Meiji Yasuda J1 League Match-day 16 took place over the 12th and 13th of September with both table leaders Kawasaki and second-place Cerezo seizing important victories.

Kawasaki Frontale displayed all of their overwhelming might against visitors Sanfrecce Hiroshima. The first goal was the product of Ao Tanaka, then Leandro Damião got the second, and Kazuya Yamamura extended the lead to 3-0. One minute later, Tanaka found his second goal, and ace striker Yu Kobayashi put an end to the game with the fifth goal. Hiroshima pulled one back by the end of the game, but to no avail. The table leaders continued their unstoppable match and now count four consecutive victories and 44 points.

Cerezo Osaka, traveled to Yokohama to play F.Marinos. The Osakans conceded the lead at the beginning of the second half, but Hiroshi Kiyotake found the equalizer in the 58th minute and Toshiyuki Takagi claimed the winner in the 86th. It was the fifth victory in a row for Cerezo.

Kashima Antlers as well achieved their fifth wins in a row when they faced Shimizu S-Pulse. In the 29th minute they took the lead through a goal from Everaldo and Shoma Doi made it 2-0 in the 32nd minute. Although they conceded in the 79th, they returned home with the whole three points. In Kobe, rookie Takuya Yasui scored his first goal in J1 League to break the deadlock in the 24th minute. FC Tokyo turned the match around with two goals, but Dankler found the equalizer for Vissel just before the end of the game, and the match ended up in a 2-2 draw.

Yokohama FC topped Nagoya Grampus 3-2 in a see-saw game. The home side conceded early, but Kosuke Saito equalized in the 19th minute. Three minutes later, Taka’aki Shichi gave the lead to Yokohama FC. Although they conceded a second goal in the 75th minute, five minutes later Yuji Senuma found the winning goal and led the team to a 3-2 win. 53-year-old Kazuyoshi Miura was on the bench, but did not enter the pitch.

Urawa Reds, traveled to Consadole Sapporo and quickly took a 2-0 lead through Kenyu Sugimoto’s brace. Although the home side managed to score three goals to turn the game around, Tomoaki Makino found the equalizer and finally Kai Shibato made it 4-3 at the end of a very exciting match. Sagan Tosu caught up with Daichi Hayashi's goal in the 45th minute after conceding the lead to Kashiwa Reysol, and Riki Harakawa led the team to a 2-1 victory with a goal in the 48th minute.

Oita Trinita cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win against Vegalta Sendai, with goals from Kazushi Mitsuhira, Kei Chinen and Tatsuya Tanaka. Finally, Shonan Bellmare defeated Gamba Osaka with a goal from Kazunari Ono in the 74th minute, and with their second victory of the season they moved away from the bottom of the table.