| 38th Japan Record Awards | |
| Date: | December 31, 1996 |
| Venue: | TBS A-Studio, Tokyo |
| Host: | Masaaki Sakai |
| Network: | TBS |
| Previous: | 37th |
| Main: | Japan Record Awards |
| Next: | 39th |
The 38th Annual Japan Record Awards took place on December 31, 1996, starting at 6:30PM JST. The primary ceremonies were televised in Japan on TBS.