The Reds looked set to win a first league title since 2006 last year before closing out the campaign with only one win in the last seven games to allow Gamba Osaka to steal the crown on the final day.
The Reds have not allowed that disappointment affect them this season, storming through the first 17 games undefeated to take the first stage of the revamped championship, featuring two stages and end of season playoffs, by six points.
The Reds won 12 of their matches and scored 39 goals, the most in the league by a distance, but skipper Yuki Abe said it was the steely determination of his side that had impressed him.
"Where we've grown is that now we're able to dig in," Abe was quoted as saying by the Japan Times ahead of the final day victory.
Midfielder Yuki Muto scored twice as the Reds raced into a 4-0 lead on Saturday before relegation threatened Albirex rallied late.
The job, though, is only half done, and the first stage title win only booked a place in the end of season playoffs. There has been little celebration among the squad.
"This is not our main goal so to be quite honest I didn't know how I was supposed to celebrate," midfielder Takahiro Sekine said last week.
The second stage begins in a fortnight and the Reds will be seeking direct entry into the championship final by finishing top of the overall points table after the next 17 matches.
Their title hopes will be helped by the departure of FC Tokyo striker Yoshinori Muto to Mainz 05 in Germany.
The Japan striker had bagged 10 goals to help the capital club to runners-up spot, while Gamba could only finish fourth some nine points back after struggling to keep up with the demands of domestic and AFC Champions League campaigns.
But after last season's slip when the pressure mounted, head coach Mihailo Petrovic will take nothing for granted.
The Serb, though, was impressed with how his players handled the mental test against Albirex on Saturday.
"It took a lot of concentration from the players. Teams who clinch the title quite often go on to lose their next game," he said.
"For us this was a very important game — maybe the most important of the 17 so far."
(Writing by Patrick Johnston in Singapore; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
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