Code of Civil Procedure

Except as otherwise provided, service of documents is effected by mail or by a court enforcement officer.

In the case of service of documents by mail, a person engaged in postal services is the person who effects service.

The court clerk may personally serve a person who has appeared for a case that is pending before the court to which the court clerk is assigned.

Except as otherwise provided, the service of documents is effected through the delivery of the document with which a person is to be served, to the person on whom it is to be served.

Service of documents is effected at the domicile, residence, place of business, or business office of the person being served (referred to below as the person's "address" in this Subsection); provided, however, that the service of documents on a legal representative may also be made at the place of business or business office of the principal.

If the place specified in the preceding paragraph is unknown or there is an obstacle to effecting service at that place, service of documents may be effected at another person's address, where the person who is to be served works based on employment, entrustment, or any other legal act (referred to below as their "workplace"). The same applies if the person who is to be served (except one prescribed in paragraph (1) of the following Article) has entered a statement indicating a willingness to be served with documents at the workplace.

The party, legal representative, or litigation representative must notify the court in charge of the case of the place or places where the relevant person may be served with documents (limited to a place in Japan). In doing so, they may also notify the court of the person to be served.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding Article, if a notification has been submitted pursuant to the provisions of the first sentence of the preceding paragraph, service of documents is effected at the place given in the notification.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding Article, any subsequent service of documents upon a person that does not submit a notification pursuant to the provisions of the first sentence of paragraph (1) but that has been served as stated in one of the following items is effected at the place specified in that item:

service under the provisions of the preceding Article:the place where that service was effected;

service under the provisions of the second sentence of the following Article that is effected by a person engaged in postal services at a business office of Japan Post Co., Ltd. (limited one where postal services are provided; the same applies in the second sentence of Article 106, paragraph (1)), or service under the provisions of the second sentence of Article 106, paragraph (1):the place established as the place where that service was to be effected;

service under the provisions of Article 107, paragraph (1), item (i):the place to which the initial service of documents was directed.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding two Articles, a person who is to be served with documents but who does not manifestly have an address in Japan (excluding one that has submitted a notification pursuant to the provisions of the first sentence of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article) may be served wherever the person effecting the service finds the person who is to be served. The same applies if a person who clearly has an address in Japan or a person who has submitted a notification pursuant to the provisions of the first sentence of that paragraph does not refuse to be served with the documents.

If a person effecting service of a document does not find the person that is to be served at the non-workplace location where service is to be effected, the document may be delivered to an employee or other worker, or to a person that lives with the person to be served, who will exercise reasonable discretion concerning the receipt of that document. The same applies if a person engaging in postal services is to deliver the document at the business office of Japan Post Co., Ltd.

If a person effecting service does not find the person to be served at their workplace (including if the place reported in the notification submitted pursuant to the provisions of the first sentence of Article 104, paragraph (1) is the workplace) and another person stated in Article 103, paragraph (2) or that person's legal representative or employee or other worker who will exercise reasonable discretion concerning the receipt of a document does not refuse to have the document delivered to them, the document may be delivered to such a person.

If a person that is to be served or a person to whom a document is to be delivered pursuant to the provisions of the first sentence of paragraph (1) refuses to service or refuses delivery of the document without a legitimate reason for refusing to do so, the document may be left at a place where service of the document may be effected.

In the cases listed in the following items, if it is impossible for service to be effected pursuant to the provisions of the preceding Article (unless the service may be effected pursuant to the provisions of Article 109-2), the court clerk may send the document to the place specified in the relevant item by registered mail or using the correspondence delivery services prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (2) of the Act on Correspondence Delivery by Private Business Operators (Act No. 99 of 2002) that are provided by a general correspondence delivery operator prescribed in paragraph (6) of that Article or a specified correspondence delivery operator prescribed in paragraph (9) of that Article, and which are specified by the Rules of the Supreme Court as constituting services equivalent to registered mail (referred to below as "registered mail or equivalent services" in the following paragraph and paragraph (3)):

if service is to be effected pursuant to the provisions of Article 103:the place specified in Article 103, paragraph (1);

if service is to be effected pursuant to the provisions of Article 104, paragraph (2):the place stated in that paragraph;

if service is to be effected pursuant to the provisions of Article 104, paragraph (3):the place stated in that paragraph (or, if this is the person's workplace, the person's address as indicated in the case record).

If a document is sent by registered mail or equivalent services pursuant to the provisions of item (ii) or (iii) of the preceding paragraph, any document to be served subsequently may be sent by registered mail or equivalent services to the place specified in item (ii) or (iii) of that paragraph.

If a document is sent by registered mail or equivalent services pursuant to the provisions of the preceding two paragraphs, the document is deemed to have been served at the time it is sent.

Service of documents that is to be effected in a foreign country is effected based on the presiding judge's request for the competent government agency of that country or the Japanese ambassador, minister, or consul stationed there to serve them.

Except as otherwise provided, it is permissible to serve an electronic or magnetic record using a paper document prepared by outputting the information recorded in the record to be served which has been recorded in the court's computer files pursuant to the provisions of this Act or any other laws and regulations (simply referred to below as the "record to be served" in this Section), as provided for in the preceding Subsection.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding Article, it is permissible to serve an electronic or magnetic record by taking measures that enable the person being served to inspect, as referred to in item (i), paragraph (1) of the following Article, the information recorded in the record to be served, or that enable that information to be recorded as referred to in item (ii) of that paragraph; and by using an electronic data processing system as provided for by the Rules of the Supreme Court to notify the person being served that those measures have been taken, as provided for by the Rules of the Supreme Court; provided, however, that this applies only if the person to be served has filed a notification in the form specified by the Rules of the Supreme Court indicating a willingness to be served by those means.

To file the notification referred to in the proviso to the preceding paragraph, a person must file a notification of the point of contact for receiving the notice under the main clause of that paragraph with the court in charge of the case, as provided for by the Rules of the Supreme Court. In doing so, they may also notify the court of the person to be served.

The notice under the main clause of paragraph (1) is to be sent to the point of contact filed with the court pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

Service under the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article takes effect at the earliest of the following times:

when the person to be served has inspected something that has been made to show the information recorded in the record to be served through the means specified by the Rules of the Supreme Court;

when the person to be served has recorded the information that has been recorded in the record to be served in a file prepared on the computer they are using; or

once one week has passed since the day when the notice under the main clause of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article was sent.

Any period during which the person to be served is prevented from inspecting as referred to in item (i) of the preceding paragraph or from recording the information referred to in item (ii) of that paragraph due to grounds not attributable to that person is not included in the calculation of the period referred to in item (iii) of that paragraph.

Notwithstanding the proviso to Article 109-2, paragraph (1), a person stated in the items of Article 132-11, paragraph (1) may be served as under the provisions of Article 109-2, paragraph (1) even if the person has not filed the notification under the proviso to that paragraph. In such a case, the notice under the main clause of that paragraph is not required.

To apply the provisions of the preceding Article if service is effected pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the phrase "the notice under the main clause of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article was sent" in item (iii), paragraph (1) of that Article is deemed to be replaced with "the measures under the main clause of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article were taken".

In the following casesand upon petition, the court clerk may effect service by publication:

if the party's domicile and residence are unknown, and no other place where the party may be served is known (excluding the case where service may be effected pursuant to the provisions of Article 109-2);

if it is impossible to effect service pursuant to the provisions of Article 107, paragraph (1);

if, for service of documents that is to be effected in a foreign country, recourse to the provisions of Article 108 is not possible or it is found that service cannot be effected even through recourse to those provisions;

if a paper document certifying service has not been sent even though six months have passed since the presiding judge issued the request to the competent government agency of a foreign country pursuant to the provisions of Article 108.

In a case as referred to in the preceding paragraph, if the court finds it to be necessary in order to avoid a delay in litigation, it may order the court clerk to effect service by publication, even if there has been no such petition.

Second and subsequent service by publication on the same party is effected by the court clerk sua sponte; provided, however, that this does not apply in the case stated in paragraph (1), item (iv).

Service by publication is effected by taking measures that will enable a large, non-exclusive group of persons to inspect the information that the following items prescribe for the categories stated in those items by the means specified by the Rules of the Supreme Court and posting a paper document giving that information at the posting area for the court, or by taking measures that will make it possible to inspect that information on the screen display of a computer located at the court:

service of documents by publication:that the court clerk retains the documents to be served and will deliver them to the person who is to be served at any time; and

service of electronic or magnetic records by publication:that, in connection with the information recorded in the record to be served, the court clerk will deliver the paper documents referred to in Article 109 to the person to be served or will take the measures under the main clause of Article 109-2, paragraph (1) and issue a notice under the main clause of that paragraph, at any time.