Aim The purpose of the present study was to clarify the characteristics of frailty at an early stage (prefrailty) in a healthy elderly Japanese population. Methods The participants were 620 healthy older adults (age range 60–89 years) who were current students or graduates of a community college for older adults in Japan. All participants were evaluated using the Kihon Checklist, a tool developed to screen for frailty in Japan. The participants were categorized by the Fried criteria (lost weight, handgrip strength, walking speed, exhaustion, physical activity) into either a prefrailty (1–2 criteria) or a non‐frailty (0 criterion) group. Results In the logistic regression model for the prevalence of prefrailty, significant and independent determinants were chronic constipation (odds ratio [OR] 2.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.15–3.90, P = 0.016), occurrence of incontinence (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.39–2.82, P < 0.001), unable to climb stairs (OR 3.0, 95% CI 1.26–7.02, P = 0.013), dry mouth (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.04–2.22, P = 0.029), a lack of fulfillment (OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.26–7.93, P = 0.015), found easy tasks difficult (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.30–5.85, P = 0.008) and felt helpless (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.02–4.39, P = 0.044). Conclusions These results suggest that the appearance of autonomic failure, oral malfunction and some psychological factors in relation to depressed mood, but not anthropometric measurements, are characteristic of prefrailty. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2016; ••: ••–••.