Japanese Industrial Standards

Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) (日本工業規格, Nippon Kōgyō Kikaku^?) specifies the standards used for industrial activities in Japan. The standardization process is coordinated by the Japanese Industrial Standards Committee and published through the Japanese Standards Association. Japanese Industrial Standards Committee is composed of many nationwide committees and plays vital role in standardizing activities in Japan.

In the Meiji era, private enterprises were responsible for making standards although the Japanese government did have standards and specification documents for procurement purposes for certain articles, such as munitions.

These were summarized to form an official standard (old Japanese Engineering Standard (JES)) in 1921. During World War II, simplified standards were established to increase matériel output.

The present Japanese Standards Association was established after Japan's defeat in World War II in 1945. The Japanese Industrial Standards Committee regulations were promulgated in 1946, Japanese standards (new JES) was formed.

The Industrial Standardization Law was enacted in 1949, which forms the legal foundation for the present Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS).

The Industrial Standardization Law was revised in 2004 and the "JIS mark" (product certification system) was changed; since October 1, 2005, the new JIS mark has been applied upon re-certification. Use of the old mark was allowed during the three-year transition period (until September 30, 2008), and every manufacturer obtaining new or renewing certification under the authority's approval has been able to use the new JIS mark. Therefore all JIS-certified Japanese products have had the new JIS mark since October 1, 2008.

Standards are named like "JIS X 0208:1997", where X denotes area division, followed by four digits (or five digits for some of the standards corresponding ISO standards), and the revision release year. Divisions of JIS and significant standards are:

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