Six specimens (48.1–75.1 mm standard length) of Opistognathus solorensis Bleeker, 1853, previously recorded from Palau, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan, were collected from the Osumi Islands, southern Japan. The specimens, which are described and compared with previous reports, represent the first records of the species from Japanese waters, a Tanega-shima island specimen being the northernmost known record of the species. The new standard Japanese name “Hoshikage-ago-amadai” is proposed for the species.