On October 28, 2009, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) published the Guidelines for Exclusionary Private Monopolization under the Act concerning Prohibition of Private Monopolization and Maintenance of Fair Trade (Antimonopoly Act). The private monopolization is prohibited under Article 3 of the Antimonopoly Act, which provision plays the same role as in Article 2 of the US Sharman Act and Article 82 of the EC Treaty.

There have not been many cases in which the JFTC took enforcement actions against the exclusionary private monopolization in Japan. The JFTC formulated the Guidelines to ensure further transparency of law enforcement and improve predictability for entrepreneurs by clarifying, to the extent possible, the requirements for the exclusionary private monopolization.

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