This project aimed to characterize community structure and diversity of small copepods in the Kuroshio region off Japan. The metabarcoding data of 28S D2 region were obtained from size-fractioned community samples of epipelagic zooplankton in the subtropical western North Pacific. Bulk zooplankton samples were collected using NORPAC net and size-fractioned into small (0.1-0.5 mm), medium (0.5-1.0 mm), and large (1.0-2.0 mm) fractions. The community structure and diversity of copepods in the Kuroshio region were compared with those in the center of the North Pacific subtropical gyre. Seasonal and inter-annual changes of copepod community and diversity in 2013-1016 were also assessed in the Kuroshio region off Japan.