Gonad development in the sandfish Arctoscopus japonicus was investigated using a histological method. Specimens were collected monthly from April 2003 to March 2004, in the East Sea of Korea. The gonadosomatic index (GSI) of females began to increase in August, reached a maximum in November, and declined sharply in December. By contrast, in males, the GSI began to increase in June and reached a maximum in August. The annual reproductive cycle of A. japonicus can be divided into four successive stages in females: the early growing (January-March), late growing (April-August), ripe and spent (September-November), and recovery (December) stages. Males passed through early growing (January-April), late growing (May-July), ripe and spent (August-November), and recovery (November-December) stages. These results indicate that the spawning season was from October to December. The egg diameter of mature oocytes was 3.12$pm$0.02 mm. The relationship between fecundity (F$_e$) and body length (BL) was F$_e$=0.4693BL$^{2.6825}$. Fecundity ranged from 483-2,254 eggs in a body length of 14.3-22.9 cm and increased with body length. The body length at 50% maturity was 14.80 cm, which corresponded to an age of 2.40 years.