The Japanese night heron was formally described in 1835 by Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck under the binomial name Nycticorax goisagri.

[2][3] The species is now placed together with the Malayan night heron in the genus Gorsachius that was introduced in 1855 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte.

[4] The genus name is based on the specific epithet, goisagi, which comes from the Japanese word goi-sagi for the black-crowned night heron.

[7] Both juvenile and adult herons share a wide beak and yellow skin on the outer layer of their eyes.

[6] A unique feature of the Japanese night heron is the dense, black lines that irregularly go down the covert feathers of its wings.

The Japanese night heron typically inhabits dense, coniferous and broad-leaved forests on hills and low mountains in close proximity to bodies of water, i.e. rivers and streams.

Although most of its nutrition comes from the forest floor, the heron hunts crustaceans and small fish in shallow water along the shorelines of swamps and rice paddies.

The flimsy nests are made out of sticks stacked on top of each other with an abundance of leaves, laid horizontally on a branch.

In addition, the night heron's nests fall within the predatory niche of the rapidly increasing crow population in the area.

The conservation acts propose public awareness, further study of the heron's home range within the seasons of breeding and inactivity, and control the sale of specimens.