A total of 52 strains of Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae was isolated from 38 (33.9%) of 112 retail raw pork samples which were purchased in the Tama area of Tokyo, Japan, February to November 1988. These isolates were classified into 14 different serovars: 6 (19.2%); 8 (17.3%); 11 (15.3%); 2 (7.7%); 5, 10, and 14 (each 5.8%); 1b, 4, 9, 12, and N (each 3,8%), 13 and 17 (each 1.9%). Of 38 samples, 12 samples contained two or three different serovars and the remaining 26 samples contained one serovar. Fourteen of 23 isolates examined were highly virulent for mice. Of 43 isolates tested, two and eight were resistant to chloramphenicol and oxytetracycline.