1988 Suntory Japan Open Tennis Championships – Women's singles

Katerina Maleeva was the defending champion but did not compete that year.

Patty Fendick won in the final 6–3, 7–5 against Stephanie Rehe.

Seeds
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.


 * 1)  Natasha Zvereva (second round)
 * 2)  Larisa Savchenko (quarterfinals)
 * 3) 🇸🇪 Catarina Lindqvist (first round)
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Patty Fendick (champion)
 * 5) 🇦🇺 Anne Minter (quarterfinals)
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Stephanie Rehe (final)
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Etsuko Inoue (first round)
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Gigi Fernández (second round)