Japan

Mobilizing
CRYPTREC (Digital Agency · MIC · METI, with NICT and IPA)

The CRYPTREC Ciphers List (CRYPTREC LS-0001-2022R2) added ML-KEM to the e-Government Recommended Ciphers List for key exchange during FY2025 (year ending March 2025) — the list's own header cites 30 March 2023 as the original issue date and 30 March 2026 as the latest revision date, so the exact day ML-KEM was added should be confirmed against the dated list text rather than assumed. ML-DSA and SLH-DSA (post-quantum signatures) are not yet on the Recommended list; CRYPTREC's MT-1501-2026 working paper records the outstanding questions on adding remaining PQC categories.

Procurement-baseline adoption rather than a dated national migration mandate. Correction: ML-KEM is already listed, not merely 'under evaluation' as previously stated here — only the PQC signature schemes remain pending. Japan is deliberately incremental: algorithms enter the list as evaluation completes, and no deprecation calendar for RSA or ECC has been published.

Scope

Cryptographic procurement baseline for Japanese e-government systems; de facto national reference for industry

Band rationale

Standards adoption is moving through the procurement list; no dated national migration deadline is published.

Readiness dimensions
Policy
Deadline maturity
Technical standards
Execution evidence
Supply-chain enablement
Evidence confidence
Milestones
  1. 2026-03-30

    Ciphers List revised with ML-KEM

    CRYPTREC LS-0001-2022R2 records ML-KEM on the e-Government Recommended Ciphers List at its dated revision.

    Bindingness · standard
  2. 2026

    PQC compatibility review

    MT-1501-2026 records the open issues for adding remaining PQC signature categories to the list.

    Bindingness · standard
Why it matters

Procurement lists change what vendors ship into a market long before deadlines appear — but the absence of a deprecation date is itself a finding.

Migration implications
  • ·Watch the CRYPTREC list revisions for algorithm entries
  • ·Do not assume a Japanese equivalent of the 2030/2035 deadlines exists
  • ·Financial-sector guidance is developing separately under the FSA
Evidence
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