The Kantō League is the major college football league in East Japan. The Kantō League champion plays against the North Japan representative for the East Japan championship. The winner of the East Japan championship plays against the winner of the West Japan championship in the Kōshien Bowl in December. The college champion then plays against the champion of the X League for the national championship in the Rice Bowl on January 3.

Since the beginning of the 2014 fall season the Division 1 plays in a new format. The old lineup with two conferences and a championship game (Azuma Bowl) was replaced by a split into two subdivisions, the Top 8 and the Big 8. The Top 8 represent the highest level of play. The Top 8 winner will be the league champion. There will be no championship game. The 7th and 8th place teams from the Top 8 will play relegation games against the 1st and 2nd place teams from the Big 8.

(Nihon University Phoenix suspended for 2018 season and demoted to Big 8 for 2019 season.)

Hometowns:
Chūō, Hōsei, Komazawa, Meiji, Nihon, NSSU, Rikkyō, Senshū, Tōkai, Tōkyō, Tōkyō Gakugei, Waseda (all Tōkyō), Ōbirin (Machida), Kokushikan (Setagaya), Keiō, Yokohama National (all Yokohama)
Standings:
In the Kantō League the winner gets three points.