Family Register Act
戸籍法
Sets up the family register () — the record, kept by each municipality's mayor, of each person's name, date of birth, parents, marriage and other family relationships, from which anyone who loses Japanese nationality is removed — and the notifications (届出) that keep it up to date.
- Text in force since
- Promulgated
- Articles
- 171
- Amendments on the way
- 4
What this law does
- A family register () is made for each married couple whose registered domicile (本籍) is in a municipality, together with their children who share their surname; a new register for someone married to a foreign national, or with no spouse, covers that person and their children who share their surname. A register is identified by the name and registered domicile of the person entered at its head (筆頭者), even after that person has been removed from it. For each person it records, among other things, their name and its kana reading (振り仮名), date of birth, birth parents, and when and why they entered the register.(Art. 6(1), Art. 9(1), Art. 13(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Read the full overview
- When a marriage between a Japanese national and a foreign national (外国人, anyone who is not a Japanese national) is notified, a new register is made for the Japanese national unless they already head one; it covers them and their children who share their surname, and the foreign spouse is not among the people it is made for. A municipality records in a resident record (住民票), under the Residential Basic Book Act (住民基本台帳法), a separate Act, each foreign national with an address there who is a mid- to long-term resident, a special permanent resident, a person with temporary refuge or provisional stay permission, or a person allowed to stay on after being born in Japan or losing Japanese nationality — a foreign resident (外国人住民). That record shows their nationality or region (国籍等) and, unlike other residents' records under that Act, no family register entry (戸籍の表示).(Art. 16(3), Art. 6(1), Residential Basic Book Act Art. 5(1), Residential Basic Book Act Art. 30-45(1), Residential Basic Book Act Art. 7(1)(v)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A person who has married a foreign national can change their surname to the one the spouse uses, giving its kana reading (振り仮名), by notification within six months of the marriage without the family court's permission (家庭裁判所の許可), and can change it back the same way within three months of a divorce, annulment or the spouse's death. Someone with a foreign parent who wants to take that parent's surname needs an unavoidable reason (やむを得ない事由) and the family court's permission — under Article 107(4), or, if they head a register or are the head's spouse, under Article 107(1), by which the head and spouse change it together on the same conditions. A person who changes their surname under Article 107(2) or (3) gets a new register of their own if others are in their current one; a person who changes it under Article 107(4) always does.(Art. 107(1), Art. 107(2), Art. 107(3), Art. 107(4), Art. 20-2(1), Art. 20-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A birth must be notified within 14 days, or within three months if the child was born abroad. The notification gives, among other things, the parents' names and registered domiciles — for a foreign parent, their name and nationality — and comes with a birth certificate from the doctor, midwife or other person present at the birth unless there is an unavoidable reason. A child's given name must use simple characters in common use (常用平易な文字), whose range a Ministry of Justice Order (法務省令) sets.(Art. 49(1), Art. 49(2), Art. 49(3), Art. 50(1), Art. 50(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- For an acknowledgment of a child (認知), adoption, ending of an adoption, marriage or divorce that takes effect by notification, the mayor asks whoever brings it to the office in person for a driving licence or other document, or an explanation, to check whether they are a party to it — for an acknowledgment only the person acknowledging the child, and for an adoption or its ending arranged for a child by the child's legal representative, the adoptive parent and that representative — and tells any party whose appearance could not be confirmed once it has been accepted. A party may ask the mayor of their registered domicile in advance not to accept such a notification unless they are confirmed to have brought it in person, and is told if one is then refused. A report of a court decision on a divorce, acknowledgment or adoption (Articles 63, 68-2, 73 and 77) or the copy of a certificate a Japanese national abroad had made in that country's form (Article 41) is not such a notification.(Art. 27-2(1), Art. 27-2(2), Art. 27-2(3), Art. 27-2(4), Art. 27-2(5), Art. 41(1), Art. 63(1), Art. 68-2(1), Art. 73(1), Art. 77(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A person entered in a register (including one since removed from it, unless every entry about them was the mayor's error and has been corrected) and their spouse, lineal ascendants and lineal descendants may obtain a copy or certificate of the register (戸籍謄本等); the mayor may refuse a request plainly made for an improper purpose. Anyone else may obtain one only to exercise a right or perform a duty, to submit it to a national or local public body, or for another legitimate reason, and must set out the facts behind that reason; public bodies, and lawyers and the seven other professions the Act lists, may request one for their work. Whoever is handling a request must identify themselves, and where registers are kept electronically, a person in the first group may also ask a mayor other than the one of the registered domicile whom the Minister of Justice has designated to keep registers that way (指定市町村長) — but must then make the request themselves, not by post or through a representative.(Art. 10(1), Art. 10(2), Art. 10-2(1), Art. 10-2(2), Art. 10-2(3), Art. 10-3(1), Art. 118(1), Art. 120-2(1), Art. 120-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A person who made a notification may ask for a certificate that it was accepted or refused (届出の受理又は不受理の証明書). An interested person (利害関係人) may, only for a special reason, view the notification documents the mayor accepted or get a certificate of what they state, and where a designated mayor (指定市町村長) accepted the notification or entered it, may ask that mayor to view the image record of it (届書等情報) or for a certificate of its contents. Either may ask for the certificate to be sent by post, and whoever is handling the request must identify themselves.(Art. 48(1), Art. 48(2), Art. 48(3), Art. 120-6(1), Art. 120-6(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
Contents
171 453 96 49 47
- Chapter I General Provisions第一章 総則Articles 1–5 · 5
- Chapter II Family Register Book第二章 戸籍簿Articles 6–12-2 · 12
- Chapter III Entries in a Family Register第三章 戸籍の記載Articles 13–24 · 15
- Chapter IV Notifications第四章 届出Articles 25–112 · 101
- Section 1 General Rules第一節 通則Articles 25–48 · 26
- Section 2 Birth第二節 出生Articles 49–59 · 11
- Section 3 Acknowledgment of Parentage第三節 認知Articles 60–65 · 6
- Section 4 Adoption第四節 養子縁組Articles 66–69-2 · 6
- Section 5 Dissolution of Adoptive Relationship第五節 養子離縁Articles 70–73-2 · 5
- Section 6 Marriage第六節 婚姻Articles 74–75-2 · 3
- Section 7 Divorce第七節 離婚Articles 76–77-2 · 3
- Section 8 Parental Authority and Guardianship over Minors第八節 親権及び未成年者の後見Articles 78–85 · 8
- Section 9 Death and Disappearance第九節 死亡及び失踪Articles 86–94 · 9
- Section 10 Surviving Spouse Reverting to Previous Surname and End of Relationship by Affinity第十節 生存配偶者の復氏及び姻族関係の終了Articles 95–96 · 2
- Section 11 Disinheritance of Presumptive Heirs第十一節 推定相続人の廃除Article 97
- Section 12 Entry of Names in a Family Register第十二節 入籍Articles 98–99 · 2
- Section 13 Separation from a Family Register第十三節 分籍Articles 100–101 · 2
- Section 14 Acquisition or Loss of Japanese Nationality第十四節 国籍の得喪Articles 102–106 · 8
- Section 15 Change of Name第十五節 氏名の変更Articles 107–107-2 · 2
- Section 15-2 Change of the Kana Characters Indicating the Pronunciation of the Name第十五節の二 氏名の振り仮名の変更Articles 107-3–107-4 · 2
- Section 16 Transfer of Registered Domicile and Registration of Unregistered Persons第十六節 転籍及び就籍Articles 108–112 · 5
- Chapter V Correction of a Family Register第五章 戸籍の訂正Articles 113–117 · 5
- Chapter VI Special Provisions on the Handling of Processes for Family Registers by Electronic Data Processing Systems, etc.第六章 電子情報処理組織による戸籍事務の取扱いに関する特例等Articles 118–121-3 · 14
- Chapter VII Appeals第七章 不服申立てArticles 122–125 · 4
- Chapter VIII Miscellaneous Provisions第八章 雑則Articles 126–131 · 6
- Chapter IX Penal Provisions第九章 罰則Articles 132–140 · 9
Amendments
A Japanese law is changed by another law or order that rewrites it — an . This law has 4 amendments on the way — , but . Its amendment history is below. The amendments this site has read the changes of are on this law's amendments page, provision by provision, in Japanese and English.
Date not yet set
Not yet in force
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.
民法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
The date on which the provisions listed in Article 1, item (ii) of the Supplementary Provisions of the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc. (Act No. 45 of 2026) come into force. The exact day is not fixed yet.
By 2 June 2028
at the latest, in 2 years
Act on the Development of Related Acts for the Promotion of Reform to Enhance Regional Autonomy and Independence
地域の自主性及び自立性を高めるための改革の推進を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
On a day set by , no later than 2 June 2028 — the amending law allows up to two years from . The exact day is not fixed yet.
By 13 June 2028
at the latest, in 2 years
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
On a day set by , no later than 13 June 2028 — the amending law allows up to five years from . The exact day is not fixed yet.
Date not yet set
Not yet in force
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.
民法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
The date on which the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc. (Act No. 45 of 2026) comes into force. The exact day is not fixed yet.
27 amendments already in force
3 September 2026
The text on this site
Act on the Development of Related Acts for the Promotion of Reform to Enhance Regional Autonomy and Independence
地域の自主性及び自立性を高めるための改革の推進を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
24 June 2026
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.
民法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
1 April 2026
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
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
26 May 2025
Act Partially Amending the Act on the Use of Numbers to Identify a Specific Individual in Administrative Procedures, etc.
行政手続における特定の個人を識別するための番号の利用等に関する法律等の一部を改正する法律
24 May 2024
1 March 2024
Act on the Development of Related Acts for the Promotion of Reform to Enhance Regional Autonomy and Independence
地域の自主性及び自立性を高めるための改革の推進を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
1 March 2024
16 June 2023
Act on the Development of Related Acts for the Promotion of Reform to Enhance Regional Autonomy and Independence
地域の自主性及び自立性を高めるための改革の推進を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
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
9 June 2023
Act Partially Amending the Act on the Use of Numbers to Identify a Specific Individual in Administrative Procedures, etc.
行政手続における特定の個人を識別するための番号の利用等に関する法律等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2023
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts for the Formation of a Digital Society
デジタル社会の形成を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
1 November 2022
Act Partially Amending the Act on Special Measures Concerning the Handling of Legal Services by Foreign Lawyers
外国弁護士による法律事務の取扱いに関する特別措置法の一部を改正する法律
17 June 2022
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
1 April 2022
1 April 2022
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts for the Formation of a Digital Society
デジタル社会の形成を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
13 September 2021
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts for the Formation of a Digital Society
デジタル社会の形成を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
13 September 2021
1 September 2021
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts for the Formation of a Digital Society
デジタル社会の形成を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
19 May 2021
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts for the Formation of a Digital Society
デジタル社会の形成を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
1 May 2020
16 December 2019
Act Partially Amending the Act on Use of Information and Communications Technology in Administrative Procedures, etc., and Other Acts to Improve Convenience for Persons Concerned in Administrative Procedures, etc. and to Simplify and Streamline Administrative Operations through the Use of Information and Communications Technology
情報通信技術の活用による行政手続等に係る関係者の利便性の向上並びに行政運営の簡素化及び効率化を図るための行政手続等における情報通信の技術の利用に関する法律等の一部を改正する法律
20 June 2019
30 May 2017
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts for Contributing to the Creation of New Industries and the Realization of a Vibrant Economic Society and an Enriched Quality of Life for the People through the Proper and Effective Use of Personal Information Held by Administrative Organs, etc.
行政機関等の保有する個人情報の適正かつ効果的な活用による新たな産業の創出並びに活力ある経済社会及び豊かな国民生活の実現に資するための関係法律の整備に関する法律
1 April 2016
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Administrative Complaint Review Act
行政不服審査法の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
1 April 2016
Who it applies to
It applies to
- People who must notify a birth: the father or mother of a child born in wedlock (the mother, if the parents divorced before the birth), and the mother of a child born out of wedlock. Where they cannot, the people living with the child and then the doctor, midwife or other person present at the birth must, in that order, and another legal representative may. If the birth happened in a hospital, penal institution or other public facility and neither parent can notify, its head or manager must.(Art. 52(1), Art. 52(2), Art. 52(3), Art. 52(4), Art. 56(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- People who must notify other events: for a marriage, divorce or adoption by notification, the people entering into it — or, for an adoption consented to under Article 797 of the Civil Code (民法), a separate Act, the person who consents. Where a court decision on acknowledging a child, on an adoption, its annulment or its ending, or on a divorce or the annulment of a marriage becomes final, the person who brought the case must notify within 10 days. A death must be notified within seven days of learning of it (three months if it happened abroad) by, in this order — though any of them may do it — relatives who lived with the deceased, others who lived with them, then the landlord or manager of the house or land; relatives who did not live with them, some guardians and others may also notify it.(Art. 66(1), Art. 68(1), Art. 74(1), Art. 76(1), Art. 63(1), Art. 68-2(1), Art. 69(1), Art. 73(1), Art. 75(1), Art. 77(1), Art. 86(1), Art. 87(1), Art. 87(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
4 more
- People who gain or lose Japanese nationality, their families, and Japanese nationals who also hold another: a person naturalized must notify within one month of the public notice, and one who acquires nationality by notifying the Minister of Justice under the Nationality Act (国籍法) within one month of acquiring it (three months if abroad that day). A loss of Japanese nationality must be notified by the person, their spouse or a relative within the fourth degree within one month of learning of it (three months if the one who owes it is abroad that day), and a person who loses it is removed from their register. A Japanese national who loses a foreign nationality they held must notify it within one month of learning of it (three months if abroad that day), with a document proving the loss, and one who chooses Japanese nationality by a declaration of choice (選択の宣言) under the Nationality Act makes it by a notification naming the foreign nationality they hold.(Art. 102-2(1), Art. 102(1), Nationality Act Art. 3(1), Nationality Act Art. 17(1), Nationality Act Art. 17(2), Art. 103(1), Art. 23(1), Art. 106(1), Art. 106(2), Art. 104-2(1), Art. 104-2(2), Nationality Act Art. 14(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Japanese nationals abroad: they may notify the Japanese ambassador, minister or consul in that country, and one who has had a document made under that country's forms for a matter the Act requires to be notified must submit a copy to them within three months, or send it to the mayor of their registered domicile where there is none. A Japanese child born abroad who acquired a foreign nationality by birth loses Japanese nationality from birth, as the Nationality Act (国籍法) provides, unless someone who may notify the birth — other than the people living with the child or the doctor, midwife or other person present at it — notifies the wish to keep it (国籍の留保) together with the birth notification within three months of the birth. Where a natural disaster or another cause they are not to blame for prevents them notifying in time, the period is 14 days from when they become able to.(Art. 40(1), Art. 41(1), Art. 41(2), Art. 104(1), Art. 104(2), Art. 104(3), Nationality Act Art. 12(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Notifications concerning foreign nationals: a notification about a foreign national must be made at the place where the person notifying is (所在地) — others may also be made at the registered domicile of the person concerned — and a false notification about a matter concerning a foreign national is punishable under Article 134.(Art. 25(1), Art. 25(2), Art. 134(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- People who do or did register work: municipal staff and the mayor's contractors who give out or misuse what they learned in it for improper gain are punished, even after they have left the work, and people who build, maintain or run the register computer system must not leak or misuse its secrets, now or after leaving.(Art. 133(1), Art. 121-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Special rules and exceptions (4)
- A person who cannot come to the office because of illness or another mishap may make an oral notification through a representative, but not the notifications by which a child (including an unborn child) is acknowledged, an adoption is made or ended, or a marriage or divorce is made (Articles 60, 61, 66, 68, 70 to 72, 74 and 76).(Art. 37(1), Art. 37(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A notification sent by post or letter delivery service while the sender was alive must be accepted even if they have since died, and counts as made at the time of death.(Art. 47(1), Art. 47(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- For people already in a register when kana readings (振り仮名) were added to it by Act No. 48 of 2023, whose reading the mayor entered, the head of the register — with their spouse, if any, or, if the head has been removed, the spouse and then a child — may change the surname's reading once, and each person their given name's once, by notification, without the reason or the family court's permission that Articles 107-3 and 107-4 otherwise require.(Suppl. Prov. Art. 9(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 9(2), Suppl. Prov. Art. 10(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 10(5), Suppl. Prov. Art. 10(6), Suppl. Prov. Art. 10(7), Suppl. Prov. Art. 6(3), Suppl. Prov. Art. 12(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 12(5), Art. 107-3(1), Art. 107-4(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Chapters 2 and 3 of the Administrative Procedure Act (行政手続法), a separate Act, do not apply to a mayor's decisions in register matters, the Act on Access to Information Held by Administrative Organs (行政機関の保有する情報の公開に関する法律), a separate Act, does not apply to register duplicates, notification documents or the image records of notifications (届書等情報). Nor does Chapter 5, Section 4 of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information (個人情報の保護に関する法律), a separate Act, apply to the personal information recorded in registers and in those documents and records.(Art. 127(1), Art. 128(1), Art. 129(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
How it is enforced (8)
- Each municipality's mayor (市町村長) administers its registers unless the Act provides otherwise, and may not act in a matter concerning themselves or their spouse, lineal ascendants or descendants; the Minister of Justice may set standards the mayor is to follow, and the director of the Legal Affairs Bureau for the area (管轄法務局長等) may ask the mayor for reports, advise, recommend and, where especially needed, instruct. Each register has an original kept at the municipal office and a duplicate kept by the Legal Affairs Bureau — by the Minister of Justice for a register kept electronically. The director may also question the notifying person, the people concerned and others, and ask for documents, when a mayor asks how to handle a register matter or when the director needs to in order to advise, recommend or instruct.(Art. 1(1), Art. 2(1), Art. 3(1), Art. 3(2), Art. 3(3), Art. 8(1), Art. 8(2), Art. 119-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The mayor may question the notifying person, the people concerned and others, and ask for documents, where a notification leaves out what it must state or the entry otherwise needs it. A mayor who learns that a notification is overdue must give the person who owed it a reasonable period to make it, and may give another; where that cannot be done or brings no notification, the mayor may make the entry with the director's permission. A notification made after its deadline must still be accepted.(Art. 27-3(1), Art. 44(1), Art. 44(2), Art. 44(3), Art. 46(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Missing the deadline for a notification or an application (such as a register correction) without good reason brings a civil fine (過料) of up to 50,000 yen, and not making it within a period the mayor set in a demand, up to 100,000 yen. Viewing notification documents, or obtaining a certificate of them, by deception or other wrongful means brings a civil fine of up to 100,000 yen. The summary court () decides civil fines.(Art. 137(1), Art. 138(1), Art. 136(1), Art. 140(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A false notification about a matter that is not entered in a register, or about a matter concerning a foreign national, is a crime punishable by imprisonment (拘禁刑) of up to one year or a fine of up to 200,000 yen. Obtaining a copy or certificate of a register, or of one removed, by deception or other wrongful means is punishable by a fine of up to 300,000 yen.(Art. 134(1), Art. 135(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Municipal staff and the mayor's contractors, including subcontractors, in register work who give out or misuse what they learn in it for their own or another's improper gain face imprisonment (拘禁刑) of up to one year or a fine of up to 500,000 yen, and so do former staff and contractors. People who work or worked on building, maintaining or running the register computer system and leak or misuse its secrets face up to two years or 1 million yen. A mayor who refuses a notification or a copy without good reason, or fails to make an entry, faces a civil fine (過料) of up to 100,000 yen.(Art. 133(1), Art. 121-2(1), Art. 132(1), Art. 139(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Where an entry is not allowed by law, or is mistaken or incomplete, the mayor tells the notifying person or the person concerned without delay — or, where the correction is plain from the records, corrects it instead with the director's permission, which a minor correction not touching family status does not need. An interested person may apply to have an entry corrected with the family court's permission, and must apply within one month of that permission; where a final court judgment requires a correction, the person who brought the case must apply within one month of it becoming final.(Art. 24(1), Art. 24(2), Art. 24(3), Art. 113(1), Art. 115(1), Art. 116(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A person who thinks a mayor's decision in a register matter wrong may appeal to the family court (家庭裁判所), and no administrative review request (審査請求) is available. A decision, or a failure to act, on a request for copies or certificates of a register or to view notification documents is the exception: it goes by review request to the director of the Legal Affairs Bureau for the area, not to the family court.(Art. 122(1), Art. 123(1), Art. 124(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A mayor who, in register work, thinks that a person who must choose a nationality under Article 14(1) of the Nationality Act (国籍法) has not chosen within its deadline must report that person's name, registered domicile and other details a Ministry of Justice Order sets to the director of the Legal Affairs Bureau for the area.(Art. 104-3(1), Nationality Act Art. 14(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
How it connects to other laws
It also names 21 laws not yet held here.
Where the translation comes from
- 345
- 219
- 86not translated
The Ministry of Justice's translation is shown only where the Japanese it translates matches the law in force today. Everywhere else the English is a machine translation, marked on the paragraph itself.
Only the Japanese is the law, and no lawyer has reviewed the machine translation.
Sources
Everything this page rests on
- e-Gov (Digital Agency)戸籍法 — the text in force from 2026-09-03Original
- e-Gov (Digital Agency)戸籍法 — revision historyOriginal
- Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of JusticeFamily Register Act — Ministry of Justice translationOriginal
- Machine translation, not official
- Written for this site with AIEnglish titles of amending laws, written for this site
- Written for this site with AIDescriptions of each law, written for this site
- Written for this site with AICorrections to the Ministry of Justice's English of paragraphs
- Worked out by this site from e-Gov's text