OBJECTIVE: The systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) symptom checklist (SSC) is a patient-reported outcome measure consisting of 38 queries. We translated SSC into Japanese and attempted to validate its usefulness for evaluating the quality of life (QOL) of SLE patients and identify factors that affect QOL. METHODS: Data from the Medical Outcomes Study Short-form 36 questionnaire (SF-36), Japanese LupusPRO, the Japanese version of the SSC (SSC-J) questionnaire, SLEDAI-2k, and the physician global assessment (PGA) were obtained on the same day from 226 SLE outpatients of the Kyoto Lupus cohort at Kyoto University Hospital. Relationships between the total scores or each item of SSC-J and SF-36, Japanese LupusPRO, SLEDAI-2k, or PGA were analyzed by Spearman's rank test. RESULTS: The total scores of SSC-J correlated with the scores of SF-36 and Japanese LupusPRO. In each item of SSC-J, all 38 items correlated with the physical component summary and mental component summary of SF-36 as well as the Health-Related QOL (HRQOL) scores of Japanese LupusPRO, but not with the non-HRQOL of LupusPRO. SSC-J scores correlated with age, PGA, and corticosteroid doses, but not with SLEDAI-2k. CONCLUSIONS: SSC-J is suitable as a disease-specific QOL assessment tool for SLE.