| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | Japan |
| Teams | 82 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Gamba Osaka (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | Kashiwa Reysol |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 81 |
The 88th Emperor's Cup began on September 13, 2008 and ended on January 1, 2009 with the final which took place at National Stadium in Tokyo. As the champion, Gamba Osaka participated in 2009 AFC Champions League.
| Round | Date | Matches | Clubs | New entries this round |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Round | 13 September 2008 14 September 2008 | 24 | 48 → 24 | 47 Prefectural Qualifying Cup Winners 1 University Qualifying Cup Winner |
| Second Round | 20 September 2008 21 September 2008 | 12 | 24 → 12 | – |
| Third Round | 12 October 2008 | 14 | 12+15+1 → 14 | 15 J2 Clubs 1 JFL Seeded Club |
| Fourth Round | 2 November 2008 3 November 2008 5 November 2008 | 16 | 14+18 → 16 | 18 J1 Clubs |
| Fifth Round | 15 November 2008 | 8 | 16 → 8 | none |
| Quarter-finals | 20 December 2008 | 4 | 8 → 4 | none |
| Semi-finals | 29 December 2008 | 2 | 4 → 2 | none |
| Final | 1 January 2009 | 1 | 2 → 1 | none |
All matches are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
| Kainan FC | 0 – 2 | Ehime University |
|---|---|---|
| Yokkaichi University | 1 – 3 | Honda FC |
|---|---|---|
| Saurcos Fukui | 2 – 1 (a.e.t.) | Nara Sangyo University |
|---|---|---|
| Fagiano Okayama FC | 6 – 0 | Hitachi Kasado |
|---|---|---|
| Zweigen Kanazawa | 4 – 3 (a.e.t.) | Sagawa Shiga FC |
|---|---|---|
| Ryutsu Keizai University | 4 – 2 | Y.S.C.C Yokohama |
|---|---|---|
| Tamaho FC | 0 – 10 | Sony Sendai FC |
|---|---|---|
| Fukushima United F.C | 1 – 4 | Kokushikan University |
|---|---|---|
| Kyushu Inax | 1 – 3 | Okinawa Kariyushi |
|---|---|---|
| Ohzu H.S | 2 – 1 | Nippon Bunri University |
|---|---|---|
| Mitsubishi Nagasaki | 3 – 0 | Dezzolla Shimane |
|---|---|---|
| New Wave Kitakyushu | 1 – 1 (a.e.t.) | Honda Lock SC |
|---|---|---|
| Penalties | ||
| 4 – 2 | ||
| Hitachi Tochigi Uva SC | 2 – 0 | Aomori Yamada H.S |
|---|---|---|
| TDK S.C. | 2 – 3 (a.e.t.) | Osaka Taiiku University |
|---|---|---|
| Hannan University | 0 – 4 | Honda FC |
|---|---|---|
| Saurcos Fukui | 0 – 4 | Matsumoto Yamaga FC |
|---|---|---|
| Okinawa Kariyushi | 2 – 1 | Ohzu H.S |
|---|---|---|
| Mitsubishi Nagasaki | 0 – 1 | New Wave Kitakyushu |
|---|---|---|
The 15 J2 teams plus one JFL representative (Tochigi SC) entered at this round.
| Sagawa Printing SC | 1 – 2 | Ehime FC |
|---|---|---|
| Hirai | Uchimura Oki |
| Sagan Tosu | 4 – 0 | Honda FC |
|---|---|---|
| Uchima Hirose Funatani |
| Shonan Bellmare | 1 – 1 (a.e.t.) | Matsumoto Yamaga FC |
|---|---|---|
| Hara | Kakimoto | |
| Penalties | ||
| 4 – 5 | ||
| Ventforet Kofu | 1 – 0 | Fagiano Okayama |
|---|---|---|
| Onishi |
| Tochigi SC | 1 – 1 (a.e.t.) | Kumamoto |
|---|---|---|
| Yuki Okada | Komorida | |
| Penalties | ||
| 5 – 3 | ||
| Zweigen Kanazawa | 0 – 1 | FC Gifu |
|---|---|---|
| Aikawa |
| Cerezo Osaka | 1 – 0 | Sony Sendai FC |
|---|---|---|
| Gilton |
| Tokushima Vortis | 0 – 1 (a.e.t.) | Kokushikan University |
|---|---|---|
| Matsumoto |
| Yokohama FC | 2 – 1 | Okinawa Kariyushi FC |
|---|---|---|
| Ikemoto Hakkaku | Saito |
| Vegalta Sendai | 2 – 0 | New Wave Kitakyushu |
|---|---|---|
| Nakashima Tanoue |
| Thespa Kusatsu | 2 – 0 | Tokushima Vortis Second |
|---|---|---|
| Goto Takada |
| Avispa Fukuoka | 0 – 1 (a.e.t.) | Mito HollyHock |
|---|---|---|
| Matsumoto |
| Montedio Yamagata | 4 – 1 (a.e.t.) | Hitachi Tochigi Uva SC |
|---|---|---|
| Sakai Toyoda Miyazaki | Tatesawa |
| Osaka Taiiku University | 0 – 6 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
|---|---|---|
| Makino Hattori Moriwaki Takayanagi Kubo |
The 18 J1 teams entered at this round.
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 1 – 0 (a.e.t.) | Ehime FC |
|---|---|---|
| Ponte |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 1 – 0 | Consadole Sapporo |
|---|---|---|
| Hyōdō |
| Oita Trinita | 0 – 2 | Sagan Tosu |
|---|---|---|
| Hirose |
| Matsumoto Yamaga FC | 0 – 8 | Vissel Kobe |
|---|---|---|
| Yoshida Tanaka Leandro Kurihara Ōkubo |
| Gamba Osaka | 2 – 1 (a.e.t.) | Ventforet Kofu |
|---|---|---|
| Yamaguchi Sasaki | Maranhao |
| Júbilo Iwata | 3 – 1 | Tochigi SC |
|---|---|---|
| Kawamura Nakayama Ota | Sato |
| Nagoya Grampus | 1 – 0 | FC Gifu |
|---|---|---|
| Yoshida |
| Omiya Ardija | 1 – 0 | Cerezo Osaka |
|---|---|---|
| Lavrič |
| Kashima Antlers | 2 – 2 (a.e.t.) | Kokushikan University |
|---|---|---|
| Danilo Marquinhos | Takahashi Amano | |
| Penalties | ||
| Marquinhos Nozawa Danilo | 3 – 0 | |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 1 – 0 | JEF United Ichihara Chiba |
|---|---|---|
| Okazaki |
| Albirex Niigata | 2 – 0 | Yokohama FC |
|---|---|---|
| Alessandro Uchida |
| FC Tokyo | 2 – 1 | Vegalta Sendai |
|---|---|---|
| Hirayama | Nakahara |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 1 – 0 | Thespa Kusatsu |
|---|---|---|
| Suganuma |
| Mito HollyHock | 0 – 3 | Kyoto Sanga FC |
|---|---|---|
| Ando Nishino Hayashi |
| Kawasaki Frontale | 3 – 1 | Montedio Yamagata |
|---|---|---|
| Taniguchi Vitor Júnior Renatinho | Ishii |
| Tokyo Verdy | 0 – 1 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
|---|---|---|
| Takayanagi |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 2 – 2 (a.e.t.) | Yokohama F. Marinos |
|---|---|---|
| Escudero Horinouchi | Kano Tanaka | |
| Penalties | ||
| Ponte Nagai Umesaki Hirakawa Nishizawa Suzuki | 5 – 6 | |
| Sagan Tosu | 5 – 2 | Vissel Kobe |
|---|---|---|
| Fujita Takahashi Hirose | Komoto Park Kang-Jo |
| Júbilo Iwata | 1 – 3 | Gamba Osaka |
|---|---|---|
| Nishi | Sasaki Yamaguchi Yamazaki |
| Omiya Ardija | 1 – 2 | Nagoya Grampus |
|---|---|---|
| Uchida | Johnsen |
| Kashima Antlers | 3 – 4 (a.e.t.) | Shimizu S-Pulse |
|---|---|---|
| Masuda Marquinhos Marcinho | Hyodo Yamamoto Edamura Hara |
| Albirex Niigata | 2 – 3 | FC Tokyo |
|---|---|---|
| Marcio Chiba | Emerson Akamine Kajiyama |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 1 – 0 | Kyoto Sanga FC |
|---|---|---|
| Popó |
| Kawasaki Frontale | 0 – 2 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
|---|---|---|
| Aoyama Morisaki |
| Sagan Tosu | 1 – 3 | Yokohama F. Marinos |
|---|---|---|
| Hirose | Nakazawa Kurihara Kano |
| Gamba Osaka | 2 – 1 | Nagoya Grampus |
|---|---|---|
| Lucas Nakazawa | Sugimoto |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 1 – 2 | FC Tokyo |
|---|---|---|
| Takagi | Akamine |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 3 – 2 (a.e.t.) | Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
|---|---|---|
| Koga Suganuma França | Satō |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 0 – 1 (a.e.t.) | Gamba Osaka |
|---|---|---|
| Yamazaki |
| FC Tokyo | 1 – 2 | Kashiwa Reysol |
|---|---|---|
| Suzuki | França Lee |
| Gamba Osaka | 1 – 0 (a.e.t.) | Kashiwa Reysol |
|---|---|---|
| Bando |