One of my clients was asking me recently about the difference between Chinese acupuncture and Japanese acupuncture.  And as luck would have it, I just came across this blog which explains it fairly well.  Acupuncture was exported from China to Japan in the 6th century.  The Japanese then developed their owns techniques and approaches to acupuncture over the centuries that followed.  The main differences are that in Japanese approaches the needles are thinner, the needle sensations are very mild and moxibustion is very common.  I do some Japanese techniques in my practice when they're called for, but for the most part my approach is classical Chinese.

http://www.worldacupunctureblog.com/japanese-acupuncture-v-chinese-acupuncture