Although the number of studies on microplastics in the coastal environment has increased globally, the number of studies concerning Japanese coastal waters is limited . To this end the Tara-JAMBIO (Japanese Association of Marine Biology) Joint Microplastic Survey aims to provide knowledge on the status of microplastic pollution in the coastal environment around Japan. A Japan-wide survey was undertaken from October 2020 to June 2023 with sampling at 14 locations along the Japanese coasts, utilizing the infrastructure (research vessels and laboratories) of the JAMBIO network. The different hydrodynamic and societal contexts at the sampling location allow for the investigation of the various sources and pathways of microplastic pollution. This comprehensive sampling of surface water and sediment allowed the compilation of the dataset of 53,557 particles of which 11,699 where chemically characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). This study aims to provide baseline data as the first comprehensive study Japanese coastal environment and provide an easily reproducible method for large scale study of surface water and sediments.