Civil Code

• A person comes of age (成年) at 18. A minor needs the consent of their legal representative (法定代理人) for a juridical act (法律行為), and an act done without it can be revoked (取り消す), except one that merely gains a right or escapes a duty, disposing of property the representative let them dispose of (within any purpose set), and acts in a business they have been permitted to run. A juridical act is void if the person lacked mental capacity (意思能力) when they made the manifestation of intention (意思表示).(Art. 4(1), Art. 5(1), Art. 5(2), Art. 5(3), Art. 6(1), Art. 3-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• For a person who, because of a mental disorder or disability, constantly lacks the capacity to understand their situation, the family court (家庭裁判所) may, on the request of the person, their spouse, a relative within the fourth degree, a public prosecutor or others the Code lists, commence guardianship (後見): the person becomes an adult ward (成年被後見人) with an adult guardian (成年後見人), and their juridical acts can be revoked, except buying daily necessities and other acts of everyday life. Where that capacity is extremely inadequate, the court may commence curatorship (保佐), and the person needs the curator's consent, except for acts of everyday life, for listed acts such as borrowing or giving a guarantee, acts on real estate or other important property, lawsuits, accepting or renouncing a succession, and building, rebuilding, extending or major repairs. Where it is merely inadequate, the court may commence assistance (補助) — with the person's own consent if someone else asks — and require the assistant's consent for some of those acts; an act done without a required consent, or a permission replacing it, can be revoked.This is the rule until the change takes effect, 23 December 2028 at the latest.(Art. 7(1), Art. 8(1), Art. 9(1), Art. 11(1), Art. 12(1), Art. 13(1), Art. 13(4), Art. 15(1), Art. 15(2), Art. 16(1), Art. 17(1), Art. 17(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
• On a day a Cabinet Order sets, no later than 23 December 2028, guardianship and curatorship of adults give way to assistance (補助) alone: for a person whose capacity to understand their situation is inadequate for a mental reason, the family court may, on the request of the person, their spouse, a relative within the fourth degree, someone the person named in a notarial deed (公正証書), a public prosecutor or others the Code lists — and with the person's consent where someone else asks, unless they cannot express their will — commence assistance where it also needs to make one of the orders below, and at the same time. It may require the assistant's consent for acts it chooses from a list (deposits and withdrawals, borrowing or guarantees, major service contracts, acts on real estate and other important property, lawsuits, succession and others), give the assistant power to represent the person in specific juridical acts, or, for a person who constantly lacks that capacity, appoint a specified assistant (特定補助人) and make the person's listed acts, other than those of daily life, revocable; an act done without a required consent can be revoked. People already under guardianship or curatorship stay under the earlier rules (従前の例) until the court commences assistance for them, and earlier orders of assistance count as orders under the new rules.This is the rule from a day still to be set, 23 December 2028 at the latest.(Art. 7(1), Art. 7(2), Art. 7(3), Art. 9(1), Art. 9(2), Art. 9(5), Art. 10(1), Art. 10(2), Art. 11(1), Art. 13, Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(6), Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(2), Suppl. Prov. Art. 4(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A juridical act against public policy (公の秩序又は善良の風俗) is void, and so is a false manifestation of intention made in collusion with the other party, though that nullity cannot be asserted against a third party acting in good faith. A manifestation of intention can be revoked if made through fraud or duress (詐欺又は強迫) — fraud by a third person only if the other party knew or could have known of it — or through a mistake (錯誤) that is material in light of the act's purpose and common sense in dealings: a mistake about the circumstances behind the act only if those circumstances were shown to be its basis, and one made through gross negligence only if the other party knew of it, was grossly negligent in not knowing, or shared it, though revocation for mistake or fraud cannot be asserted against a third party who was in good faith and without negligence. A revoked act is deemed void from the start, a party who received performance under it must restore the other to the original position (only to the extent of the remaining benefit for one who lacked capacity, or who received in good faith under a gratuitous act), and the right to revoke is extinguished 5 years after ratification first became possible or 20 years after the act.(Art. 90(1), Art. 94(1), Art. 94(2), Art. 95(1), Art. 95(2), Art. 95(3), Art. 96(1), Art. 96(2), Art. 121(1), Art. 121-2(1), Art. 121-2(2), Art. 121-2(3), Art. 126(1), Art. 95(4), Art. 96(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A manifestation of intention an agent (代理人) makes within their authority, showing that it is made for the principal (本人), binds the principal directly. A contract made by someone without authority binds the principal only if the principal ratifies it, but a principal is liable for acts within the authority they had told the third party they had given, or within authority they gave that had ended, where the third party neither knew nor should have known that there was none — and, where an agent went beyond their authority, where the third party had reasonable grounds to believe the agent had it. A person who contracted as another's agent and can neither prove authority nor obtain ratification must, as the other party chooses, perform or pay damages, unless the other party knew of the lack of authority, did not know of it through negligence (where the person did not know it themselves), or the person had limited capacity.(Art. 99(1), Art. 113(1), Art. 109(1), Art. 110(1), Art. 112(1), Art. 117(1), Art. 117(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A claim (債権) is extinguished by prescription (時効) if not exercised within 5 years of when the obligee learned they could exercise it, or within 10 years of when it could be exercised — 20 years for damages for death or bodily injury — and property rights other than claims and ownership after 20 years. A person who possesses another's thing with the intention of owning it, peacefully and openly, for 20 years acquires its ownership, or for 10 years if they were in good faith and without negligence when the possession began. Prescription has effect only if a party invokes it; court proceedings such as an action, and enforcement proceedings such as compulsory enforcement, keep it from being completed while they last (and for 6 months after, if a court proceeding ends without the right being confirmed, or an enforcement application is withdrawn or revoked for not following the law), and a demand (催告) does so for 6 months, and it starts anew when a final judgment confirms the right, when enforcement ends other than by such withdrawal or revocation, or when the right is acknowledged.(Art. 166(1), Art. 166(2), Art. 167(1), Art. 162(1), Art. 162(2), Art. 145(1), Art. 147(1), Art. 147(2), Art. 148(1), Art. 148(2), Art. 150(1), Art. 152(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• No real right (物権) can be created beyond those this Code and other Acts provide, and a real right is created or transferred by the parties' manifestations of intention alone. A change in a real right in real estate (不動産) cannot be asserted against third parties unless it is registered under the Real Property Registration Act (不動産登記法) or another registration Act, and a transfer of a movable (動産) not unless it is delivered. A person who, through a transaction, begins to possess a movable peacefully and openly, in good faith and without negligence, acquires the right at once; but if it was stolen or lost, the victim or the loser may demand it back within 2 years of the theft or loss, and must repay the price the possessor paid if the possessor bought it in good faith at an auction, in a public market or from a merchant selling such goods.(Art. 175(1), Art. 176(1), Art. 177(1), Art. 178(1), Art. 192(1), Art. 193(1), Art. 194(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• An owner may freely use, profit from and dispose of what they own, within the limits of laws and regulations. Where branches of a neighbour's trees or bamboo cross the boundary, a landowner may make their owner cut them, and may cut them themselves if the owner does not do so within a reasonable time after being asked, cannot be identified or found, or there is urgency; roots that cross may simply be cut. Co-owners (共有者) each use the whole thing in proportion to their shares; a change to it (other than one that does not significantly alter its form or use) needs all co-owners' consent, management is decided by a majority of the value of the shares, and any co-owner may demand partition at any time, unless they have agreed not to partition for up to 5 years.(Art. 206(1), Art. 233(1), Art. 233(3), Art. 233(4), Art. 249(1), Art. 251(1), Art. 252(1), Art. 256(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A person possessing another's thing who has a claim arising from it that has fallen due may keep the thing until paid (right of retention, 留置権), unless their possession began through a tort; claims for common-benefit expenses, from an employment relationship such as wages, for child-care costs, for funeral expenses and for supplies of daily necessities carry a statutory lien (先取特権) on all the debtor's assets, other listed claims one on particular movables or real estate. A pledgee (質権者) holds a thing received as security and is paid from it ahead of other creditors, the pledge taking effect when the thing is delivered. A mortgagee (抵当権者) is paid ahead of other creditors from real estate the debtor or a third party gave as security without handing it over, mortgages on the same property rank in the order of their registration, and a revolving mortgage (根抵当権) may secure unspecified claims of a defined kind up to a maximum amount.(Art. 295(1), Art. 295(2), Art. 303(1), Art. 306(1), Art. 308(1), Art. 311(1), Art. 325(1), Art. 342(1), Art. 344(1), Art. 369(1), Art. 373(1), Art. 398-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• If an obligor does not perform voluntarily, the obligee may ask the court to compel performance under the Civil Enforcement Act (民事執行法), a separate Act, and other enforcement laws, unless the nature of the obligation does not allow it, and may still claim damages. The obligee may claim damages where the obligor fails to perform as the obligation requires or performance is impossible, unless the failure is due to grounds not attributable to the obligor in light of the contract or other source of the obligation and common sense in dealings; damages cover the loss that would ordinarily arise, and loss from special circumstances the parties should have foreseen. For a money debt, damages are set at the statutory interest rate (法定利率) when the obligor fell into delay — 3% a year, adjusted for each three-year term by a formula the Code sets, as a Ministry of Justice Order provides — or at a higher agreed rate, need no proof of loss, and cannot be avoided by pleading force majeure.(Art. 414(1), Art. 414(2), Art. 415(1), Art. 416(1), Art. 416(2), Art. 404(2), Art. 404(3), Art. 404(4), Art. 419(1), Art. 419(2), Art. 419(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A guarantee (保証) takes effect only if made in writing or as an electronic record, and the guarantor must perform when the principal obligor does not; a guarantor who took on the debt jointly and severally with the obligor (連帯保証) cannot insist that the creditor first demand payment from the obligor or first enforce against the obligor's assets. An individual's revolving guarantee (根保証) — of unspecified debts of a defined kind — has no effect unless it sets a maximum amount. An individual's guarantee of a loan taken on for a business has no effect unless, within one month before it is concluded, the would-be guarantor stated their intention to perform it in a notarial deed (公正証書) made in the form the Code sets.(Art. 446(1), Art. 446(2), Art. 446(3), Art. 452(1), Art. 453(1), Art. 454(1), Art. 465-2(1), Art. 465-2(2), Art. 465-6(1), Art. 465-6(2), Art. 465-6(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Unless laws and regulations provide otherwise, anyone may decide freely whether to conclude a contract and, within their limits, what it contains; a contract is formed when an offer showing its terms is accepted, and needs no written document or other formality unless laws and regulations require one. A party who agrees to a standard transaction (定型取引) is deemed to agree to each of the standard terms (定型約款) if they agreed to make them part of the contract or the party who prepared them had told them so in advance, except for terms that restrict their rights or add to their duties and unilaterally harm their interests against the basic principle of good faith. If a party does not perform, the other may cancel (解除) the contract after demanding performance within a reasonable period, unless the non-performance is minor, or at once where the whole performance is impossible, has been clearly refused, or for other reasons listed — but not where the non-performance is the cancelling party's own fault; on cancellation each party must restore the other to the original position, and damages may still be claimed.(Art. 521(1), Art. 521(2), Art. 522(1), Art. 522(2), Art. 548-2(1), Art. 548-2(2), Art. 541(1), Art. 542(1), Art. 543(1), Art. 545(1), Art. 545(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
• If what is delivered under a sale (売買) does not conform to the contract in kind, quality or quantity, the buyer may demand repair, a replacement or the shortfall, and then a price reduction in proportion to the non-conformity if the seller does not cure it within a reasonable period after being asked (at once in the cases the Code lists, such as where cure is impossible or has been refused) — neither where the non-conformity is the buyer's fault — and may also claim damages and cancel under the general rules. For non-conformity in kind or quality, the buyer loses these remedies unless they notify the seller within 1 year of learning of it, except where the seller knew of it, or did not know through gross negligence, at delivery. Where the buyer paid earnest money (手付), the buyer may cancel by giving it up and the seller by actually tendering twice the amount, until the other party has begun to perform.(Art. 562(1), Art. 562(2), Art. 563(1), Art. 563(2), Art. 563(3), Art. 564(1), Art. 566(1), Art. 557(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• In a lease (賃貸借), the lessor must make the repairs needed to use the thing unless the need is the lessee's fault, and the lessee may not assign the lease or sublet without the lessor's consent — if they let a third party use the thing without it, the lessor may cancel. Under this Code, a lease without a fixed term can be ended by either party by notice, ending 1 year later for land and 3 months later for a building, and no lease may run longer than 50 years; but for a building, the Act on Land and Building Leases (借地借家法), a separate Act, lets the lessor give that notice only where just cause (正当の事由) is found, makes the lease end 6 months after the lessor's notice, and does not apply the 50-year limit. When a lease ends, the lessee must repair damage that arose after receiving the thing — but not ordinary wear, ageing or damage not their fault — and the lessor, once the thing is returned (or when the lessee lawfully assigns the lease), must give back the security deposit (敷金) less what the lessee still owes under the lease.(Art. 606(1), Art. 612(1), Art. 612(2), Art. 617(1), Art. 604(1), Art. 621(1), Art. 622-2(1), Act on Land and Building Leases Art. 27(1), Act on Land and Building Leases Art. 28(1), Act on Land and Building Leases Art. 29(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• In employment (雇用), the worker may claim pay only after doing the agreed work (or after each period, where pay is set by period); where no term is fixed, either party may give notice at any time and the employment ends 2 weeks later — though where pay is set by period, the employer may give notice only for the next period, in the first half of the current one, and an employer's dismissal is further limited by the separate Acts described among this law's exceptions — and even within a fixed term either party may cancel at once for a compelling reason, paying damages if the reason arose from their own negligence. In a contract for work (請負), pay is due on delivery of the finished work (or, where nothing is to be delivered, once the work is done), and until the work is finished the party ordering it may cancel at any time by compensating the contractor's loss. In a mandate (委任), including one for tasks that are not juridical acts, the mandatary must handle the matter with the care of a prudent manager and is paid only if agreed, and either party may cancel at any time, but must compensate the other if it does so at a time unfavourable to them or (as mandator) where the mandate also served the mandatary's interests other than pay, unless there was a compelling reason.(Art. 623(1), Art. 624(1), Art. 624(2), Art. 627(1), Art. 627(2), Art. 628(1), Art. 632(1), Art. 633(1), Labor Standards Act Art. 20(1), Labor Contracts Act Art. 16(1), Art. 641(1), Art. 643(1), Art. 644(1), Art. 648(1), Art. 651(1), Art. 651(2), Art. 656(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A person who benefits without legal cause from another's property or labour, causing them a loss (unjust enrichment, 不当利得), must return the benefit to the extent it remains, and with interest and any further damages if they knew; but a person who paid knowing there was no debt, or gave for an illegal cause (unless the illegality lay only with the recipient), cannot recover it. A person who intentionally or negligently infringes another's rights or legally protected interests (a tort, 不法行為) must compensate the resulting damage, including non-pecuniary damage — though a minor without the understanding to recognise their responsibility, or a person who caused it while unable to recognise it because of their mental condition (unless they brought that on themselves intentionally or negligently), is not liable, and whoever has a statutory duty to supervise them is, unless they did not neglect that duty or the damage would have arisen anyway; an employer is also liable for damage its employees cause to third parties in carrying out its business, unless it took reasonable care in appointing and supervising them or the damage would have arisen anyway, and joint tortfeasors are jointly and severally liable. The court may take the victim's own negligence into account in setting damages, and a tort claim is extinguished 3 years (5 years for death or bodily injury) after the victim or their legal representative learned of the damage and who caused it, or 20 years after the act.(Art. 703(1), Art. 704(1), Art. 705(1), Art. 708(1), Art. 709(1), Art. 710(1), Art. 712(1), Art. 713(1), Art. 714(1), Art. 715(1), Art. 719(1), Art. 722(2), Art. 724(1), Art. 724-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Marriage (婚姻) is possible from 18, not while already married, and not between lineal blood relatives, collateral blood relatives within the third degree (except an adopted child and blood relatives on the adoptive side) or lineal relatives by marriage; it takes effect when notified under the Family Register Act (戸籍法), a separate Act, in a document signed by both parties and two or more adult witnesses, or orally. The spouses take the husband's or the wife's surname as they decide on marriage, must live together and cooperate with and help each other, and share the costs of married life in light of their assets, income and all other circumstances. Unless they made a different property contract before notifying the marriage, what each owned before marriage or acquires during it in their own name is their separate property, and property whose ownership is unclear is presumed to be shared.(Art. 731(1), Art. 732(1), Art. 734(1), Art. 735(1), Art. 739(1), Art. 739(2), Art. 750(1), Art. 752(1), Art. 760(1), Art. 755(1), Art. 762(1), Art. 762(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Spouses may divorce by agreement (協議上の離婚); otherwise one may sue for divorce only for the other's infidelity, malicious desertion, being missing for 3 years or more, or another grave reason that makes the marriage hard to continue, and the court may refuse a divorce on the first three grounds where, considering everything, it finds continuing the marriage appropriate. Parents divorcing by agreement decide who takes care of the child or how care is shared, contact between each parent and the child, the sharing of child-care costs and other custody matters, giving the child's interests the highest priority, and whether both of them or one will hold parental authority (親権); where they cannot agree, the family court decides, and a court must make one parent alone the holder where joint authority would harm the child — for example where a parent may harm the child, or the risk of violence between the parents makes acting jointly difficult. Either may claim a division of property (財産分与) and, failing agreement, ask the family court to decide it within 5 years of the divorce, the court treating their contributions to property acquired or kept during the marriage as equal unless they clearly differ.(Art. 763(1), Art. 770(1), Art. 770(2), Art. 766(1), Art. 766(2), Art. 771(1), Art. 819(1), Art. 819(2), Art. 819(5), Art. 819(7), Art. 768(1), Art. 768(2), Art. 768(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Parents must raise their child respecting the child's personality and with regard to its age and development, and must support it so that it can live at the same level as themselves. Where parents divorced by agreement without deciding how to share child-care costs, the parent who has mainly cared for the child since the divorce may claim from the other, at the end of each month until they agree, a court decision becomes final or the child comes of age, an amount a Ministry of Justice Order sets according to the number of children, unless the other proves they cannot pay or would be put in severe hardship. The part of periodic payments with fixed due dates owed under the duties of cooperation and assistance between spouses, sharing the costs of married life, child custody or support between relatives that is a reasonable amount for a child's care, as a Ministry of Justice Order computes it, carries a statutory lien (先取特権) on all the payer's assets.(Art. 817-12(1), Art. 766-3(1), Art. 306(1), Art. 308-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A child a wife conceives during marriage is presumed to be her husband's, as is one she conceived before marriage and bore after it; a child born within 200 days of the marriage is presumed conceived before it, and one born later, or within 300 days after the marriage ended, during it. The father or the child — and the mother, unless it would clearly harm the child — may deny that the child is the husband's by an action brought within 3 years of the birth (for the father, of learning of it), and a child born outside marriage may be acknowledged (認知) by its father or mother, by notification or by will, or through an action the child may bring until 3 years after the parent's death. Parental authority (親権) over a minor child is exercised for the child's benefit — by both parents jointly while they are married, though either may act alone in daily matters of care and education or where the child's interests call for urgent action — and the person exercising it must respect the child's personality and must not use corporal punishment or other conduct harmful to the child's healthy development.(Art. 772(1), Art. 772(2), Art. 774(1), Art. 774(3), Art. 777(1), Art. 779(1), Art. 781(1), Art. 781(2), Art. 787(1), Art. 818(1), Art. 818(2), Art. 824-2(1), Art. 824-2(2), Art. 821(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• On a death, the heirs succeed to all the deceased's rights and duties except purely personal ones: the spouse is always an heir, together with the children (a child who died before the succession opened, or lost the right, being represented by their own children), or if there are none the nearest lineal ascendants, or if none the siblings. The statutory shares are one half each to the spouse and the children, two thirds to the spouse and one third to ascendants, or three quarters to the spouse and one quarter to siblings, divided equally within each group (a half-sibling taking half a full sibling's share), unless a will sets the shares. Within 3 months of learning that succession has opened to them (a period the family court may extend), an heir must accept unconditionally, accept with qualification (限定承認) — paying debts and bequests only up to what the estate yields, which all heirs must do together by filing an inventory with the family court — or renounce (相続の放棄) by a statement to the family court; doing neither in time, or disposing of estate property other than to preserve it, counts as unconditional acceptance.(Art. 882(1), Art. 896(1), Art. 887(1), Art. 887(2), Art. 889(1), Art. 890(1), Art. 900(1), Art. 902(1), Art. 915(1), Art. 920(1), Art. 921(1), Art. 922(1), Art. 923(1), Art. 924(1), Art. 938(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A person cannot be an heir, or receive a bequest, if they were sentenced for intentionally killing, or trying to kill, the deceased or an heir ahead of or level with them; knew of the deceased's murder and did not report it (unless they could not tell right from wrong, or the murderer was their spouse or lineal relative); used fraud or duress to make the deceased make, revoke, cancel or change a will about the succession, or to stop them doing so; or forged, altered, destroyed or hid such a will. The deceased may ask the family court to remove (廃除) a presumptive heir entitled to a reserved share who abused or gravely insulted them or otherwise seriously misbehaved, or may express that wish in a will, which the executor must then put to the family court without delay.This is the rule until the change takes effect, 23 June 2027 at the latest.(Art. 891(1), Art. 891(1)(i), Art. 891(1)(ii), Art. 891(1)(iii), Art. 891(1)(iv), Art. 891(1)(v), Art. 965(1), Art. 892(1), Art. 893(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• On a day a Cabinet Order sets, no later than 23 June 2027, a person cannot be an heir, or receive a bequest, if they were sentenced for intentionally killing, or trying to kill, the deceased or an heir ahead of or level with them; knew of the deceased's murder and did not report it (unless they could not tell right from wrong, or the murderer was their spouse or lineal relative); used fraud or duress to make the deceased make, revoke, cancel or change a will about the succession, or to stop them doing so; or forged, altered, destroyed or hid such a will, or improperly made, destroyed or hid the electronic record in which such a will made on video in an emergency is kept. The deceased may ask the family court to remove (廃除) a presumptive heir entitled to a reserved share who abused or gravely insulted them or otherwise seriously misbehaved, or may express that wish in a will, which the executor must then put to the family court without delay.This is the rule from a day still to be set, 23 June 2027 at the latest.(Art. 891(1), Art. 891(1)(i), Art. 891(1)(ii), Art. 891(1)(iii), Art. 891(1)(iv), Art. 891(1)(v), Art. 965(1), Art. 892(1), Art. 893(1), Art. 976-2(1), Art. 979-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Anyone aged 15 or over may make a will (遺言), only in a form the Code sets; the testator may revoke it at any time in one of those forms, and it takes effect at death. A holographic will (自筆証書遺言) must be written entirely in the testator's hand with its date and their name, and sealed — though an attached inventory of the estate need not be handwritten if every page is signed and sealed; a notarial will (公正証書遺言) is dictated to a notary (公証人) before two or more witnesses; and a sealed and notarized will (秘密証書遺言) is signed and sealed by the testator, closed under the same seal and presented to a notary and two or more witnesses. Special forms serve a person near death, a person cut off by an infectious-disease quarantine, and a person aboard a ship.This is the rule until the change takes effect, 23 June 2027 at the latest.(Art. 961(1), Art. 960(1), Art. 1022(1), Art. 985(1), Art. 967(1), Art. 968(1), Art. 968(2), Art. 969(1), Art. 970(1), Art. 976(1), Art. 977(1), Art. 978(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• On a day a Cabinet Order sets, no later than 23 June 2027, the testator no longer needs a seal: a holographic will is written entirely in the testator's hand with its date and name, an attached inventory needs only a signature on every page, and a sealed and notarized will is signed, closed and presented to a notary and two or more witnesses, while the notarial will, the minimum age of 15, revocation at any time and effect at death stay as they are. A person near death may also make a will before one or more witnesses by dictating it while the dictation, its writing down or electronic recording, and its reading back are recorded on video and audio, with the witnesses free to join by video call, and a person facing death aboard a wrecked ship, or in a place of grave danger from a natural disaster or other unavoidable event, may make an oral will recorded on video and audio, before a witness or sent to a chosen person; these wills have no effect unless a witness or an interested person asks the family court to confirm them — within 20 days of the will for a person near death, without delay for a shipwreck or disaster. Wills made before that day remain under the earlier formal rules (従前の例).This is the rule from a day still to be set, 23 June 2027 at the latest.(Art. 968(1), Art. 968(2), Art. 970(1), Art. 969(1), Art. 961(1), Art. 1022(1), Art. 985(1), Art. 976(4), Art. 976-2(1), Art. 976-2(2), Art. 976-2(6), Art. 979(1), Art. 979-2(1), Art. 979-2(2), Art. 979-2(5), Suppl. Prov. Art. 5(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• On a day a Cabinet Order sets, no later than 23 June 2029, a will may take four ordinary forms: holographic, written entirely in the testator's hand with its date and name (an attached inventory signed on every page); the new storage-instrument will (保管証書遺言), where the testator signs a document or electronic record of the whole will (or takes a step a Ministry of Justice Order sets instead), reads it all aloud before a will storage officer (遺言書保管官) and has it kept under the Act on Storage of Wills in Legal Affairs Bureau (法務局における遺言書の保管等に関する法律), a separate Act, without which it has no effect; notarial; or sealed and notarized. Anyone aged 15 or over may make a will and revoke it at any time in one of those forms, and it takes effect at death. Special forms, video-recorded ones among them, still serve a person near death, cut off by quarantine, aboard a ship, or facing death in a shipwreck or disaster, the emergency ones having no effect unless the family court's confirmation is sought within 20 days of the will (near death) or without delay (shipwreck or disaster); and wills made before the earlier stage of this amendment that dropped the testator's seal (a day a Cabinet Order sets, no later than 23 June 2027) stay under the earlier formal rules (従前の例).This is the rule from a day still to be set, 23 June 2029 at the latest.(Art. 967(1), Art. 968(1), Art. 968(2), Art. 968-2(1), Art. 968-2(2), Art. 969(1), Art. 970(1), Art. 961(1), Art. 1022(1), Art. 985(1), Art. 976(1), Art. 976(4), Art. 976-2(1), Art. 977(1), Art. 978(1), Art. 979(1), Art. 979-2(1), Art. 979-2(5), Suppl. Prov. Art. 5(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Heirs other than siblings have a statutory reserved share (遺留分): one third of the estate as computed for this purpose where only lineal ascendants inherit, one half otherwise, divided among them by their statutory shares. That estate is what the deceased owned at death plus gifts made in the year before death (in the 10 years before for gifts to heirs for marriage, adoption or as capital for their living, and earlier gifts too where both sides knew they would harm the reserved share), less all debts. An heir whose reserved share is infringed by bequests or gifts may claim the amount in money from their recipients, within 1 year of learning of the succession and of the infringing gift or bequest and at most 10 years after the succession opened; renouncing a reserved share before the succession opens takes effect only with the family court's permission.(Art. 1042(1), Art. 1042(2), Art. 1043(1), Art. 1044(1), Art. 1044(3), Art. 1046(1), Art. 1048(1), Art. 1049(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

• 24 June 2026

  The text on this site

  Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.

  民法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 45 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2026

  Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.

  民法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 33 of 2024The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 October 2025

  Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote the Use of Information and Communications Technology in Civil Procedures, etc.

  民事関係手続等における情報通信技術の活用等の推進を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律

  Act No. 53 of 2023The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 6 June 2025

  Act on the Arrangement, etc. of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act on Security Assignment Contracts and Retention of Title Contracts

  譲渡担保契約及び所有権留保契約に関する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律

  Act No. 57 of 2025The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 June 2025

  Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc.

  刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整理等に関する法律

  Act No. 68 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 24 May 2024

  Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.

  民法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 33 of 2024The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2024

  Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.

  民法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 102 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 14 June 2023

  Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote the Use of Information and Communications Technology in Civil Procedures, etc.

  民事関係手続等における情報通信技術の活用等の推進を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律

  Act No. 53 of 2023The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2023

  Act Partially Amending the National Public Service Act, etc.

  国家公務員法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 61 of 2021The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2023

  Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.

  民法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 24 of 2021The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

All 32 amendments already in force

• Where the parties to a juridical act intend something different from a provision of laws and regulations that does not concern public policy, their intention prevails, and so does a custom differing from such a provision where the parties can be taken to intend to follow it.(Art. 91(1), Art. 92(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Superficies (地上権) and leases of land for owning a building, and leases of buildings, are also governed by the Act on Land and Building Leases (借地借家法), a separate Act with special rules on their duration, effect and renewal: a building's lessor may give notice refusing renewal, or terminate, only where just cause (正当の事由) is found, and terms that disadvantage the lessee and are contrary to that Act's rules on the duration and renewal of land leases, or on the renewal and termination of building leases, are void.(Act on Land and Building Leases Art. 1(1), Act on Land and Building Leases Art. 28(1), Act on Land and Building Leases Art. 9(1), Act on Land and Building Leases Art. 30(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where an employer dismisses a worker, separate Acts also apply: under the Labor Standards Act (労働基準法), the employer must give at least 30 days' notice or pay at least 30 days' average wages, except where a natural disaster or other unavoidable cause makes the business impossible to continue or the worker is dismissed for a cause attributable to them, with the approval of the relevant government agency (行政官庁) for that cause — a rule that does not reach day labourers, workers hired for 2 months or less or for seasonal work of 4 months or less, or workers on probation, until they have worked past the period that Act sets, while that Act does not apply at all to domestic workers (家事使用人) or to businesses employing only relatives living together; and under the Labor Contracts Act (労働契約法), a dismissal that lacks objectively reasonable grounds and is not considered appropriate in general social terms is void as an abuse of right.(Labor Standards Act Art. 20(1), Labor Standards Act Art. 20(3), Labor Standards Act Art. 19(2), Labor Standards Act Art. 21(1), Labor Standards Act Art. 116(2), Labor Contracts Act Art. 16(1), Art. 627(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Consumer contracts (消費者契約) are also governed by the Consumer Contract Act (消費者契約法), a separate Act: a term that limits the consumer's rights or adds to their duties compared with the default rules and unilaterally harms the consumer's interests against the basic principle of good faith in Article 1(2) of this Code is void, and otherwise the revocation of a consumer's offer or acceptance and the validity of terms follow, besides that Act, this Code and the Commercial Code (商法).(Consumer Contract Act Art. 10(1), Consumer Contract Act Art. 11(1), Art. 1(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The notarial-deed requirement for guarantees of business loans does not apply where the would-be guarantor is a juridical person, a director, executive officer or similar officer of a corporate principal debtor, a person holding a majority of its voting rights directly or through another company (or the equivalent for a debtor that is not a stock company), a person running the business together with an individual principal debtor, or that debtor's spouse who actually works in the business.(Art. 465-6(3), Art. 465-9(1), Art. 465-9(1)(i), Art. 465-9(1)(ii), Art. 465-9(1)(iii)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The rules that require consent for, or allow revocation of, acts of minors and of adults placed under protection by a family court decision do not apply to wills: anyone aged 15 or over may make one, provided they have the capacity to do so when they make it, but an adult ward (成年被後見人) who has recovered that capacity for a time may make one only with two or more doctors present.This is the rule until the change takes effect, 23 December 2028 at the latest.(Art. 962(1), Art. 961(1), Art. 963(1), Art. 973(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• On a day a Cabinet Order sets, no later than 23 December 2028, the rules that require consent for, or allow revocation of, acts of minors and of adults under assistance (補助) do not apply to wills: anyone aged 15 or over may make one if they have the capacity to do so when they make it, but a person given a specified assistant (特定補助人) who has recovered that capacity for a time may make one only with two or more doctors present, who must record that the testator had it — and an adult ward who stays under the earlier rules (従前の例) remains bound by the earlier rule to the same effect.This is the rule from a day still to be set, 23 December 2028 at the latest.(Art. 962(1), Art. 961(1), Art. 963(1), Art. 973(1), Art. 973(2), Art. 10(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Earlier wording still governs older matters: claims that arose before Act No. 44 of 2017 came into force, including later claims from a juridical act done before then, keep the earlier prescription periods, and guarantees, and contracts of gift, sale, loan, lease, employment, work, mandate, bailment and partnership concluded before then, follow the earlier law (従前の例), save a few rules its supplementary provisions (附則) apply to them too. Successions that opened before Act No. 72 of 2018 came into force follow the earlier law, except where that Act's supplementary provisions say otherwise.(Suppl. Prov. Art. 10(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 10(4), Suppl. Prov. Art. 21(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 34(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 34(2), Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• For divorces and annulled marriages before Act No. 33 of 2024 came into force, the earlier time limit for asking the family court to decide a division of property still applies, and the monthly child-care payment that can be claimed where parents divorced without deciding child-care costs (Article 766-3) does not apply to divorces, annulments or acknowledgments of a child before then.(Suppl. Prov. Art. 4(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(2), Art. 766-3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

• Most of the Code states rights and duties between private parties, which a party enforces through the courts: an obligee whose obligor does not perform voluntarily may ask the court to compel performance and may claim damages. The family court (家庭裁判所) decides custody matters and who holds parental authority where parents cannot agree, divides an estate where the heirs cannot agree, and receives the statements by which an heir renounces a succession.(Art. 414(1), Art. 414(2), Art. 415(1), Art. 766(2), Art. 819(5), Art. 907(2), Art. 938(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A person keeping a will other than a notarial one — or, where no one keeps it, an heir who finds it — must submit it to the family court for probate (検認) without delay after learning of the death, and a sealed will may be opened only at the family court with the heirs or their agents present; failing to submit it, carrying out a will without probate, or opening it outside the family court is punished by a civil fine (過料) of up to 50,000 yen. A foreign juridical person recognised by an Act or treaty that sets up an office in Japan must register it there within three weeks, and a representative who fails to make the registrations the Code requires faces a civil fine of up to 500,000 yen.This is the rule until the change takes effect, 23 June 2027 at the latest.(Art. 1004(1), Art. 1004(2), Art. 1004(3), Art. 1005(1), Art. 37(1), Art. 37(8)) (the provisions it rests on)
• On a day a Cabinet Order sets, no later than 23 June 2027, a person keeping a will other than a notarial one, or the electronic record of an oral will recorded on video in a shipwreck or disaster — or, where no one keeps it, an heir who finds it — must submit it to the family court for probate (検認) without delay after learning of the death (where a near-death will recorded on video as an electronic record, or such a shipwreck or disaster recording, is kept by several people, one custodian's request is enough), and a sealed will may be opened only at the family court with the heirs or their agents present; failing to submit it, carrying out a will without probate, or opening it outside the family court is punished by a civil fine (過料) of up to 50,000 yen. A foreign juridical person recognised by an Act or treaty that sets up an office in Japan must register it there within three weeks, and a representative who fails to make the registrations the Code requires faces a civil fine of up to 500,000 yen.This is the rule from a day still to be set, 23 June 2027 at the latest.(Art. 1004(1), Art. 1004(2), Art. 1004(3), Art. 1004(4), Art. 1004(5), Art. 1005(1), Art. 979-2(1), Art. 976-2(1), Art. 37(1), Art. 37(8)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where it has been unknown for 7 years whether an absent person is alive — or for 1 year after a war, a shipwreck or another danger that could have killed them has passed — the family court may, at the request of an interested person, declare them missing (失踪の宣告), and they are then deemed to have died when that period ended or the danger passed. The court must revoke the declaration, at the request of the person or an interested person, on proof that they are alive or died at another time, without affecting acts done in good faith in between, and anyone who gained property through the declaration must return what they still have of it.(Art. 30(1), Art. 30(2), Art. 31(1), Art. 32(1), Art. 32(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where a father or mother abuses or maliciously abandons the child, or their exercise of parental authority is otherwise extremely difficult or inappropriate and seriously harms the child's interests, the family court may, at the request of the child, a relative, the child's guardian or the guardian's supervisor, or a public prosecutor, take that parent's parental authority away — unless the cause is expected to disappear within 2 years. Where its exercise is difficult or inappropriate and harms the child's interests, the court may instead suspend it for a period it sets of up to 2 years.(Art. 834(1), Art. 834-2(1), Art. 834-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)