Keeping hens · National rules

Can you keep backyard chickens in Japan?

A yearly flock report to the prefecture is required for the keepers covered below. What we found on bird flu, welfare and the keeping rule follows, including what we couldn't establish.

Read from 4 official sources19 passages quotedChecked October 29, 2026

At a glance

Registering your flock

Yearly report required

National keeping rule

Rule identified

Bird-flu housing orders

Status needs rechecking

Welfare rules

Rule identified

A sourced reading of national law in Japan, not legal advice. Local ordinances and zoning, HOA rules, and any local rooster or coop limits aren't covered here yet: check your local code before you get hens.

Keeping your flock

These findings cover the national scope stated below. They do not determine whether chickens are allowed at a particular home. City zoning, property restrictions and other local rules are outside this research.

Registering as a poultry keeper

Rule identified for the scope below

Jurisdiction: Japan

Applies to: Owners of chickens and the other listed poultry (ducks, quail, pheasants, emus, ostriches, guinea fowl and turkeys), whatever the purpose of keeping.

Outside this finding's scope

  • This is a yearly report rather than a one-off registration. Fees were not established; an unknown fee does not mean the report is free.

What the checked sources say

  • Each year, report the number of birds and the hygiene status to the governor of the prefecture where they are kept (Act Art. 12-4(1)).
  • Owners of chickens and the other listed poultry report by 15 June each year (Rules Art. 21-5).
  • Owners of fewer than 100 chickens report a reduced set of items, including the kinds and number of animals kept (Rules Art. 21-6).

Thresholds

  • No minimum flock size: the duty covers owners of chickens (Order Art. 4), and MAFF says the report is needed whatever the purpose, pets included.

Authority: Governor of the prefecture where the birds are kept (Act Art. 12-4(1))

Fee: Not established from the sources checked.

The official wording

Bird-flu housing orders

Current status needs rechecking

Check the official current-status page

Orders can change between checks. A missed check or an expired order does not establish that no order applies.

Housing-order finding as checked on 2026-11-08

The scope and conditions below are a dated record, not confirmation of today's position.

Not established from the sources checked

Uses housing orders in this scope: Not established from the sources checked.

Jurisdiction: Japan

Applies to: Kinds of livestock named in a prefectural rule made to stop a domestic animal infectious disease spreading; highly pathogenic avian influenza is listed for chickens, ducks and quail.

Outside this finding's scope

  • No current order, area or date is asserted here.
  • Whether a restriction on grazing (放牧) is used to keep backyard poultry indoors was not established.

What the checked sources say

  • A prefectural governor may, by rule, stop or restrict the grazing (放牧), breeding, slaughter outside slaughterhouses or hatching of a given kind of livestock to stop a domestic animal infectious disease spreading (Act Art. 34).
  • A prefectural governor may, by rule, prohibit or restrict movement of a given kind of livestock, carcasses or articles that may spread the pathogen within, into or out of the prefecture (Act Art. 32(1)).
Checked
Recheck due

Historical evidence, as checked

These quotations record what was checked on the dates shown. They do not confirm an order's current status.

  • 都道府県知事は、家畜伝染病のまん延を防止するため必要があるときは、規則を定め、一定種類の家畜の放牧、種付、と畜場以外の場所におけると殺又はふ卵を停止し、又は制限することができる。

    家畜伝染病予防法 第34条 · Checked

  • 都道府県知事は、家畜伝染病のまん延を防止するため必要があるときは、規則を定め、一定種類の家畜、その死体又は家畜伝染病の病原体を拡散するおそれがある物品の

    家畜伝染病予防法 第32条第1項 · Checked

  • 当該都道府県の区域内での移動、当該都道府県内への移入又は当該都道府県外への移出を禁止し、又は制限することができる。

    家畜伝染病予防法 第32条第1項 · Checked

  • 二十五　高病原性鳥インフルエンザ

    家畜伝染病予防法 第2条第1項 表 第25号 · Checked

Small-flock welfare minimums

Rule identified for the scope below

Jurisdiction: Japan

Applies to: Anyone handling animals (Art. 2(2)); chickens are protected animals under the abuse offences (Art. 44(4)).

Outside this finding's scope

  • Selected duties only; standards the Environment Minister may set under Art. 7(7) were not read.

What the checked sources say

  • Anyone handling animals must, so far as it does not hinder the purpose of keeping them, give appropriate food and water, necessary health care and an environment suited to the animal's kind and habits (Art. 2(2)).
  • Owners and keepers are to endeavour to keep animals properly for their kind and habits (Art. 7(1)); this is an effort duty.
  • Without cause weakening a protected animal by stopping its food or water, overworking it, confining it where its health and safety are hard to keep, or keeping it at a grossly unsuitable density, or not caring properly for one's own sick or injured protected animal, is abuse, punishable by up to one year's imprisonment or a fine of up to one million yen (Art. 44(2)).
  • Killing or injuring a protected animal without cause is punishable by up to five years' imprisonment or a fine of up to five million yen (Art. 44(1)).

The official wording

National rules on keeping poultry

Rule identified for the scope below

Jurisdiction: Japan

Applies to: Owners of chickens and the other listed poultry: the hygiene standards bind all of them, with a separate, shorter standard for non-commercial livestock.

Outside this finding's scope

  • Whether chickens may be kept at a particular property was not established from the national texts read (Domestic Animal Infectious Diseases Control Act, its Order and Rules, Act on Welfare and Management of Animals). Local governments, including prefectures, may take measures on animal keeping by ordinance (Art. 9 of that Act), so check with the city, town, village or ward and with the prefecture.

What the checked sources say

  • Owners must manage hygiene as the hygiene standards provide (Act Art. 12-3(3); Rules Art. 21 and Annex 2).
  • Non-commercial livestock means fewer than 100 chickens on a farm that ships (出荷) no live animals or products such as eggs (Rules Art. 21-5); a keeper who ships eggs is outside this class and follows the full poultry standard.
  • The non-commercial standard includes a daily health check and bird nets or other measures at house openings to keep wild animals out (Annex 2, row 5).
  • Under the full poultry standard, bird nets must have a mesh of 2 cm or less, or equivalent effect (Annex 2, row 3, item 25).
  • A prefectural governor may guide or advise a keeper whose animals cause noise, odour or similar damage to the surroundings (Act on Welfare and Management of Animals Art. 25(1)).

The official wording

  • 飼養衛生管理基準が定められた家畜の所有者は、当該飼養衛生管理基準に定めるところにより、当該家畜の飼養に係る衛生管理を行わなければならない。

    家畜伝染病予防法 第12条の3第3項 · Checked

  • 鶏、あひる、うずら、きじ、ほろほろ鳥及び七面鳥にあつては百羽未満、エミュー及びだちようにあつては十羽未満を飼養し、かつ、生きた家畜及び乳、卵等の生産物の出荷を行つていない農場で飼養されている家畜をいう。

    家畜伝染病予防法施行規則 第21条の5 ただし書 · Checked

  • 地方公共団体は、動物の健康及び安全を保持するとともに、動物が人に迷惑を及ぼすことのないようにするため、条例で定めるところにより、

    動物の愛護及び管理に関する法律 第9条 · Checked

  • 動物の飼養及び保管について動物の所有者又は占有者に対する指導をすること、多数の動物の飼養及び保管に係る届出をさせることその他の必要な措置を講ずることができる。

    動物の愛護及び管理に関する法律 第9条 · Checked

  • 網目の大きさが二センチメートル以下のもの又はこれと同等の効果を有すると認められるものに限る。

    家畜伝染病予防法施行規則 別表第二 三 第三 25 · Checked

Selling eggs in Japan? →License, small-flock line, markets and cartons, on their own page.Selling: License: depends

More countries we've checked

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Common questions

Do I have to register backyard chickens in Japan?
Registration: a yearly report to the prefecture is required. The finding covers: Owners of chickens and the other listed poultry (ducks, quail, pheasants, emus, ostriches, guinea fowl and turkeys), whatever the purpose of keeping. No minimum flock size: the duty covers owners of chickens (Order Art. 4), and MAFF says the report is needed whatever the purpose, pets included. Outside this finding's scope: This is a yearly report rather than a one-off registration. Fees were not established; an unknown fee does not mean the report is free. Authority: Governor of the prefecture where the birds are kept (Act Art. 12-4(1)).
Can I keep chickens in my backyard in Japan?
The national sources we read set the limits shown under “National rules on keeping poultry” on this page, and don't settle the rest. Check your local rules before you get hens.
Do I have to keep my hens indoors for bird flu in Japan?
Housing orders come and go, so we never show one as current. This page links the official status page to check today.

Allowed where you live? Then keep the records.

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