Found in the northwest Pacific Ocean around Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and northern China between latitudes 48°N and 22°N.

It is found over the sandy or muddy bottoms of the continental shelf at depths of 50 to 800 m (160 to 2,620 ft).

The Japanese sawshark has a varied diet of small benthic organisms.

After an unknown gestation period, the female shark gives live birth to around 12 pups.

Due to its benthic lifestyle, and because the range of this shark is heavily fished, it is safe to assume that the Japanese sawshark is at considerable risk of being caught as bycatch in bottom trawling and gillnet operations.