Basic Plan for Artificial Intelligence

Applies To

Overview

The Basic Plan for Artificial Intelligence is a Cabinet-level policy document that sets the overarching framework for Japan's national approach to AI. It identifies two core priorities: positioning Japan as a leader in AI governance internationally, and ensuring that AI systems developed and used within Japan meet standards of trustworthiness and reliability. The plan builds on Japan's earlier AI Strategy and Social Principles of Human-Centric AI, providing updated direction consistent with evolving global governance norms. As a Cabinet-approved basic plan, it carries significant policy weight and is expected to guide ministerial regulations, public procurement standards, and industry guidance documents in subsequent implementation phases. Enforcement is indirect: the plan functions as a policy anchor rather than a directly binding legal instrument, with specific obligations to follow through subsidiary regulations and agency guidance. The December 2025 adoption signals Japan's intent to align with international frameworks such as the OECD AI Principles while maintaining a national governance identity.

Key Requirements

• •Designate AI governance leadership responsibilities at the national government level, with clear ministerial accountability for AI policy coordination.
• •Advance trustworthiness standards for AI systems used in public services and critical sectors, with further specifications expected through ministerial guidance.
• •Align national AI policy with international governance frameworks, including OECD AI Principles and G7 Hiroshima AI Process commitments.
• •Direct public agencies to incorporate AI governance considerations into procurement and deployment decisions.
• •Establish a policy baseline for subsequent binding regulations and sector-specific rules to be developed in implementation phases.
• •Support capacity building and awareness programs to promote responsible AI use across public and private sectors.

What Your Organization Must Do

• →Monitor forthcoming ministerial guidance and sector-specific regulations that will translate the Basic Plan's priorities into binding obligations for your industry.
• →Review AI systems used in Japan-based operations against emerging trustworthiness criteria, including transparency, accountability, and safety dimensions referenced in the plan.
• →Engage government affairs and legal counsel to track Cabinet Office communications on implementation timelines and compliance expectations for private sector actors.
• →Assess public sector contracts and procurement activities in Japan for new AI governance requirements likely to follow from the plan's direction on public agency obligations.
• →Align internal AI governance documentation with OECD AI Principles and Hiroshima Process standards, given the plan's explicit international alignment goals.
• →Incorporate the Basic Plan's trustworthiness framing into board-level AI risk reporting to demonstrate awareness of Japan's national AI governance direction.