We distributed a questionnaire to institutions accredited by the Japan Surgical Society asking about the use of antibiotics in digestive tract surgery in Japan in 2003, and compared the results with those of a similar questionnaire distributed in 1993. The period of antibiotic administration for esophageal resection was at least 6 days in 64.9% of the 1993 questionnaire responses, but less than 4 days in 60.4% of the present questionnaire responses. For distal gastrectomy, antibiotics were given for 5 days postoperatively at 53.0% of the responding institutions in the 1993 survey, but for only 3 days, at 72.4%, in the present survey. An oral antibiotic was given as part of antibacterial colon preparation before colon resection at 70% or more of the institutions in the 1993 survey, while no antibiotic colon preparation was given at 80% of the institutions in the present survey. The period of antibiotic administration for laparoscopic cholecystectomy was at least 4 days in 72% of the institutions in the 1993 survey, but this decreased remarkably to fewer than 2 days at 80.8% of the institutions in the current survey. There were no differences in the selection of antibiotics between the two surveys. The period of antibiotic administration has decreased remarkably in the last decade.