1997 Japan Open Tennis Championships – Women's singles

Kimiko Date was the defending champion but did not compete that year.

Ai Sugiyama won in the final 4–6, 6–4, 6–4 against Amy Frazier.

Seeds
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated. The top two seeds received a bye to the second round.


 * 1) n/a
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Kimberly Po (semifinals)
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Amy Frazier (final)
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Ai Sugiyama (champion)
 * 5)  Shi-Ting Wang (quarterfinals)
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Naoko Sawamatsu (quarterfinals)
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Naoko Kijimuta (second round)
 * 8) 🇹🇭 Tamarine Tanasugarn (first round)
 * 9) 🇦🇺 Annabel Ellwood (semifinals)