First-seeded Ai Sugiyama was the defending champion and won in the final 6–3, 6–3 against Corina Morariu.

Seeds A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated. The top two seeds received a bye to the second round.

Ai Sugiyama (champion) Naoko Sawamatsu (quarterfinals) Tamarine Tanasugarn (second round) Amy Frazier (semifinals) Corina Morariu (final) Shi-Ting Wang (semifinals) Miho Saeki (first round) Yuka Yoshida (second round)

Draw

Final

Section 1

Section 2

External links 1998 Japan Open Tennis Championships Draw