The mechanical properties of m‐plane (10–10) GaN single crystal was measured by nanoindentation examination for the first time. Young's modulus, Berkovich hardness and conical hardness were 284.2 GPa, 15.0 GPa and 15.7 GPa for m‐plane GaN respectively. In contrast, those values in c‐plane (0001) GaN were higher such as 323.8 GPa, 20.0 GPa and 21.2 GPa, respectively. Cathodoluminescence observed dislocation density distribution on m‐plane GaN surface which was gradually decreased following the direction from –c axis edge to +c axis edge. By analyzing the correlation between dislocation density distribution and yield shear stress, we derived a relational equation that reprised the inverse Hall‐Petch relation. This study suggested the possibility for evaluating the reliability for GaN based light emitting device by nanoindentation technique. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)