A strictly aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, yellow-pigmented, non-spore-forming, motile (by gliding), rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain 15F3(T), was isolated from leaf-and-branch compost. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain 15F3(T) was most closely related to Flavobacterium reichenbachii WB 3.2-61(T) and formed a distinct phyletic lineage within the genus Flavobacterium, the type genus of the family Flavobacteriaceae. Growth was observed at 10-34 °C (optimum, 30 °C) and pH 6.0-8.0 (optimum, pH 7.0). No growth occurred in the presence of ≥2 % (w/v) NaCl. Strain 15F3(T) reduced nitrate to nitrogen and showed catalase activity but no oxidase activity. The predominant cellular fatty acids were iso-C(15 : 0) and summed feature 3 (comprising C(16 : 1)ω7c and/or iso-C(15 : 0) 2-OH). The major isoprenoid quinone was menaquinone-6. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 31.1 mol%. On the basis of data from this polyphasic study, strain 15F3(T) may be classified as a representative of a novel species within the genus Flavobacterium, for which the name Flavobacterium banpakuense sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is 15F3(T) ( = KACC 14225(T) = JCM 16466(T)).