Japan adopts a soft law approach to AI governance but lawmakers advance proposal for a hard law approach for certain harms.

Laws/Regulations directly regulating AI (“AI Regulations”)

On May 28, 2025, Japan’s Parliament enacted a bill to establish a new law centered on promoting AI, titled the “Act on Promotion of Research and Development and Utilization of Artificial Intelligence-Related Technologies” (the “AI Bill”).1 The AI Bill is Japan’s first law expressly regulating AI. The Bill states that the government will establish an AI Strategy Center (explained further below) that would likely launch in summer 2025, and the Fundamental AI Plan would likely be implemented within the year.

Japan had previously favored a soft law approach through the AI Guidelines for Business published in April 2024, and later updated in December 2024 and March 2025 (the “Guidelines for Business”).2 However, in August 2024, the Cabinet Office formed the AI Institutional Study Group with a mandate to determine, in consultation with various stakeholders, the next steps for AI regulation in Japan. On February 4, 2025, they published an interim summary of their findings.3 The basic principle of the Group’s findings was to promote the innovation of AI within Japan while mitigating risks.

The AI Bill primarily focuses on establishing core principles for the research, development and use of AI, formulating the government’s Fundamental Plan for AI, implementing basic national policies, and establishing an Artificial Intelligence Strategy Center.

The majority of its provisions set forth a framework for future laws and policies related to the goals surrounding AI, rather than imposing specific requirements now. There are provisions that directly impact private businesses and place responsibilities on AI developers, AI providers, and business users (each an “AI Business Actor”). For example:

Article 7 – The duty of AI Business Actors to make reasonable efforts to use AI to improve the efficiency and overall level of their business in line with the core principles of the Bill.

Articles 4 and 5 – Gives national or local government bodies the authority to create policies that impact AI Business Actors.

Article 16 – The duty of AI Business Actors is to cooperate with investigations and/or guidance given by governmental organizations.

Article 25(2) – Gives the AI Strategy Center the general ability to request cooperation from any entity as it deems necessary to perform its duties.

The AI Bill itself does not provide for penalties or fines for failing to cooperate. However, Article 16 gives the government broad authority to take measures based on investigations it conducts. One such measure the government is considering is to publicly name companies who refuse to cooperate, but there are no specific provisions in the Bill.
While the AI Bill itself does not provide detailed guidance for AI Business Actors, Article 13 states that the government will continue to publish updated guidelines regarding proper research, development, and use of AI.

Separately, Japan has published the Hiroshima International Guiding Principles for Organizations Developing Advanced AI Systems (the Hiroshima Principles), which aim to establish and promote guidelines worldwide for safe, secure, and trustworthy AI.4

Status of the AI Regulations

As stated above, the AI Bill was approved by the Cabinet Office on February 28, 2025, and approved by Parliament on May 28, 2025. The AI Strategy Center will likely launch sometime in the summer of 2025, and the Fundamental AI Plan is expected to begin to be implemented within the year.

Other laws affecting AI

Various laws, though not adopted specifically to regulate AI, are likely to affect the development or use of AI in Japan. A non-exhaustive list of key examples includes:

The Digital Platform Transparency Act, which imposes requirements on large online malls, app stores, and digital advertising businesses to ensure transparency and fairness in transactions with business users
The Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, which requires businesses engaging in algorithmic high-speed trading to register with the government, establish a risk management system, and maintain transaction records
The Civil Code, which allows tort claims to be brought against a person who has given instructions to AI to produce defamatory content about another person and published such content
The Copyright Act and the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, which can be applied to inappropriate uses of AI

There have also been efforts to legislate the takedown and prevention of fake or wrong content. On May 9, 2024, the Information Distribution Providers Act (which is the amendment of the existing Providers’ Liability Limitation Act) was passed by the Diet (the national legislature of Japan) with an aim to expedite content takedown requests. Even though it is not an AI-specific law and does not address AI-generated content, the Draft Discussion Points refer to it as a means for addressing risks arising from AI.

In addition, various acts involving AI may already be caught by the Criminal Code: using AI to defame another could fall under the ambit of defamation; using AI-generated fake content to interfere with someone’s business could be punishable as an obstruction of business; and giving unauthorized commands to another person’s computer can also be punishable under the criminal code.

Definition of “AI”

“Artificial Intelligence-related technologies” is defined under Article 2 of the AI Bill to mean: the technology necessary to realize functions that substitute human cognitive, reasoning, and judgment abilities through artificial means. It also includes technology related to information processing systems that process information using such technology and outputs results.

Territorial scope

The AI Bill does not clearly set out a territorial scope, however, Article 16, which sets out the duty to cooperate with government investigations, states that the government will be analyzing information regarding the development and use of AI domestically and abroad. Furthermore, the AI Bill does not distinguish between on-shore and off-shore entities in its definition of research institutions or AI Business Actors. However, the scope may be further refined by the AI Strategy Center as they implement the Fundamental AI Plan.

Sectoral scope

The AI Bill is applicable broadly to AI developers, AI providers, and business users, regardless of their sector.

Compliance roles

As noted above, private businesses are under a duty to make reasonable efforts to use AI in accordance with the Bill’s core principles. They also must cooperate with the government’s investigations into the development and use of AI. AI Business Actors must also follow any guidance, advice, or request that the government might issue post-investigation.

Core issues that the AI Regulations seek to address

The AI Bill states that its core principles are to promote competitive productivity, ensure transparency, and to foster productivity through advancing fundamental AI research and personnel development. While advancing these goals, the government aims to investigate and guide organizations away from the improper use of AI, which are uses that may lead to the violation of rights or harm prosperity.

Additionally, the Hiroshima Principles identify several significant risks, including: disinformation, copyright, cybersecurity, risks to health and safety, and societal risks (e.g., the ways in which advanced AI systems can give rise to harmful bias and discrimination).

The government has noted the following risks as ones that Japan should prioritize: safety, privacy and fairness, national security and crime, property protection, and intellectual property.

Further, regarding copyright, in-depth discussions are being held in Japan about how existing laws (i.e., the Copyright Act of Japan) should address issues concerning rights and harms that may arise from generative AI. Additionally, the Council of the Agency for Cultural Affairs has announced its position regarding copyright where AI is trained on the works of humans and AI-generated content.5

Risk categorization

There are no specific risk categories defined in the AI Bill. The investigation right granted to the government is aimed at the research, development or use of AI for improper purposes. Improper purposes are described broadly as potentially leading to the violation of rights or harming prosperity.

Key compliance requirements

As noted above, the AI Bill does not provide for detailed compliance obligations, but requires AI Business Actors and research institutions to cooperate with any investigations and follow guidance.

The current Guidelines for Business do provide certain general principles which AI Business Actors are expected to incorporate into the training and deployment of their products and services.6 However, it is up to each AI Business Actor to determine how to give effect to the principles. The principles are:

Human-centric – The use of AI must not infringe upon the fundamental human rights guaranteed by the constitution and international standards
Safety – Each AI Business Actor avoids damage to the lives, bodies, minds, and properties of stakeholders
Fairness – Elimination of unfair and harmful bias and discrimination
Privacy protection – Each AI Business Actor respects and protects privacy
Ensuring security – Each AI Business Actor ensures security to prevent the behaviors of AI from being unintentionally altered or stopped by unauthorized manipulations
Transparency – Each AI Business Actor provides stakeholders with information to the reasonable extent necessary and technically possible while ensuring the verifiability of the AI system or service
Accountability – Each AI Business Actor is accountable to stakeholders to ensure traceability, conforming to common guiding principles, based on each AI business actor’s role and degree of risk posed by the AI system or service
Education/literacy – Each AI Business Actor is expected to provide persons engaged in its business with education regarding knowledge, literacy and ethics concerning the use of AI in a socially correct manner, and provide stakeholders with education about complexity, misinformation, and possibilities of intentional misuse
Ensuring fair competition – Each AI Business Actor is expected to maintain a fair competitive environment so that new businesses and services using AI are created
Innovation – Each AI Business Actor is expected to promote innovation and consider interconnectivity and interoperability

Regulators

The AI Bill does not specify a regulatory agency that will conduct investigations, but the AI Strategy Center will be responsible for the creation and implementation of the Fundamental AI Plan. Additionally, the following ministries and agencies have been substantively engaged in establishing and promoting guidelines regarding AI:

The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
The Agency for Cultural Affairs (particularly for copyright issues)
The Personal Information Commission

Guidelines promulgated by ministries in Japan are often followed closely by companies and the public, even though they are not binding law.

Enforcement powers and penalties

As noted above, the AI Bill imposes the duty to make reasonable efforts to: (i) use AI in accordance with the Bill’s core guiding principles; (ii) cooperate with investigations; and (iii) follow guidance issued as a result. There are no specific penalties or fines associated with refusing to cooperate, but the AI Bill gives the government broad authority to take actions it believes are necessary based on its investigations and to fulfill its duties.

1 See the Act on Promotion of Research and Development and Utilization of Artificial Intelligence-Related Technologies (in Japanese) here.
2 See the AI Guidelines for Business Version 1.1 here.
3 See the interim summary published by the AI Regulation Research Group here.
4 See the Hiroshima International Guiding Principles for Organizations Developing Advanced AI Systems here.
5 See the General Understanding on AI and Copyright (March 15, 2024) here. The overview in English is available here.
6 See the AI Guidelines for Business Version 1.0 (here), Part 2C

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