Professional development issues for teachers have been getting much attention from various institutions and researchers. Teachers’ professional development needs are formed not only by their personal backgrounds, such as years of teaching and self-efficacy, but are also influenced by the contextual background. There are many studies about the relationship between their needs and personal background but fewer that look at contextual factors. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to review the kinds of contextual factors that are related to the formation of teachers’ professional development needs. In this study, contextual factors are divided into three categories: classroom environment, work environment, and local, national, and global educational environment. The results indicate that teachers’ professional development needs are shaped by the multi-layered contexts. Specifically, teachers’ professional development needs are related to the needs of the students, the needs of the school, and the needs of the society. The findings of this study provide new perspectives for future exploration of the professional development needs of Japanese language teachers, which have been very understudied, and have implications for the construction of professional development environments that meet the needs of Japanese language teacher.