The Japanese robin is an abundant species of robin from the islands of Japan. The Japanese robin, along with the Ryukyu robin, can be traced back to 1835 when they were placed into one of the Coenraad Jacob Temminck's works under the name Erithacus akahige. After the 2006 molecular phylogenetic study, the species was placed into a clade under Larvivora, meaning "caterpillar eater," giving it half of its current scientific name.