Kawasaki Frontale's roots go back to 1955 with the founding of Fujitsu Football Club, the works team of the Fujitsu corporation in Kawasaki, just south of Tokyo. The club rebranded as Kawasaki Frontale in 1997 to align with professional football, and after years in the second division it earned promotion to J1 in 2005. The club plays at Todoroki Athletics Stadium with a capacity of around 27,000, set in the dense urban sprawl of southern Tokyo.
Kawasaki Frontale's modern dynasty began in 2017 under manager Toru Oniki, when the club captured its first J1 League title. Three more followed in 2018, 2020 and 2021, making Frontale the dominant J1 force of the late 2010s and early 2020s — only Kashima Antlers have won more in J.League history. The 2020 championship side, built around captain Kengo Nakamura, his protégés Akihiro Ienaga and Yu Kobayashi, plus emerging stars Reo Hatate and Kaoru Mitoma, played some of the most attractive attacking football in J.League history. The 2020 squad also added the Emperor's Cup, completing a domestic double.
Frontale are renowned as a development hub. Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton & Hove Albion), Reo Hatate (Celtic), Daiki Hashioka, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, Kohei Kuramoto and Manabu Saito all came through the Kawasaki system. Captain Kengo Nakamura, who spent his entire 17-year career at the club before retiring in 2019 as the most capped player in club history, is regarded as "Mr. Frontale" and a defining icon of the J.League era. The club's emphasis on attractive, attacking football and community engagement has won admirers across Asia.