| 40th Japan Record Awards | |
| Date: | December 31, 1998 |
| Venue: | TBS A-Studio, Tokyo |
| Hosts: | Masaaki Sakai, Makiko Esumi |
| Network: | TBS |
| Previous: | 39th |
| Main: | Japan Record Awards |
| Next: | 41st |
The 40th Annual Japan Record Awards took place on December 31, 1998, starting at 6:30PM JST. The primary ceremonies were televised in Japan on TBS.