diff --git a/modules/analysis/src/main/scala/docspell/analysis/date/DateFind.scala b/modules/analysis/src/main/scala/docspell/analysis/date/DateFind.scala
index ebb7ad7a..4d90324e 100644
--- a/modules/analysis/src/main/scala/docspell/analysis/date/DateFind.scala
+++ b/modules/analysis/src/main/scala/docspell/analysis/date/DateFind.scala
@@ -21,9 +21,7 @@ import docspell.common._
 object DateFind {
 
   def findDates(text: String, lang: Language): Stream[Pure, NerDateLabel] =
-    TextSplitter
-      .splitToken(text, " \t.,\n\r/年月日".toSet)
-      .filter(w => lang != Language.Latvian || w.value != "gada")
+    splitWords(text, lang)
       .sliding(3)
       .filter(_.size == 3)
       .flatMap(q =>
@@ -44,6 +42,20 @@ object DateFind {
         )
       )
 
+  private[this] val jpnChars =
+    ("年月日" + MonthName.getAll(Language.Japanese).map(_.mkString).mkString).toSet
+
+  private def splitWords(text: String, lang: Language): Stream[Pure, Word] = {
+    val stext =
+      if (lang == Language.Japanese) {
+        text.map(c => if (jpnChars.contains(c)) c else ' ')
+      } else text
+
+    TextSplitter
+      .splitToken(stext, " \t.,\n\r/年月日".toSet)
+      .filter(w => lang != Language.Latvian || w.value != "gada")
+  }
+
   case class SimpleDate(year: Int, month: Int, day: Int) {
     def toLocalDate: LocalDate =
       LocalDate.of(if (year < 100) 2000 + year else year, month, day)
diff --git a/modules/analysis/src/test/scala/docspell/analysis/date/DateFindSpec.scala b/modules/analysis/src/test/scala/docspell/analysis/date/DateFindSpec.scala
index f7109b70..a41eb6d3 100644
--- a/modules/analysis/src/test/scala/docspell/analysis/date/DateFindSpec.scala
+++ b/modules/analysis/src/test/scala/docspell/analysis/date/DateFindSpec.scala
@@ -146,23 +146,34 @@ class DateFindSpec extends FunSuite {
   test("find japanese dates") {
     assertEquals(
       DateFind
-        .findDates("some text in japanese 2021.7.21 and more", Language.Japanese)
+        .findDates("今日の日付は2021.7.21です。", Language.Japanese)
         .toVector,
       Vector(
         NerDateLabel(
           LocalDate.of(2021, 7, 21),
-          NerLabel("2021.7.21", NerTag.Date, 22, 31)
+          NerLabel("2021.7.21", NerTag.Date, 6, 15)
         )
       )
     )
     assertEquals(
       DateFind
-        .findDates("some text in japanese 2021年7月21日 and more", Language.Japanese)
+        .findDates("今日の日付は2021年7月21日です。", Language.Japanese)
         .toVector,
       Vector(
         NerDateLabel(
           LocalDate.of(2021, 7, 21),
-          NerLabel("2021年7月21", NerTag.Date, 22, 31)
+          NerLabel("2021年7月21", NerTag.Date, 6, 15)
+        )
+      )
+    )
+    assertEquals(
+      DateFind
+        .findDates("年月日2021年7月21日（日）", Language.Japanese)
+        .toVector,
+      Vector(
+        NerDateLabel(
+          LocalDate.of(2021, 7, 21),
+          NerLabel("2021年7月21", NerTag.Date, 3, 12)
         )
       )
     )