Cenophytic plant fossil studies in Japan is reviewed for the past four decades. Intensive stratigraphic and paleobotanical studies have proceeded in each geologic time period, drawing a detailed history of floristic changes in Japan. Thus, Cenophytic floral changes in Japan have been well explained in terms of global climate as well as paleogeography. Additional studies intended to demonstrate the origin of endemic taxa in Japan and East Asia began in the late 1990s. New movements also appeared: taphonomical investigations in paleoecological studies and phylogenetic studies on extant and fossil materials were successfully applied to some endemic elements. Even with this progress, however, many specimens and strata still need more intensive examination to fully illuminate the history of floristic evolution in Japan and East Asia.