Measuring up to 1.2 m (3.9 ft) long, it can be identified by its short, blunt head, two high dorsal fins with anterior spines, and pattern of irregularly shaped, vertical brown bands and stripes.

The Japanese bullhead shark is a docile, slow-swimming species that feeds mainly on shelled invertebrates and small bony fishes.

The Japanese bullhead shark was originally described as Cestracion japonicus by ichthyologists Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay and William John Macleay, in an 1884 volume of Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales.

The coloration is light brown, with a series of diffuse-edged, darker wide bands interspersed with narrower stripes from snout to tail, numbering 11–14 in all.

[1] The range of the Japanese bullhead shark extends from Japan to the Korean Peninsula, and southward along the coast of China to Taiwan.

This bottom-dwelling shark inhabits the continental shelf at a depth of 6–37 m (20–121 ft), preferring areas covered by rocks, rocky reefs, or kelp.

When prey is found, it is seized with highly protrusible jaws and ground to pieces with the molar-like rear teeth.

Females produce large egg capsules bearing thin flanges spiraling three times around the outside and a pair of short tendrils at the tip.

Young sharks have proportionately higher dorsal fins and a similar but brighter color pattern than adults.