This study describes a brachiopod fauna, consisting of 22 species in 19 genera, from the Upper Permian (Lopingian) Mizukoshi Formation in the Mizukoshi area of central Kyushu, southwest Japan. The fauna includes three new species: Anidanthus mizukoshiensis, Terrakea yanagidai and Rhynchopora matsumotoi. The Mizukoshi fauna is a Boreal-Tethyan mixed fauna allied with the Middle Permian brachiopod faunas of central Japan (Hida Gaien Belt), northeast Japan (South Kitakami Belt) and eastern Russia (South Primorye). Palaeobiogeographical data on the Mizukoshi fauna suggest that during the Middle-Late Permian the Mizukoshi area was located between the Hida Gaien region to the north and the South Kitakami region to the south, bordering the eastern margin of North China (Sino-Korea). This conclusion supports a strikeslip model that describes largescale sinistral strikeslip movement along the Tanakura Tectonic Line (TTL)-Median Tectonic Line (MTL) from the Early Cretaceous to Palaeogene.