What changes did the DSM-III, which was termed 'a revolution', bring about in Japanese psychiatry and clinical practice? We performed a literature review focusing on reports on depression from 1981 to 2000s, and discussed the effects on Japanese psychopathology. After the introduction of the DSM-III into Japanese practice, the disease type and clinical course of depression changed, probably due to the socio-economic background, but the conventional depression theory based on melancholic-type theory (by Tellenbach) was no longer able to keep up with the changes and new theories were awaited. At that time, DSM-III was likened to the invasion of Kurofune, but Kurofune may have been long-awaited, which is thought to have led to its acceptance in Japanese psychiatry. Psychopathology, which considers a small number of cases psychologically and sociologically, also tried to adopt a`scientific method', such as collecting a large number of cases and statistically analyzing them, but it was difficult to keep up with the trends of the times. However, psychopathology as a clinical discipline should remain significant.
 Author's abstract