National rules

Can you sell backyard eggs in Japan?

MHLW treats a farmer's own eggs sold unprocessed direct, or unwashed to shops, as gathering needing no food-business notice; not settled for hobby keepers. Chicken owners report flock size to the prefecture yearly.

Read from 9 official sources48 passages quotedChecked October 29, 2026

At a glance

License

Depends how you sell

Small-flock line

Activity-based: a farmer's own eggs sold unprocessed direct, unwashed to shops or to a GP centre count as gathering; other businesses notify unless licensed or low-impact; liquid egg needs a licence

Farmers markets

Not stated

Cartons

Not stated

In plain English

The Food Sanitation Act's definition of business leaves out gathering of food in agriculture. MHLW's 2023 Q&A for local health departments treats a farmer's self-collected eggs sold unprocessed at the farm gate, a direct-sale stand or by mail order, sold unwashed to a shop, or sold to a GP centre, as gathering; producer-group sales are not. Other businesses notify the prefecture (or the city that runs its own public health centre, or the special ward) in advance unless they need a licence or are low-impact businesses set by Cabinet Order; liquid-egg making needs a licence. Whether a hobby keeper counts as a farmer was not established.

A sourced reading of the rules in Japan, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with Prefectures, cities that run a public health centre, and special wards (food sanitation); prefectural governors (livestock reports); Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (厚生労働省); Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (農林水産省) before you sell.

Do you need a license?

Depends on how and how much you sellActivity-based: a farmer's own eggs sold unprocessed direct, unwashed to shops or to a GP centre count as gathering; other businesses notify unless licensed or low-impact; liquid egg needs a licence
  • Gathering of food in agriculture is outside the Act's definition of business (Art. 4(7)). MHLW's Q&A says a farmer (layer farmer) selling eggs the farmer collected, unprocessed, at the farm gate, a direct-sale stand or by mail order, unwashed to a retail shop, or to a GP centre, is gathering.
  • Sales by producer groups are not gathering (Q&A 9), and the Q&A notes that the retail shop buying the eggs must notify.
  • Other businesses must notify the prefectural governor in advance unless they need a licence or are low-impact businesses set by Cabinet Order (Art. 57(1)); in cities with a public health centre and special wards, the mayor or ward mayor takes the governor's place.Art. 76
  • Liquid egg manufacturing (making egg with the shell removed) needs a licence.Order Art. 35 item 18; Act Art. 55(1)
  • The Q&A says scale was also taken into account from a public-health viewpoint (Q&A 1). Whether a hobby keeper selling surplus eggs counts as a farmer was not established.
The exact wording
“営業（第五十四条に規定する営業、公衆衛生に与える影響が少ない営業で政令で定めるもの及び食鳥処理の事業を除く。）を営もうとする者は、…あらかじめ、その営業所の名称及び所在地その他厚生労働省令で定める事項を都道府県知事に届け出なければならない。”

Where you can sell

From home or the farm

With conditions

MHLW's Q&A treats a farmer selling self-collected eggs unprocessed at the farm gate, a direct-sale stand or by mail order as agricultural gathering. Food for sale must still be handled cleanly and hygienically (Art. 5).

Farmers markets

Not stated

The egg answer names the farm gate, direct-sale stands and mail order. For rice, the Q&A treats a farmer's own sales from trucks or tents at morning markets and similar as gathering needing no notification; markets are not named for eggs.

Stores and restaurants

With conditions

Selling self-collected eggs unwashed to a retail shop is gathering for the farmer, and the shop must notify. Restaurants are not named in the Q&A.

Also check with: Prefectural governor, or the mayor or ward mayor in cities with a public health centre and special wards, for food-business licences and notifications (Food Sanitation Act Arts. 55, 57, 76)

Cartons, labels and handling

Cartons

The sources we read don't set a carton rule.

Refrigeration

The egg section of the food standards, as shown in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's legal database (no consolidation date shown), sets 8° or below for liquid egg and, for liquid-egg makers, for normal eggs held 3 days or more before breaking; no storage temperature for shell eggs sold as shell eggs was found. Packaged raw-eating eggs must carry a statement that storage at 10°C or below is desirable; eggs sold unpackaged need not (Food Labelling Standards Annex 24, Art. 20). Food for sale must be handled and stored cleanly and hygienically (Food Sanitation Act Art. 5).

The label must show

  • Business sellers of fresh food: name and place of origin, except when serving it in eating facilities or selling it unpackaged at the place of production (Food Labelling Standards Art. 18). When selling at the place of production the place of origin need not be labelled, but packaged shell eggs still need the name (Art. 20).
  • Shell eggs (Annex 24): best-before date; for eggs not for raw eating, a dated laying, collection, sorting or packing date may replace it.
  • Shell eggs: storage method, which may be left off when nothing beyond room-temperature storage needs noting.
  • Shell eggs: location of the laying facility (or the sorting and packing facility) and name of the person who collected (or sorted and packed) the eggs.
  • Shell eggs: a method of use meeting the use standard under Food Sanitation Act Art. 13(1).
  • Raw-eating eggs: a statement that they are for raw eating, that storage at 10°C or below is desirable, and that after the best-before date they need heat sterilisation before eating.
  • Eggs not for raw eating: a statement that they are for heat processing, and a statement that they need heat sterilisation before eating.
  • Where additives are used: the additives, and whether any comes from a specified allergen (Annex 24).
  • Eggs sold unpackaged need not carry the Annex 24 items (Art. 20). Sellers who are not food businesses label packaged fresh food with listed items, including shell-egg particulars (Art. 29).

Grading

No mandatory size or quality grading for shell eggs sold as shell eggs was found in the texts read (Food Sanitation Act and its Order, Food Labelling Act and Standards, egg section of the food standards). The egg section only requires liquid-egg makers to keep raw eggs sorted into normal, dirty, and soft or cracked eggs.

Washing

No washing rule for shell eggs sold direct was found in the texts read. MHLW's Q&A counts a farmer's eggs sold unprocessed direct, or unwashed to a shop, as gathering.

Pricing your dozen? The egg price calculator works it out from your feed bill.

What changed recently

  1. 2026-10-01 · From 1 October 2026 a separate, shorter hygiene standard applies to non-commercial livestock (fewer than 100 chickens on a farm that ships no live birds or products such as eggs): Rules Annex 2 row 5, added by MAFF Ordinance No. 44 of 29 September 2025. Source
Keeping chickens in Japan? →Registration, bird-flu housing orders and welfare rules, on their own page.Yearly report required

Common questions

Can I sell eggs from my backyard chickens in Japan, and do I need a license?
MHLW treats a farmer's own eggs sold unprocessed direct, or unwashed to shops, as gathering needing no food-business notice; not settled for hobby keepers. Chicken owners report flock size to the prefecture yearly. Small-flock line: activity-based: a farmer's own eggs sold unprocessed direct, unwashed to shops or to a GP centre count as gathering; other businesses notify unless licensed or low-impact; liquid egg needs a licence. The conditions, and the law they come from, are on this page.
Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Japan?
Not stated in the sources we read. The egg answer names the farm gate, direct-sale stands and mail order. For rice, the Q&A treats a farmer's own sales from trucks or tents at morning markets and similar as gathering needing no notification; markets are not named for eggs. Also check with Prefectural governor, or the mayor or ward mayor in cities with a public health centre and special wards, for food-business licences and notifications (Food Sanitation Act Arts. 55, 57, 76).
Can I reuse egg cartons in Japan?
The sources we read do not say; ask Prefectures, cities that run a public health centre, and special wards (food sanitation); prefectural governors (livestock reports); Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (厚生労働省); Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (農林水産省) before reusing cartons for eggs you sell.
What has to be on the carton label in Japan?
Business sellers of fresh food: name and place of origin, except when serving it in eating facilities or selling it unpackaged at the place of production (Food Labelling Standards Art. 18). When selling at the place of production the place of origin need not be labelled, but packaged shell eggs still need the name (Art. 20). Shell eggs (Annex 24): best-before date; for eggs not for raw eating, a dated laying, collection, sorting or packing date may replace it. Shell eggs: storage method, which may be left off when nothing beyond room-temperature storage needs noting. Shell eggs: location of the laying facility (or the sorting and packing facility) and name of the person who collected (or sorted and packed) the eggs. Shell eggs: a method of use meeting the use standard under Food Sanitation Act Art. 13(1). Raw-eating eggs: a statement that they are for raw eating, that storage at 10°C or below is desirable, and that after the best-before date they need heat sterilisation before eating. Eggs not for raw eating: a statement that they are for heat processing, and a statement that they need heat sterilisation before eating. Where additives are used: the additives, and whether any comes from a specified allergen (Annex 24). Eggs sold unpackaged need not carry the Annex 24 items (Art. 20). Sellers who are not food businesses label packaged fresh food with listed items, including shell-egg particulars (Art. 29). The rule reads: "賞味期限の表示は、鶏の殻付き卵が産卵された年月日、採卵した年月日、重量及び品質ごとに選別した年月日又は包装した年月日の文字を冠したその年月日の表示をもって、これに代えることができる（生食用のものを除く。）。"
Do eggs I sell in Japan have to be kept cold?
In short: The egg section of the food standards, as shown in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's legal database (no consolidation date shown), sets 8° or below for liquid egg and, for liquid-egg makers, for normal eggs held 3 days or more before breaking; no storage temperature for shell eggs sold as shell eggs was found. Packaged raw-eating eggs must carry a statement that storage at 10°C or below is desirable; eggs sold unpackaged need not (Food Labelling Standards Annex 24, Art. 20). Food for sale must be handled and stored cleanly and hygienically (Food Sanitation Act Art. 5).
Sources
Read the 48 passages this page is built on
What we couldn't confirm
  • Whether a hobby keeper selling surplus eggs counts as a farmer under MHLW's gathering Q&A was not established; ask the prefecture, or the city that runs its own public health centre, or the special ward (Food Sanitation Act Arts. 57, 76).
  • A carton-reuse rule and mandatory grading for shell eggs were not found in the texts read.
  • The egg section of the food standards was read in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's legal database, which shows no consolidation date; the Consumer Affairs Agency now publishes notices amending these standards.
  • Whether chickens may be kept at a particular property was not established from the national texts read. Local governments, including prefectures, may take measures on animal keeping by ordinance (Act on Welfare and Management of Animals Art. 9), so check with the city, town, village or ward and with the prefecture.
  • Current bird-flu measures are not stated here; check the MAFF bird-flu page and the prefecture before acting.

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