Adolescent blood pressure (BP) is associated with the prevalence of hypertension in later life, and anthropometric measures have been shown to be useful indicators for predicting hypertension. However, little is known about their associations in Japanese young adults. Here, this study aimed to analyze the association between BP and anthropometric measures in Japanese university students. The participants of this cross-sectional study included 17,512 university students (12,559 males and 4,953 females) in Japan between 2011 and 2019. Abnormal BP (ABP) was defined as systolic/diastolic BP above 120 and/or 80 mmHg. ABP was seen in 59.2% of males and 16.3% of females, with the proportion in male students increasing over the nine year study period. Areas under receiver operating characteristics curves analysis showed that the top three predictors (and their cut-off points) of ABP in descending order were body mass index (20.5 kg/m²), waist circumference (74.1 cm) and chest circumference (85.4 cm) in males, and body mass index (19.8 kg/m²), body fat rate (28.5%) and chest circumference (82.4 cm) in females. The odds ratio was 2.69 (2.45‒2.94) in males and 2.40 (1.96‒2.95) in females when all three measurements were higher than their cut-off points. The incidence of ABP has increased in male university students, suggesting the need for interventions for appropriate BP control. This study suggests that anthropometric measures in combination with body mass index might be useful for this intervention in Japanese university students.