| Yamazaki Nabisco Cup | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Country | |
| Teams | 18 | 
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Kashima Antlers (5th title) | 
| Runner-up | Shimizu S-Pulse | 
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 55 | 
| Goals scored | 170 (3.09 per match) | 
| Top goal scorer(s) | Yuya Osako (Kashima Antlers) 7 goals | 
The 2012 J.League Cup, also known as the 2012 J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup for sponsoring purposes, was the 37th edition of the most prestigious Japanese soccer league cup tournament and the 20th edition under the current J.League Cup format.
Kashima Antlers became the winners for two straight years and qualify for the 2013 Suruga Bank Championship.
Format
Teams from the J.League Division 1 will take part in the tournament. FC Tokyo, Gamba Osaka, Kashiwa Reysol and Nagoya Grampus were given a bye to the quarter-finals due to qualification in the 2012 AFC Champions League. The remaining 14 teams started from the group stage, where they were divided into two groups of seven. The group winners and the runners-up of each group qualified for the quarter-final along with the four teams which qualified for the AFC Champions League.
Group stage
Standings
Group A
  | 
Group B
  | 
 
  | 
Results
Group A
| Sagan Tosu | 2–1 | Kawasaki Frontale | 
|---|---|---|
| Okada  Noda  | 
Report | 
| Júbilo Iwata | 2–1 | Cerezo Osaka | 
|---|---|---|
| Matsuura  Maeda  | 
Report | 
| Vegalta Sendai | 2–0 | Sagan Tosu | 
|---|---|---|
| Matsushita  Kakuda  | 
Report | 
| Júbilo Iwata | 4–3 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 
|---|---|---|
| Maeda  Chiyotanda Matsuura Yamada  | 
Report | 
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 1–1 | Kawasaki Frontale | 
|---|---|---|
| Sato  | 
Report | 
| Kawasaki Frontale | 3–1 | Vegalta Sendai | 
|---|---|---|
| Tasaka  Kobayashi  | 
Report | 
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 1–4 | Cerezo Osaka | 
|---|---|---|
| Yajima  | 
Report | 
| Kawasaki Frontale | 0–3 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 
|---|---|---|
| Report | 
| Cerezo Osaka | 2–1 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 
|---|---|---|
| Branquinho  Kim  | 
Report | 
| Sagan Tosu | 3–2 | Júbilo Iwata | 
|---|---|---|
| Inuzuka  Hayasaka  | 
Report | 
| Cerezo Osaka | 3–2 | Kawasaki Frontale | 
|---|---|---|
| Kempes  Kakitani  | 
Summary | Kusukami  Renatinho  | 
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 1–3 | Vegalta Sendai | 
|---|---|---|
| Shimizu  | 
Summary | Nakahara  Wilson  | 
| Sagan Tosu | 2–1 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 
|---|---|---|
| Toyoda  Mizunuma  | 
Report | Márcio Richardes  | 
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 5–1 | Sagan Tosu | 
|---|---|---|
| Koji Morisaki  Satō Ishihara  | 
Summary | Mizunuma  | 
| Vegalta Sendai | 4–0 | Júbilo Iwata | 
|---|---|---|
| Ota  Wilson Akamine Watanabe  | 
Summary | 
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 3–0 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 
|---|---|---|
| Despotović  Noda Yajima  | 
Summary | 
| Cerezo Osaka | 5–0 | Sagan Tosu | 
|---|---|---|
| Ogihara  Kim Bo-Kyung Kakitani Fujimoto  | 
Summary | 
Group B
| Kashima Antlers | 2–0 | Vissel Kobe | 
|---|---|---|
| Osako  Endo  | 
Report | 
| Omiya Ardija | 1–1 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 
|---|---|---|
| Carlinhos  | 
Report | 
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 1–2 | Consadole Sapporo | 
|---|---|---|
| Matsumoto  | 
Report | 
| Consadole Sapporo | 1–2 | Kashima Antlers | 
|---|---|---|
| Sakaki  | 
Report | 
| Omiya Ardija | 1–1 | Consadole Sapporo | 
|---|---|---|
| Kim  | 
Report | 
| Vissel Kobe | 1–2 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 
|---|---|---|
| Matsumura  | 
Report | 
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 3–2 | Kashima Antlers | 
|---|---|---|
| Hyodo  Saitō Oguro  | 
Report | 
| Consadole Sapporo | 0–4 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 
|---|---|---|
| Summary | Kawai  Lee Ki-Je Ishige Sugiyama  | 
| Omiya Ardija | 1–0 | Vissel Kobe | 
|---|---|---|
| Aoki  | 
Summary | Bae Chun-Suk  | 
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 3–1 | Omiya Ardija | 
|---|---|---|
| Hiraoka  Omae Shirasaki  | 
Summary | Hasegawa  Fukaya  | 
| Vissel Kobe | 2–2 | Consadole Sapporo | 
|---|---|---|
| Ōkubo  | 
Summary | Sakai  Okamoto  | 
| Kashima Antlers | 2–1 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 
|---|---|---|
| Osako  | 
Summary | Ito  | 
| Albirex Niigata | 4–3 | Omiya Ardija | 
|---|---|---|
| Kogure  Hirai Suzuki  | 
Summary | Shimizu  Watanabe  | 
| Vissel Kobe | 3–2 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 
|---|---|---|
| Komoto  Morioka  | 
Summary | Ono  Kanai  | 
Knock-out stage
All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||||||
| Nagoya Grampus | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 0 | 4 | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| FC Tokyo | 2 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| FC Tokyo | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| Vegalta Sendai | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| Shimizu S-Pulse | ||||||||||||||||||
| Kashima Antlers | ||||||||||||||||||
| Kashiwa Reysol | 3 | 2 | 5 | |||||||||||||||
| Gamba Osaka | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Kashiwa Reysol | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| Kashima Antlers | 3 | 2 | 5 | |||||||||||||||
| Cerezo Osaka | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Kashima Antlers | 2 | 3 | 5 | |||||||||||||||
Quarter-finals
First leg
| Kashima Antlers | 2–1 | Cerezo Osaka | 
|---|---|---|
| Iwamasa  Koroki  | 
Kakitani  | 
| Gamba Osaka | 1–3 | Kashiwa Reysol | 
|---|---|---|
| Niwa  | 
Kudo  Leandro Domingues  | 
Second leg
| Kashiwa Reysol | 2–1 | Gamba Osaka | 
|---|---|---|
| Leandro Domingues  Kudo  | 
Sato  | 
| Cerezo Osaka | 0–3 | Kashima Antlers | 
|---|---|---|
| Dutra  Koroki Shibasaki  | 
| FC Tokyo | 2–0 | Vegalta Sendai | 
|---|---|---|
| Ishikawa  Watanabe  | 
| Nagoya Grampus | 3–4 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 
|---|---|---|
| Tulio  Fujimoto  | 
Alex  Jymmy Franca Senuma Takagi  | 
Semifinals
First leg
| Kashima Antlers | 3–2 | Kashiwa Reysol | 
|---|---|---|
| Osako  Renato  | 
(Report) | Barada  Leandro Domingues  | 
Second leg
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 3–0 | FC Tokyo | 
|---|---|---|
| Omae  | 
Report | 
| Kashiwa Reysol | 2–2 | Kashima Antlers | 
|---|---|---|
| Jorge Wagner  Neto Baiano  | 
Report | Dutra  Osako  | 
Final
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | Kashima Antlers | 
|---|---|---|
| Omae  | 
Report | Shibasaki  | 
Goalscorers
| Rank | Name | Team | Goals | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kashima Antlers | 7 | |
| 2 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 5 | |
| Cerezo Osaka | 5 | ||
| 4 | Kashiwa Reysol | 4 |