Nipponosaurus (phonetically spelled ) is a Sachalinensis type species named by Takumi Nagao in 1936. The classification of this species is as follows: Chordata – Reptilia – Dinosauria – Ornithischia – Ornithopoda – Hadrosauridae – Lambeosaurinae

Nipponosaurus were around 4 meters long though possibly slightly larger when fully grown and they followed an herbivorous diet. The known location of this species is Sakhalin, Russia. They existed around the Santonian to early Campanian period of the Cretaceous era. The fossil representations include the partial post cranial remains and skull elements of a sub- adult.

The type species Nipponosaurus sachalinensis was in 1936 named and described by Professor Takumi Nagao of the Imperial University of Hokkaido. The generic name refers to Nippon, the Japanese name of Japan. It was the first dinosaur named based on a find made on Japanese territory though South Sakhalin was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945. The specific name refers to Sakhalin. Nipponosaurus ("Japanese lizard") is a lambeosaurine hadrosaurid from Asia. The holotype, UHR 6590 was discovered in November 1934 during the construction of a hospital for the Kawakami colliery of the Mitsui Mining Company on Karafuto Prefecture which is now Sinegorsk in Sakhalin, Russia. The additional material belonging to the specimen was recovered in the summer of 1937. The specimen was collected from Upper Yezo Group.

UHR 6590 consists of a left maxilla and dentary, parietal, various isolated skull elements, thirteen cervical vertebrae, six dorsal vertebrae, two sacral vertebrae, a series of 35 caudal vertebrae, a left scapula, distal portions of both humeri, most elements of the lower forelimbs, an ischium, left ilium, and most of the hind limbs. Though the quality of bone preservation is generally poor, the skeleton is estimated to be 60% complete. It nevertheless remains one of the most poorly known lambeosaurine dinosaurs. In 1938 Nagao dedicated a second article to the species.

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