The effects of protein restriction with subsequent realimentation on growth performance of juvenile Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus (initial wet weight (8.80±0.18) g) were investigated at (23.0±0.5)℃ from 4 April to 22 May, 2004. The control group (C) was fed a standard diet containing 50.00% crude protein (wet weight basis) and 17.29kJ gross energy/g (dry weight) throughout the experiment (48 days). For the two treatment groups, T30 and T40, in the restricted phase (day 1～18) dietary crude protein contents were reduced to 27.95% and 40.47%, respectively, with constant energy supply, while in the realimentation phase (day 19～48) the fish were fed the same diet as that in the control group. The results showed that during the period of protein restriction, body weight, specific growth rates, food conversion efficiencies (FCEw, FCEd and FCEe) decreased, while food intake, protein efficiency ratio and food conversion efficiency in term of protein (FCEp) increased with the dietary protein levels decreased; in the realimentation phase, however, there were no significant difference in the above indexes between treatment groups and control group. Still, there were no significant differences in the apparent digestibility and the body composition between the treatment groups and the control group throughout the experiment, except that the fish in the control group showed higher lipid content than those in group T30 at the end of experiment. The complete compensatory growth was observed in this study.