Sea level response to changes in atmospheric pressure and its regional characteristics were investigated using sea level records from 85 tidal stations along the coasts of Japan and from 3 Korean stations facing the Japan Sea. The traditional inverted barometer (-1 cm hPa^-1) assumption is shown to be justified only near the coastal region facing the Pacific Ocean, except in the shallow bays. In the semi-enclosed Japan Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk, sea level lags behind synoptic atmospheric pressure variations by up to half a day. The lag along the coasts of the Japan Sea seems to be proportional to the distances from the Straits of Tsushima, Tsugaru, and Soya. We propose a new 'dynamic' barometric correction based on the response in different geographical locations. Using this correction, we have been successful in removing the barometric component from sea level records more accurately than the conventional inverted barometric correction, and in extracting a more realistic propagation of continental shelf waves along the San'in Coast.