As of January 29, 2010, the JPO started the PCT-based Patent Prosecution Highway (PCT-PPH) pilot program using the PCT international work products. The duration of the pilot program is two years.

Under the PCT-PPH program, all claims for examination must correspond to one or more of the claims indicated to be allowable in the latest work products of the corresponding international application, namely the Written Opinion or the International Preliminary Examination Report. Accordingly, it will be necessary to amend the claims when requesting accelerated examination under the PCT-PPH program.

JPO website
http://www.jpo.go.jp/torikumi_e/t_torikumi_e/pph_pct/pct_e.htm