The Pet Food Safety Act mandates Japanese-language labeling of five items (次の５項目の日本語表示が義務化): ① product name (名称), ② best-before date (賞味期限), ③ ingredient names (原材料名), ④ country of origin (原産国名), ⑤ business operator name and address (事業者名及び住所). MAFF's labeling check sheet exists in a June 2016 edition (平成28年6月) and a June 2026 edition (令和８年６月); the five mandatory items are unchanged.
① Name: the product name on the package front must make clear in Japanese that it is dog or cat food; English-only names such as "FOR DOG" / "DOG FOOD" are not acceptable (「～～FOR DOG」や「～～DOG FOOD」という名称は不適) — or mark 「犬用」/「猫用」 in a consolidated labeling area (一括表示欄). Examples: ○成犬用総合栄養食, ○子猫用栄養補助食品, ×ペット用おやつ.
② Best-before date: item name 「賞味期限」 in Japanese, displayed as year-month-day or year-month (年月日又は年月で表示, e.g. 2024 08); month in digits or Japanese; English notation (e.g. 15 NOV 23) needs a clear explanation.
④ Country of origin: the country where the final processing step bringing substantial change was completed (実質的な変更をもたらす最終加工工程を完了した国); repacking is not a substantial change, so a repack location cannot be the origin. For Japan, 「国産」 alone is acceptable.
⑤ Operator: the Japanese operator responsible for the labeling, with business type — one of 製造業者/輸入業者/販売業者/製造者/輸入者/販売者; styles like 製造元・輸入元・販売元 are not allowed (製造元、輸入元、販売元等という書き方はできません).
Voluntary extras: under the Fair Competition Code (ペットフードの表示に関する公正競争規約), purpose (目的), net weight (内容量), feeding method (給与方法) and guaranteed analysis (成分) are also displayed.