamaha Motors of the Japan Soccer League, a precursor to the J1 League, which consisted of company sponsored teams. He retired in December 2012 at age 45 after playing 3 seasons for Consadole Sapporo, then he came back almost three years later with Azul Claro Numazu in Japan Football League, the club has been promoted to the J3 League since 2017. He also attends by the nickname Gon Nakayama.

Yasuhiko Okudera is a former Japanese football player and manager. He is currently the president of J2 League club Yokohama FC and was formerly the president of English club Plymouth Argyle. Okudera was the first Japanese footballer to play professionally in Europe, as well as being the first Asian football player to score in the European Cup, while playing for 1. FC Köln in the 1979 semi-final match against Nottingham Forest and made 32 appearances – scoring nine goals – with the Japan national team.

Kiyoshi Okuma is a former Japanese football player and manager. His younger brother Yuji Okuma is also a former footballer.

Fabio Pecchia is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Serie B club Cremonese.

Mihailo Petrović is a Serbian football coach and former football player. He also holds an Austrian passport.

Ranko Popović is a Serbian football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Japanese club Machida Zelvia.

Albert Puig Ortoneda is a Spanish footballer manager of FC Tokyo.

Marijan Pušnik is a Slovenian football manager.

Ruy Ramos is a former football player and manager, originally from Brazil, who spent his career in Japan and played for the Japan national team. Ramos is currently active as a television personality and tarento, represented with Irving.

Ricardo Rodríguez Suárez, is a Spanish football coach. He is currently the head coach of Japanese J1 League club Urawa Red Diamonds. He was declared the best coach of the J1 League in the 2020-21 season, in which he conquered the Emperor's Cup.

Joel Natalino Santana is a Brazilian football coach and former player. The last team he coached was Vasco da Gama, in 2014.

Yoshiyuki Shinoda is a former Japanese football player and manager.

Takuya Takagi is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan national team. He is currently the manager at SC Sagamihara in the J3 League. He was a physical forward and the Japanese media and fans dubbed him as the Cannon of Asia.

Eiji Ueda is a former Japanese football player and manager. He managed the Japan women's national team.

Pim Verbeek was a Dutch football manager who last coached the Oman national football team. Verbeek was a part of the board of Sparta Rotterdam. His brother Robert Verbeek is also a football coach.

Gary John White is an English football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of China League One club Suzhou Dongwu.

Shuhei Yomoda is a former Japanese football player and manager.

George Yonashiro is a former Japanese Brazilian (Nisei) football player and manager. In January 1985, he obtained his Japanese citizenship, and played for Japan national team.

Yoon Jong-Hwan is a South Korean manager and former football player.