Value Village ／ Health
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Home blood-pressure monitors are common in every country, but the questions about when and how to measure never stop. Japan has guidelines from the Japanese Society of Hypertension (JSH) that set out home measurement in concrete detail. If a Japanese doctor has asked you to keep a blood-pressure diary, this is the method they have in mind.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| When to measure | Morning (within 1 hour of waking, after urinating, before breakfast and before any medication) and evening (before bed) |
| Posture | Seated in a chair, after 1–2 minutes of rest |
| Arm | An upper-arm monitor is recommended. Cuff at heart level |
| Number of readings | 2 readings per occasion, averaged, or 1 reading |
| Record | Every day, for as long as possible |
| Category (home blood pressure) | Systolic | Diastolic |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | Under 115 | Under 75 |
| Hypertension | 135 or over | 85 or over |
At the clinic the threshold for hypertension is 140/90; for home readings a value 5 lower is used.
[Verify] Check the figures and the method against the Japanese Society of Hypertension "Guidelines for the Management of Hypertension 2019 (JSH2019)". If a revised edition has been published in 2025, follow the latest version.
The guidelines recommend upper-arm monitors. Wrist readings change easily with the position of the arm, and are treated as reference values.
Blood pressure changes with every reading. Judge by the average of morning and evening readings over several days. Before worrying about a single figure, keep recording.
Trying too hard to breathe deeply or relax moves the reading away from your everyday value. "Sit quietly for 1–2 minutes" is generally described as enough.
You cannot measure accurately over a thick sleeve. Wrap the cuff over a single thin shirt or on bare skin. Also avoid rolling up a sleeve so that it squeezes the arm.
Home monitors sold in Japan carry JIS certification or medical-device approval. For interpreting the numbers, take your record to a doctor and ask (a local clinic, covered by Japanese health insurance). Do not adjust any medication on your own judgement.
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https://www.jpnsh.jp/guideline.html
https://www.e-healthnet.mhlw.go.jp/information/metabolic/m-05-003.html
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/kenkou_iryou/kenkou/kenkounippon21_00006.html
⚠️ Editorial note: the source URLs above were identified by search. Our working environment cannot reach go.jp domains, so the contents have not been checked against the text. Verify every source before publication and record who checked it and when.
What we share here are ideas and everyday practices passed down among people living in Japan, together with general information drawn from public sources. They are not official recommendations, and they are not professional instruction. Practices vary between households and regions.
This is general information. Results vary from person to person and depend on your own conditions and surroundings.
Please decide for yourself, using your own judgement, whether any of this suits your situation. We cannot accept responsibility for any damage, loss or injury arising from following this article.
This article is not meant to diagnose or manage any specific medical condition. If you are worried about your health, see a doctor rather than relying on your own judgement.
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