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
Gives any person the right to ask the administrative organs (行政機関) this Act lists, from the Cabinet's bodies to the Board of Audit, to disclose the documents they hold, and sets what may be withheld and how a refusal is challenged.
- Text in force since
- Promulgated
- Articles
- 27
- Amendments on the way
- 1
What this law does
- Any person (何人も) may ask the head of an administrative organ (行政機関の長) — for the facilities and special organs a Cabinet Order (政令) names, the person that Cabinet Order sets for each — to disclose administrative documents the organ holds, by handing in a written request giving the requester's name and address (for a corporation or other organization, also its representative's name) and the name of the documents, or other details enough to identify them. If the request has a defect of form, the head may set a reasonable period for the requester to correct it, and is to try to give information that helps with the correction.(Art. 3(1), Art. 4(1), Art. 4(1)(i), Art. 4(1)(ii), Art. 4(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
Read the full overview
- Administrative documents (行政文書) are documents, drawings and electronic records that an organ's staff made or obtained in their work, that are for the staff's use as an organization, and that the organ holds. Not included are things published for sale to the public, such as the official gazette (官報), white papers, newspapers, magazines and books; specified historical public records (特定歴史公文書等) under the Public Records and Archives Management Act, a separate Act; and materials kept under special management as historical, cultural or research materials at research institutes or other facilities a Cabinet Order (政令) names.(Art. 2(2), Art. 2(2)(i), Art. 2(2)(ii), Art. 2(2)(iii)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The head must disclose the documents unless they record non-disclosure information (不開示情報). This covers information about an individual (other than a sole trader's information about the business) that identifies them, alone or combined with other information, or that could still harm their rights if made public — except what is public, or is to be made public, by law or custom, what must be made public to protect a person's life, health, livelihood or property, and a public servant's post and the content of the duties they were performing — and anonymized personal information held by administrative organs (行政機関等匿名加工情報) under the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, a separate Act, with the identifying details removed in making it. It also covers information about a corporation or other organization (other than the State, incorporated administrative agencies, local governments and local incorporated administrative agencies), or about a sole trader's business, that could harm its rights, competitive position or other legitimate interests if made public, or that it gave voluntarily at the organ's request on a condition of not being made public that is reasonable given the information and the circumstances — unless it must be made public to protect a person's life, health, livelihood or property.(Art. 5(1), Art. 5(1)(i), Art. 5(1)(i)(a), Art. 5(1)(i)(b), Art. 5(1)(i)(c), Art. 5(1)(i-2), Art. 5(1)(ii), Art. 5(1)(ii)(a), Art. 5(1)(ii)(b)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Also withheld is information the head has reasonable grounds to find could, if made public, harm national security, damage trust with other countries or international organizations or bring a disadvantage in negotiating with them, or hinder the prevention, suppression or investigation of crime, the maintenance of prosecutions, the execution of sentences or other upkeep of public safety and order. So are deliberations within or between public bodies (the State's organs, incorporated administrative agencies, local governments and local incorporated administrative agencies) whose release could unduly hamper frank discussion or neutral decisions, unduly confuse the public, or unduly favour or harm someone. And so is information on those bodies' work whose release could hinder its proper conduct — for instance by making facts hard to establish, or wrongdoing easier to commit or harder to find, in audits, inspections, enforcement, examinations or tax assessment and collection; by unduly harming their property interests or position as a party in contracts, negotiations or litigation; by unduly impeding research; by hindering fair and smooth personnel management; or by harming the legitimate business interests of the enterprises of incorporated administrative agencies, local governments or local incorporated administrative agencies.(Art. 5(1), Art. 5(1)(iii), Art. 5(1)(iv), Art. 5(1)(v), Art. 5(1)(vi), Art. 5(1)(vi)(a), Art. 5(1)(vi)(b), Art. 5(1)(vi)(c), Art. 5(1)(vi)(d), Art. 5(1)(vi)(e)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Where only part of a document records non-disclosure information and that part can easily be separated out, the head must disclose the rest, unless the rest records no meaningful information. Where removing the name, date of birth and other details that identify an individual leaves nothing whose release would harm that person's rights, the rest is treated as not being information about an individual, and is disclosed on the same rule.(Art. 6(1), Art. 6(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The requester pays a request fee (手数料), and a person receiving disclosure a fee for it, each in an amount a Cabinet Order (政令) sets within the actual cost, which is to be kept as easy to afford as possible. The head may reduce or waive the fee for economic hardship or another special reason, as a Cabinet Order provides.(Art. 16(1), Art. 16(2), Art. 16(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
Right to request disclosureAdministrative documentsNon-disclosure informationPartial disclosureTime limit for decisionsThird parties' opinionsFeesRequest for review
Contents
Amendments
A Japanese law is changed by another law or order that rewrites it — an . This law has 1 amendment 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, etc. of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act for Establishment of the Disaster Management Agency
防災庁設置法の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
On the day Act No. 61 of 2026 (防災庁設置法) . The exact day is not fixed yet.
5 amendments already in force
17 July 2026
The text on this site
Act on the Arrangement, etc. of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act for Establishment of the Disaster Management Agency
防災庁設置法の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
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
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
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
27 May 2016
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
Who it applies to
It applies to
- Until the change takes effect, 31 December 2026 at the latest: Requests are decided by the heads of the administrative organs (行政機関) Article 2(1) lists: bodies set up in the Cabinet under an Act (法律), other than the Cabinet Office, and bodies under the Cabinet's jurisdiction; the Cabinet Office, the Imperial Household Agency and the bodies provided for in Article 49(1) and (2) of the Cabinet Office Establishment Act (内閣府設置法), a separate Act; the bodies provided for in Article 3(2) of the National Government Organization Act (国家行政組織法), a separate Act; certain other bodies under those Acts and the Imperial Household Agency Act (宮内庁法), among them facilities and special organs (施設等機関, 特別の機関), that a Cabinet Order (政令) names, which count as organs of their own; and the Board of Audit (会計検査院). The list does not name the Diet () or the courts (裁判所).(Art. 2(1), Art. 2(1)(i), Art. 2(1)(ii), Art. 2(1)(iii), Art. 2(1)(iv), Art. 2(1)(v), Art. 2(1)(vi), Art. 3(1), Art. 9(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- From a day still to be set, 31 December 2026 at the latest: From the day the Disaster Management Agency Establishment Act (防災庁設置法, Act No. 61 of 2026), a separate Act, comes into force, the list in Article 2(1) also names the Disaster Management Agency (防災庁) and the facilities under Article 15 of that Act that a Cabinet Order (政令) names. The rest of the list stays — bodies set up in the Cabinet under an Act (法律), other than the Cabinet Office and the Disaster Management Agency, and bodies under the Cabinet's jurisdiction; the Cabinet Office, the Imperial Household Agency and the bodies provided for in Article 49(1) and (2) of the Cabinet Office Establishment Act; the bodies provided for in Article 3(2) of the National Government Organization Act; certain other bodies under those Acts and the Imperial Household Agency Act that a Cabinet Order names; and the Board of Audit (会計検査院) — and it still does not name the Diet (国会) or the courts (裁判所). An application or other step (申請その他の行為) pending on that day with a former organ of the State under the earlier wording is treated as made to the corresponding organ under the new wording.(Art. 2(1), Art. 2(1)(i), Art. 2(1)(ii), Art. 2(1)(iii), Art. 2(1)(iv), Art. 2(1)(v), Art. 2(1)(vi), Art. 2(1)(vii), Art. 2(1)(viii), Suppl. Prov. Art. 1(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
4 more
- Anyone who makes a request — an individual, or a corporation or other organization — follows the request procedure and pays the fees a Cabinet Order (政令) sets.(Art. 3(1), Art. 4(1)(i), Art. 16(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Third parties whose information is recorded in the requested documents — anyone other than the State, incorporated administrative agencies, local governments, local incorporated administrative agencies and the requester — may be given the chance to submit a written opinion, and in the cases Article 13(2) sets must be given it, unless they cannot be found.(Art. 13(1), Art. 13(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Incorporated administrative agencies (独立行政法人等), as the Act on Access to Information Held by Incorporated Administrative Agencies (Act No. 140 of 2001), a separate Act, defines them, are not on the list. Where one of them made the requested documents, or has another legitimate reason to decide, the head may transfer the case to it after consultation, telling the requester in writing, and the case is then handled under that Act as a request for the agency's corporate documents (法人文書).(Art. 2(1), Art. 5(1)(i)(c), Art. 12-2(1), Art. 12-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Local governments are not among the administrative organs Article 2(1) lists; Article 25 requires them to endeavour, in line with this Act's aims, to adopt and carry out their own measures for disclosing the information they hold.(Art. 25(1), Art. 2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Special rules and exceptions (2)
- Even where documents record non-disclosure information, the head may disclose them when it is particularly necessary in the public interest — except anonymized personal information held by administrative organs and the details removed in making it (Article 5, item (i)-2).(Art. 7(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Where another law or regulation (法令) already has the documents disclosed to anyone by the same method this Act uses — viewing, copies, or for electronic records the method a Cabinet Order (政令) sets — the head does not disclose them by that method under this Act, within any period that law sets, unless that law provides for not disclosing them in some cases. Public inspection (縦覧) under another law counts as viewing.(Art. 15(1), Art. 15(2), Art. 14(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
How it is enforced (10)
- The Act works through the decisions the head of the organ makes on each request and sends to the requester in writing. A decision to disclose all or part of the documents comes with the matters a Cabinet Order (政令) sets for arranging disclosure; otherwise the head decides not to disclose, which is also the decision when the request is refused under Article 8 or the organ does not hold the documents. The head may delegate this work to the organ's staff, as a Cabinet Order — or, for bodies under the Cabinet's jurisdiction and the Board of Audit, their own order — provides.(Art. 9(1), Art. 9(2), Art. 17(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Where merely answering whether the requested documents exist would reveal non-disclosure information, the head may refuse the request without saying whether they exist.(Art. 8(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The decision must be made within 30 days of the day the request was made, not counting the days taken to correct the request. The head may extend this by up to 30 days for difficulty in handling the work or another legitimate reason, and must then tell the requester in writing, without delay, the new period and the reason.(Art. 10(1), Art. 10(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Where the documents are so many that deciding on all of them within 60 days of the request would seriously hinder the organ's work, the head may decide on a reasonable part of them within that time and on the rest within a reasonable period. The head must then tell the requester in writing, within the 30 days, that this rule is being used and why, and by when the rest will be decided.(Art. 11(1), Art. 11(1)(i), Art. 11(1)(ii)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Where another administrative organ made the documents, or has another legitimate reason to decide, the head may transfer the case to it after consulting its head, and must tell the requester of the transfer in writing. The receiving head then makes the decision and, if it decides to disclose (開示決定), carries out the disclosure, with the transferring head's help.(Art. 12(1), Art. 12(2), Art. 12(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Where the documents record information about a third party — anyone other than the State, incorporated administrative agencies, local governments, local incorporated administrative agencies and the requester — the head may give them notice and a chance to submit a written opinion, and must do so before deciding to disclose where disclosure would rest on the need to protect life, health, livelihood or property, or on the public-interest power in Article 7, unless the third party cannot be found. If the third party objects in writing and the head still decides to disclose, at least two weeks must pass between the decision and the disclosure, and the head must at once tell the third party in writing of the decision, its reasons and the disclosure date. The same applies when a third party's request for review against disclosure is dismissed or rejected, or when a ruling changes a decision to order disclosure over a third party's objection as an intervenor (参加人).(Art. 13(1), Art. 13(2), Art. 13(2)(i), Art. 13(2)(ii), Art. 13(3), Art. 20(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Documents and drawings are disclosed by letting the requester view them or by giving copies, and electronic records by methods a Cabinet Order (政令) sets; the head may show a copy instead of the original where viewing could harm its preservation or for another legitimate reason. The person receiving disclosure must tell the head the method they want, and other matters a Cabinet Order sets, within 30 days of the notice of the decision, unless a legitimate reason prevents it, and may ask for further disclosure within 30 days of first receiving it.(Art. 14(1), Art. 14(2), Art. 14(3), Art. 14(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A request for review (審査請求) of a decision, or of a failure to decide, goes under the Administrative Complaint Review Act (行政不服審査法), a separate Act, without its review officer (審理員) procedure, and a Cabinet Order (政令) may make special rules to its Article 4 on which authority the request goes to. The head who must rule on it must first consult the Information Disclosure and Personal Information Protection Review Board () — for the Board of Audit, a review board a separate Act sets — unless the request is unlawful and dismissed, or is granted in full with all the documents disclosed and no third party having objected in writing. The head must tell the person requesting review, any intervenors, the original requester and any third party who objected that the Board has been consulted.(Art. 18(1), Art. 18(2), Art. 19(1), Art. 19(1)(i), Art. 19(1)(ii), Art. 19(2), Art. 20(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A suit to revoke a decision, or a ruling on a request for review, is brought under the Administrative Case Litigation Act (行政事件訴訟法), a separate Act. Where one is filed with a specified court with jurisdiction (特定管轄裁判所) under Article 12(4) of that Act while a suit over the same or similar documents is pending in another court, the court may transfer all or part of it to that court or to a court Article 12(1) to (3) of that Act names, on a motion or on its own, weighing where the parties and witnesses are, shared issues or evidence, and other circumstances.(Art. 21(1), Art. 21(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications (総務大臣) may ask the heads of organs to report on how the Act is being carried out, publishes a summary every fiscal year, and is to set up general information centres for requests. Each head is to give information that helps identify its documents and take other steps to make requests easy to make.(Art. 22(1), Art. 22(2), Art. 23(1), Art. 23(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
How it connects to other laws
Cites this lawLawThis law cites it
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Where the translation comes from
- 119
- 74
- 11not 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)行政機関の保有する情報の公開に関する法律 — the text in force from 2026-07-17Original
- e-Gov (Digital Agency)行政機関の保有する情報の公開に関する法律 — revision historyOriginal
- Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of JusticeAct on Access to Information Held by Administrative Organs — 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
- Worked out by this site from e-Gov's text