Purpose Physicians are required to have favorable lifestyle habits as professionals who guide patients in improving their lifestyle habits, as well as for the health of physicians themselves. The present study aimed to clarify the actual status of lifestyle items, particularly smoking, drinking, exercise and dietary habits, of hospitalemployed physicians in Japan. Method A questionnaire survey was sent by mail to 10,000 individuals randomly extracted from among about 80,000 hospital-employed physicians who are members of the Japan Medical Association. We received 3,879 responses. Results The smoking rate was 16% for men and 5% for women. As for drinking, 31% of men and 12% of women drank alcohol almost every day. The percentages of persons who were not exercising regularly were 60% for men and 73% for women. As for dietary habits, 24% of men and 22% of women reported "eating rather too much" or "always eating until full." Discussion It became apparent that, excluding smoking, there was an unfavorable trend in many lifestyle items of Japanese physicians as compared with the general Japanese population and physicians in other countries. It is desirable that physicians voluntarily strive to have a favorable lifestyle, and that medical institutions actively enlighten physicians working at their institutions about this issue.