National law

The law of the country whose nationality a person has. The Act on General Rules for Application of Laws makes it the law that governs, among other things, a person's capacity to act (Article 4, paragraph (1)), the formation of a marriage, for each party (Article 24, paragraph (1)), and inheritance, by the national law of the person who died (Article 36). Under that Act, for a person with two or more nationalities it is the law of the one of those countries where the person has their habitual residence (常居所), or, if they have it in none of them, of the one most closely connected with them; but if one of the nationalities is Japanese, it is Japanese law (Article 38, paragraph (1)). Under that Act, for a person with no nationality the law of their habitual residence is applied instead, except under the rules on the effects of a marriage, which also govern matrimonial property and divorce, and on the legal relationship between parents and child (Articles 25, 26(1), 27 and 32; Article 38, paragraph (2)). Where a person's national law would itself have Japanese law apply, Japanese law applies, except where the national law is applied under those same two rules (Article 41).