The Pearl Bowl was started in 1976, but matched a university team against a corporate or club team. The university teams won eight years in a row up to 1984.
The format was changed from the 10th edition in 1985 as a game between corporate or club teams. The Renown Rovers won the first of three straight titles that year.
Originally played at Korakuen Stadium, the championship game has been held in Tokyo Dome since it replaced Korakuen in 1988. The only exception has been 1996, when it was played at Yokohama Stadium. That year, West Division teams were allowed to participate, and the Matsushita Denko Impulse won the title.
The Lixil Deers have won the most titles with eight.
| class="wikitable"
!Year!!Bowl!!Stadium!!Winner!!Score!!Runner-up!!Most Valuable Player (MVP)!!Attendance |
| 1976 | Pearl Bowl I | Korakuen Stadium | Nihon U. Phoenix | 21-6 | Tokyo Vanguards |
| 1977 | Pearl Bowl II | Korakuen Stadium | Meiji U. Griffins | 14-12 | Tokyo Vanguards |
| 1978 | Pearl Bowl III | Korakuen Stadium | Nihon U. Phoenix | 62-13 | Renown Rovers |
| 1979 | Pearl Bowl IV | Korakuen Stadium | Nihon U. Phoenix | 55-7 | Futaba Gumi |
| 1980 | Pearl Bowl V | Korakuen Stadium | Nihon U. Phoenix | 62-6 | Renown Rovers |
| 1981 | Pearl Bowl VI | Korakuen Stadium | Nihon U. Phoenix | 31-18 | Nissan |
| 1982 | Pearl Bowl VII | Korakuen Stadium | Nihon U. Phoenix | 7-3 | Nissan |
| 1983 | Pearl Bowl VIII | Korakuen Stadium | Nihon U. Phoenix | 51-0 | Nissan |
| 1984 | Pearl Bowl IX | Korakuen Stadium | Nihon U. Phoenix | 21-17 | Renown Rovers |
| 1985 | Pearl Bowl X | Korakuen Stadium | Renown Rovers | 63-7 | Nissan |
| 1986 | Pearl Bowl XI | Korakuen Stadium | Renown Rovers | 45-24 | Nissan |
| 1987 | Pearl Bowl XII | Korakuen Stadium | Renown Rovers | 24-8 | Sanwa Bank |
| 1988 | Pearl Bowl XIII | Tokyo Dome | NEC Falcons | 23-17 | Renown Rovers |
| 1989 | Pearl Bowl XIV | Tokyo Dome | Onward Oaks | 41-7 | Renown Rovers |
| 1990 | Pearl Bowl XV | Tokyo Dome | Onward Oaks | 21-19 | NEC Falcons |
| 1991 | Pearl Bowl XVI | Tokyo Dome | NEC Falcons | 7-2 | Onward Oaks |
| 1992 | Pearl Bowl XVII | Tokyo Dome | Onward Skylarks | 28-0 | Fujitsu Frontiers |
| 1993 | Pearl Bowl XVIII | Tokyo Dome | Onward Skylarks | 32-27 | Fujitsu Frontiers |
| 1994 | Pearl Bowl XIX | Tokyo Dome | Onward Skylarks | 29-28 | Fujitsu Frontiers |
| 1995 | Pearl Bowl XX | Tokyo Dome | Kashima Deers | 42-21 | Renown Rovers |
| 1996 | Pearl Bowl XXI | Yokohama Stadium | Matsushita Denko Impulse | 18-13 | Onward Skylarks |
| 1997 | Pearl Bowl XXII | Tokyo Dome | Recruit Seagulls | 31-12 | Asahi Beer Silver Star |
| 1998 | Pearl Bowl XXIII | Tokyo Dome | Kashima Deers | 10-7 | Onward Skylarks |
| 1999 | Pearl Bowl XXIV | Tokyo Dome | Kashima Deers | 31-7 | Nissan Prince Tokyo Skyliners | DL Tsuyoshi Sekizawa, Kashima |
| 2000 | Pearl Bowl XXV | Tokyo Dome | Recruit Seagulls | 7-3 | Kashima Deers | DB Yasumasa Tamanoi, Recruit |
| 2001 | Pearl Bowl XXVI | Tokyo Dome | Onward Skylarks | 34-21 | Kashima Deers | Teruhiro Ura, Onward |
| 2002 | Pearl Bowl XXVII | Tokyo Dome | Kashima Deers | 20-19 OT | Recruit Seagulls | Tatsuya Shida, Kashima |
| 2003 | Pearl Bowl XXVIII | Tokyo Dome | Fujitsu Frontiers | 14-13 | Obic Seagulls | Mizuguchi Takao, Fujitsu |
| 2004 | Pearl Bowl XXIX | Tokyo Dome | Kashima Deers | 17-7 | Onward Skylarks | CB Tsuna Sano, Kashima |
| 2005 | Pearl Bowl XXX | Tokyo Dome | Obic Seagulls | 27-2 | Asahi Beer Silver Star | QB Manabu Tasumura, Obic |
| 2006 | Pearl Bowl XXXI | Tokyo Dome | Fujitsu Frontiers | 20-6 | Onward Skylarks | Makoto Tsukino, Fujitsu | 13,634 |
| 2007 | colspan="7" | Tournament not held, because of the 2007 IFAF World Championship |
| 2008 | Pearl Bowl XXXII | Tokyo Dome | Kashima Deers | 27-14 | Fujitsu Frontiers | RB Yasuhiro Maruta, Kashima | 15,326 |
| 2009 | Pearl Bowl XXXIII | Tokyo Dome | Kashima Deers | 20-17 | Obic Seagulls | RB Shoichiro Sato, Kashima | 11,823 |
| 2010 | Pearl Bowl XXXIV | Tokyo Dome | Obic Seagulls | 15-13 | Fujitsu Frontiers | Taiki Matsubayashi, Obic | 14,066 |
| 2011 | colspan="7" | Tournament not held, because of the 2011 IFAF World Championship |
| 2012 | Pearl Bowl XXXV | Tokyo Dome | Obic Seagulls | 31-10 | Fujitsu Frontiers | WR Noriaki Kinoshita, Obic | 13,125 |
| 2013 | Pearl Bowl XXXVI | Tokyo Dome | Kashima Deers | 17-10[{{cite web |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2013/06/25/more-sports/football/deers-beat-frontiers-to-win-pearl-bowl-title/#.VomLKxUrKUk |title=Deers beat Frontiers to win Pearl Bowl title |last=Coskrey |first=Jason |date=June 25, 2013 |website=japantimes.co.jp |accessdate=January 3, 2016}}] | Fujitsu Frontiers | WR Yujiro Iwai, Kashima | 19,250 |
| 2014 | Pearl Bowl XXXVII | Tokyo Dome | Obic Seagulls | 37-34 OT[{{cite web |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2014/06/24/more-sports/football/seagulls-outlast-frontiers-wild-pearl-bowl/#.VomLphUrKUl |title=Seagulls outlast Frontiers in wild Pearl Bowl |last=Ikezawa |first=Hiroshi |date=June 24, 2014 | website=japantimes.co.jp |accessdate=January 3, 2016}}] | Fujitsu Frontiers | WR Noriaki Kinoshita, Obic | 16,869 |
| 2015 | colspan="7" | Tournament not held, because of the 2015 IFAF World Championship |
| 2016 | Pearl Bowl XXXVIII | Tokyo Dome | IBM Big Blue | 21-20[{{cite web|url=http://www.xleague.com/news/news_league/pearl-bowl-final-brooks-foils-lixil-gamble-as-ibm-bags-1st-title-in-teams-40-year-history/ |title=Pearl Bowl final:Brooks foils Lixil gamble as IBM bags 1st title in team's 40-year history. |last=Marantz |first=Ken |date= June 16, 2016 |website=xleague.com |accessdate=June 26, 2016}}] | LIXIL Deers | WR Takeshi Kurihara, IBM | 15,875 |
| 2017 | Pearl Bowl XXXIX | Tokyo Dome | Obic Seagulls | 29-27[{{cite web|url=http://www.xleague.com/news/news_league/chips-off-the-old-blocks-seagulls-hold-off-bigblue-in-wild-pearl-bowl-final/ |title=Chips off the old blocks: Seagulls hold off BigBlue in wild Pearl Bowl final. |last=Marantz |first=Ken |date= June 21, 2016 |website=xleague.com |accessdate=June 27, 2017}}] | IBM Big Blue | WR Taro Mizuno, Obic | 16,281 |
| 2018 | Pearl Bowl XL | Tokyo Dome | Obic Seagulls | 28-2[{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2018/06/28/more-sports/football/__trashed-4/|title=Obic Seagulls rout IBM Big Blue to defend Pearl Bowl title|website=The Japan Times|first=Hiroshi|last=Ikezawa|date=June 28, 2018|access-date=February 19, 2025}}] | IBM Big Blue | QB Skyler Howard, Obic[{{cite web|url=https://www.smokingmusket.com/2018/6/28/17513192/skyshield-3-skyler-howard-obic-seagulls-xleague-pearl-bowl-west-virginia-wvu-mountaineers|title=Skyler Howard named MVP in Obic Seagulls' Pearl Bowl win|website=The Smoking Musket|first=Michael|last=Miller|date=June 28, 2018|access-date=February 19, 2025}}] | |
| 2019 | Pearl Bowl XLI | Tokyo Dome | Obic Seagulls | 31-15[{{cite web|url=https://www.americanfootballinternational.com/obic-seagulls-capture-record-setting-third-straight-pearl-bowl/|title=Japan: Obic Seagulls capture record-setting third straight Pearl Bowl|website=American Football International|date=August 16, 2019|access-date=February 19, 2025}}] | IBM Big Blue | Sachiyo Karamatsu, Obic | 12,936 |
| 2020 | colspan="7" | Tournament not held, because of the COVID-19 pandemic[{{cite web|url=https://www.americanfootballinternational.com/japans-x-league-spring-tournaments-canceled/|title=Japan's X League Spring tournaments canceled|website=American Football International|date=March 26, 2020|access-date=February 19, 2025}}] |