This paper presents an analysis of the current situation of successors and new entrants in the Japanese dairy industry. The information came from a census of dairy farmers and postal survey of new entrants to the dairy sector. Only one third of dairy farmres with a son or a daughter at the age of 16 years old and over have successors. The most important condition to ensure that a successor takes over the farm is a change in economic condition, such as a stabilisation of product prices. Promoting new entrants to agriculture is one of the major policy targets by the Japanese government. There have been a number of initiatives at the regional level. For example, semi- governmental organisation in Hokkaido started a special scheme to accelerate new entrants to dairying about 10 years ago. So far, this program has had only limited success, since there have been only about 10 new entrants to the dairy sector annually. This is because of the large amount of capital and land required for entering the industry.