The predominant risk factor of metabolic syndrome is intra-abdominal fat accumulation, which is determined by waist circumference and waist-hip ratio measurements and visceral fat area (VFA) that is measured by computed tomography (CT). There is evidence that waist circumference and waist-hip ratio in the Caucasian population are associated with variations in several genes, including neurexin 3 (NRXN3), transcription factor AP-2β (TFAP2B), methionine sulfoxide reductase A (MSRA), lysophospholipase-like-1 (LYPLAL1), fat mass and obesity associated (FTO) and melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) genes. To investigate the relationship between VFA and subcutaneous fat area (SFA) and these genes in the recruited Japanese population, we genotyped 8 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in these 6 genes from 1228 subjects. Multiple regression analysis revealed that gender, age, and rs1558902 and rs1421085 genotypes (additive model) in FTO were significantly associated with body mass index (BMI; P=0.0039 and 0.0039, respectively), SFA (P=0.0027 and 0.0023, respectively) and VFA (P=0.045 and 0.040, respectively). However, SNPs in other genes, namely, NRXN3, TFAP2B, MSRA, LYPLAL1 and MC4R were not significantly associated with BMI, SFA or VFA. Our data suggest that some SNPs, which were identified in genome-wide studies in the Caucasians, also confer susceptibility to fat distribution in the Japanese subjects.