Significant developments in family nursing in Japan are described and analyzed beginning with the political and health care legislation in the country that stimulated a need for family nursing and the early adoption of family nursing theories and models by visionary leaders in nursing education. In 1994, Japan was the first country in the world to establish a national family nursing association, the Japanese Association for Research in Family Nursing, that provided the necessary infrastructure and leadership for family nursing in Japan to flourish. The strengths and challenges of family nursing in Japan are identified and a call is made for innovations in nursing curricula as well as global networking of family nurses around the world.