Japanese social enterprises have evolved into various forms that can be classified into profitable legal persons mainly composed of joint-stock company，limited liability company，and syndicate and non-profit legal persons represented by NPO legal person/deemed NPO legal person，general social organization legal person/philanthropic organization legal person，general consortium legal person/philanthropic consortium legal person and social welfare legal person etc. Regardless of their organizational forms，these social enterprises all have social，commercial and creative nature. With the emergence of social reform concepts characterized by the “new public” that was brought about by the Democratic Party of Japan and “joint society construction” by the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan，social enterprises have received more policy support. As a result，a new social environment has been created in which the government provides support for the development of social enterprises both horizontally and vertically. However，Japanese social enterprises are faced with difficulties and challenges in politics，law，capital，human resources，and social cognition. A review of the experience and lessons learned in the development of Japanese social enterprises will benefit the development of social enterprises in China.