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Japanese law in English, for you and for your AI.

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  • Every provision in English and Japanese
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Who it helps

Anyone who has to deal with a Japanese law, in whichever language they read.

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Your employer must give paid leave when you ask for it. They can move it to other days only if your dates would disrupt the normal running of the business.

Labor Standards Act, Article 39, paragraph (5) japanlaw.org/en/labor-standards-act/art-39/par-5
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Read it in English, the original Japanese beside it

Every paragraph of every law in the library, as in force today: English you can read, and the Japanese as published, side by side.

Labor Standards Act, Article 36 労働基準法 第三十六条時間外及び休日の労働

Notwithstanding the provisions on working hours in Articles 32 through 32-5 and Article 40 (referred to as "working hours" below in this Article) and the provisions on days off in the preceding Article (referred to as "days off" below in this Article), if an employer has concluded a written agreement with the labor union that is organized by a majority of the workers at that workplace, if there is one, or with a person representing a majority of the workers at that workplace, if there is no such union, and has filed a notification of this agreement with the relevant government agency pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the employer may extend the working hours or have a worker work on a day off, in accordance with the provisions of that agreement.

使用者は、当該事業場に、労働者の過半数で組織する労働組合がある場合においてはその労働組合、労働者の過半数で組織する労働組合がない場合においては労働者の過半数を代表する者との書面による協定をし、厚生労働省令で定めるところによりこれを行政官庁に届け出た場合においては、第三十二条から第三十二条の五まで若しくは第四十条の労働時間(以下この条において「労働時間」という。)又は前条の休日(以下この条において「休日」という。)に関する規定にかかわらず、その協定で定めるところによつて労働時間を延長し、又は休日に労働させることができる。

The following particulars are to be specified in the agreement referred to in the preceding paragraph:

前項の協定においては、次に掲げる事項を定めるものとする。

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Civil Code民法

Takes effect on 23 June 2027, by Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc. (Act No. 45 of 2026).

How the changes are shown

Underlined: words the amendment adds. A bar: where it removes words.Underlined: words the amendment adds. Struck through: the words it removes.Underlined: words the amendment adds. Struck through: the words it removes.

Article 968, paragraph (1) changed

自筆証書によって遺言をするには、遺言者が、その全文、日付及び氏名を自書し、これに印を押さなければならない。

To make a will in the form of a holographic instrument, the testator must write the entire text, the date, and the testator's full name in the testator's own hand, and affix the testator's seal thereto.

Article 973, paragraph (3) added

保管証書による遺言に立ち会った医師は、前項に規定する旨を遺言書保管官に申述しなければならない。

The doctors present during the making of a will in the form of a storage instrument must state the indication prescribed in the preceding paragraph to the will storage officer.

Article 1024, paragraph (1) changed

遺言者が故意に遺言書等を破棄したときは、その破棄した部分については、遺言を撤回したものとみなす。遺言者が故意に遺贈の目的物を破棄したときも、同様とする。

If a testator intentionally destroys a will, etc., the testator is deemed to have revoked the part of the will that has been destroyed. The same applies if the testator intentionally destroys a thing constituting the object of a legacy.

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  1. 26 November 2026

  2. 30 November 2026

  3. 1 December 2026

  4. 4 December 2026

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japanlaw.org is free for personal use, by anyone. Looking up the law for yourself (your leave, your overtime, what your employer may and may not do, your visa or your tax) is personal use, even while you work for a company. Use by professionals, organisations and law firms in their work, or for business, whether the website, the MCP server or the API, needs a contract with Genjido LLC: see Enterprise and the terms of use.

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Where the Ministry of Justice's translation matches the law in force, it is the Ministry's. Everywhere else it is this site's machine translation, and a mark on each paragraph says which. Either way it is a translation: only the Japanese text has legal effect.

Which version of the law is it?

The text in force today, updated with every amendment from e-Gov's text of the laws. Amendments that have not taken effect yet are listed on each law, and where their new wording is known, the changes are marked in it.

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No. The site is for information and is not legal advice. Check the official text on e-Gov before you rely on anything, and ask a qualified professional about your own case.

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