© 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of ICAE2018 - The 10th International Conference on Applied Energy. Ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems are energy-efficient technologies to provide low-carbon heating and cooling demands for the buildings. However, deployment of the GSHP systems in Japan is limited mainly due to the relatively high drilling costs for placement of the ground heat exchangers (GHEs), in comparison with EU and North American countries. This study is providing the historical data of deployment of different types of the GSHP systems in Japan, the supportive public policies and incentives for installation of GSHP systems. Finally, the barriers for the further utilization of the GSHP systems in Japanese buildings are discussed and solutions are suggested.