Comparisons · The display requirements and sale restriction set out in Japan's Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Act (Act No. 234 of 1961), its Enforcement Order (Cabinet Order No. 324 of 1962) and its Enforcement Regulation (Ministry of International Trade and Industry Ordinance No. 84 of 1962)

Before buying an imported charger, power strip or power bank in Japan: what the PSE mark has to be accompanied by

When a cheap USB charger, power strip or power bank turns up on an overseas marketplace, what to check is well defined. Japan's Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Act states that a business may not sell, or display for sale, an electrical appliance that does not carry the prescribed display (Article 27), and the form of that display is set by Ministerial Ordinance. Under Article 17 of that Ordinance the display is not the mark alone: the name of the notifying business must always accompany it, and for a specified electrical appliance the name of the conformity inspection body as well. A product with a mark-like symbol but no company name anywhere does not meet the prescribed form. This guide reads the Act, the Cabinet Order and the Ordinance as retrieved from the e-Gov statute API on 2026-09-20. This is a different scheme from the radio-law conformity mark, and this guide is a reading of the text, not legal advice.

Published 2026-09-20 · Updated 2026-09-20 · FaultNote editorial policy

Before buying an imported charger, power strip or power bank in Japan: what the PSE mark has to be accompanied by overview: 1. The display is a condition of sale, written into the Act, 2. The mark alone is not the requirement, 3. The two categories put a business through different procedures, 4. Power banks are in scope conditionally, 5. A different scheme from the radio conformity mark, and the order to check in — An overview of this guide’s steps and checks, not a screenshot of the app.

Who this guide is for and what to prepare

Anyone buying a charger, power strip or AC adapter from an overseas marketplace for use in Japan
Anyone checking whether power banks fall within the regulation
Anyone who wants to know what the PSE mark means at the level of the statute

What you need

Be able to see, on the product page photographs or specification list, whether a mark and a company name are displayed
Note whether the seller is a business in Japan or outside it
Note separately whether the product has radio functions (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi), which fall under a different scheme

1. The display is a condition of sale, written into the Act

The basis is Article 27 of the Act, which provides that a person engaged in the business of manufacturing, importing or selling electrical appliances may not sell, or display for the purpose of sale, an electrical appliance unless it bears the display under Article 10, paragraph 1. Not sellable, and not displayable for sale. (Quotations in this guide are of the Japanese statutory text; the renderings here are this site's translations.)

Note who the obligation falls on: a person engaged in the business of manufacturing, importing or selling. It is not an obligation placed on the buyer. But a product circulating without the display means the business has not met that condition, which tells a buyer that the product may not have been through any of the prescribed checks.

False marking is prohibited separately. Article 10, paragraph 3 provides that unless a notifying business affixes the display under the preceding paragraphs for a notified type, no person may affix the Article 10(1) display, or a display confusingly similar to it, to an electrical appliance. Confusingly similar displays are inside the prohibition.

The definition of importing matters here too. Article 2, paragraph 5 provides that the act of importing includes the act of a person outside Japan having another person bring goods into Japan from abroad and having a general consumer take delivery of them.

2. The mark alone is not the requirement

The form of the display is set by Article 17 of the Enforcement Regulation, which splits the required items in two.

For a specified electrical appliance listed in the left column of Appended Table 1 of the Order: the symbol prescribed in Appended Table 6, the name of the notifying business, and the name of the inspection body that issued the certificate under Article 9, paragraph 2 of the Act. For an electrical appliance listed in Appended Table 2 of the Order: the symbol prescribed in Appended Table 7 and the name of the notifying business.

So the symbol is one of several required items. Under either heading the name of the notifying business must accompany it, and for a specified electrical appliance the inspection body's name comes too. That is the usable pre-purchase check: a mark-like symbol with no company name anywhere does not meet the prescribed form.

The symbols themselves are prescribed as figures in Appended Tables 6 and 7. This site read the body text of the Ordinance and does not reproduce those figures or describe their shapes; in practice, checking that a mark and a business name appear together is enough.

Abbreviations are allowed in some cases. Article 17, paragraph 2 provides that an approved abbreviation, or a registered trademark that has been notified, may be used. An unfamiliar short form alongside the mark is therefore not in itself a defect.

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2. The mark alone is not the requirement
Category	Items that must be displayed (Enforcement Regulation, Article 17)	What to look for
Specified electrical appliance (left column of Appended Table 1 of the Order)	The symbol in Appended Table 6, the name of the notifying business, and the name of the inspection body that issued the certificate	An inspection body name in addition to the business name
Other electrical appliance (Appended Table 2 of the Order)	The symbol in Appended Table 7 and the name of the notifying business	Symbol and business name appearing together
Where an abbreviation or trademark is used	An abbreviation approved by the Minister, or a notified registered trademark, may be used (paragraph 2)	An unfamiliar short form is not by itself a defect

3. The two categories put a business through different procedures

The Act defines the categories. Article 2, paragraph 2 defines a specified electrical appliance as an electrical appliance that, in view of its structure, method of use or other circumstances of use, is particularly likely to cause danger or harm, and that is prescribed by Cabinet Order. The split is by degree of risk.

The procedural difference is in Article 9. Where an appliance a notifying business manufactures or imports is a specified electrical appliance, the business must, by the time it sells that appliance, undergo a conformity inspection by a person registered by the Minister, receive a certificate and retain it. Third-party inspection before sale applies to this category only.

For an electrical appliance that is not specified, the Act imposes no such third-party inspection. Which is also why the presence of an inspection body's name in the display is a way of telling the categories apart.

Which items fall into which category is set by the Appended Tables of the Cabinet Order. Article 1 provides that the electrical appliances under Article 2(1) of the Act are as listed in the left column of Appended Table 1 and in Appended Table 2, and Article 2 that the specified electrical appliances under Article 2(2) are as listed in the left column of Appended Table 1. Whether the thing you are buying is an electrical appliance at all is a question for those tables.

4. Power banks are in scope conditionally

The common question is power banks. Appended Table 2 of the Order lists lithium-ion storage batteries — but not unconditionally. The entry, rendered here by this site rather than quoted as English source wording, covers lithium-ion storage batteries limited to those with a volumetric energy density of 400 watt-hours per litre or more per single cell, and excludes those for automobiles, motorised bicycles, medical devices and industrial machinery. The statutory text is Japanese.

Three things follow. The scope is limited to cells of 400 Wh/L or more. Automotive, motorised-bicycle, medical-device and industrial-machinery batteries are excluded. And because the entry sits in Appended Table 2, these are not specified electrical appliances: Article 9's third-party inspection is not imposed on them by the text, and the display is the symbol plus the notifying business's name.

What this site cannot establish is worth stating too: there is no way for a buyer to determine from a product listing whether a given cell reaches 400 Wh/L. Deciding "is this product in scope" from the buyer's side is therefore impractical. Looking for the display is the faster and more reliable check.

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4. Power banks are in scope conditionally
Common assumption	What the text actually says
All power banks require PSE	The Appended Table 2 entry is limited to lithium-ion storage batteries of 400 Wh/L or more per single cell, excluding automotive, motorised-bicycle, medical-device and industrial-machinery use
A mark means it is compliant	Article 17 of the Regulation requires the name of the notifying business alongside the symbol, plus the inspection body's name for a specified electrical appliance
The buyer breaks the law	Article 27 addresses persons engaged in the business of manufacturing, importing or selling; it states no obligation on the buyer
A personal import from an overseas seller falls outside the Act	Article 2(5) includes, within importing, a person abroad having goods brought into Japan and having a general consumer take delivery of them

5. A different scheme from the radio conformity mark, and the order to check in

This site has a separate guide on the radio-law technical conformity mark for imported wireless accessories, and the two are easy to confuse. The conformity mark belongs to the Radio Act and covers equipment that emits radio waves. PSE belongs to the Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Act and covers safety as an electrical appliance. Different statutes: one does not imply the other. Some products, such as the charger for a Bluetooth mouse, touch both.

A practical order: look at the product page photographs and specification list for a mark together with a business name; if none is visible, ask the seller for a photograph of the marking area on the unit; check the same display on the item when it arrives; and treat its absence as meaning the product does not meet the condition Article 27 places on the seller.

This guide is a reading of statutory text, not legal advice, and it judges no individual product. The explanatory pages of the responsible ministry were not used: they refused retrieval from this site. Everything quoted here is statutory text served by the e-Gov statute search service.

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5. A different scheme from the radio conformity mark, and the order to check in
Scheme	Statute	Scope	Guide on this site
PSE (display on electrical appliances)	Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Act	Items listed in the Appended Tables of the Cabinet Order	This guide
Technical conformity mark	Radio Act	Radio equipment that emits radio waves	Covered in the conformity mark guide

Limitations and requirements

This guide reads statutory text and is not legal advice. It makes no judgement about whether a particular product or transaction is lawful.
The explanatory pages of the responsible ministry were not consulted: they refused retrieval (HTTP 403). Everything quoted is statutory text from the e-Gov statute search service.
The symbols themselves are prescribed as figures in Appended Tables 6 and 7 of the Enforcement Regulation. This site does not reproduce those figures or describe their shapes.
Whether an item counts as an electrical appliance is decided by the Appended Tables of the Cabinet Order. This guide does not reproduce those tables; check the entry for your own item.
For power banks, this site could not establish any way for a buyer to determine from a listing whether a cell reaches 400 Wh/L.
Statutes are amended. The provisions quoted are as retrieved from the e-Gov statute API on 2026-09-20.

Frequently asked questions

If I buy a product with no PSE mark, am I penalised?

Article 27 addresses persons engaged in the business of manufacturing, importing or selling electrical appliances; the text states no obligation on the buyer. What the absence does tell you is that the seller has not met that condition. This guide is not legal advice, so take specific questions to a qualified adviser.

There is a mark. Is that enough?

Article 17 of the Enforcement Regulation requires the name of the notifying business alongside the symbol, and for a specified electrical appliance also the name of the inspection body that issued the certificate. A product showing a symbol but no business name anywhere does not meet the prescribed form.

What is the difference between a specified electrical appliance and the rest?

Article 2(2) defines a specified electrical appliance as one that, in view of its structure, method of use or other circumstances of use, is particularly likely to cause danger or harm and is prescribed by Cabinet Order. The procedural difference is Article 9: for those items a business must, by the time of sale, undergo a conformity inspection by a person registered by the Minister and receive and retain a certificate.

Are all power banks covered?

The Appended Table 2 entry covers lithium-ion storage batteries limited to a volumetric energy density of 400 watt-hours per litre or more per single cell, excluding those for automobiles, motorised bicycles, medical devices and industrial machinery. It is conditional. And because the entry is in Appended Table 2, such batteries are not specified electrical appliances.

It has the radio conformity mark, so PSE is covered too, right?

They are separate schemes. The conformity mark comes from the Radio Act and covers radio equipment; PSE comes from the Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Act and covers electrical appliances. The presence of one display does not establish the other.

Sources and verification date

Sources checked: 2026-09-20. These sources support the specifications, procedures or prices discussed here. Check each source for applicable conditions and current information.

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