The species is found in mountainous regions on the islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu in Japan at elevations ranging from 500 to 2,000 metres (1,600 to 6,600 ft).

[3] A ribosomal DNA study of Acer species in 2006 placed A. nipponicum along with the related A.caudatum near the base of the phylogenetic trees recovered.

[4] A. nipponicum is suggested to be closely related to two of the extinct species of Acer placed in the section Parviflora by paleobotanists Jack Wolfe and Toshimasa Tanai.

[5] The species A. browni and A. smileyi were both described by Wolfe and Tanai in 1987 from groups of fossils found in western North America.

The slightly older species A. smileyi is suggested by Wolfe and Tanai to have been closer in relation to A. nipponicum than A. browni based on the leaf morphology.