Fresh seeds of Elaeocarpus japonicus usually reguire a long time to germinate, and the emergence is irregular without appropriate pretreatment. This paper investigates the depth and the breaking of seed dormancy; the improvement of germination of this species by stratification is also discussed. Seeds of E. japonicus collected in Hsihding Village of Taipei County germinated poorly (1.0%) after incubation for 16 wk at alternating temperatures of 30/20℃; these seeds remained dormant and most seeds were not decayed. The shortest stratification period needed for breaking dormancy was chilling at 4℃ for 4 mo (germination percentage 40.7±3.1%) or combined stratification for 5 mo (2 mo of 30/20℃ followed by 3 mo of 4℃ stratification, germination percentage 40.1±4.2%). Chemical treatments (soaking seeds in 15% H2O2 for 30min or in 75% ethanol for 30s) before stratification were not more effective than the control in breaking seed dormancy.