Medical Practitioners' Act

医師法（いしほう）

Who may practise medicine in Japan and on what terms: the national examination and licence for doctors (医師), clinical training of at least two years, the duties doctors owe their patients, and the discipline and penalties behind them.

Text in force since
Promulgated
Articles: 52
Amendments on the way: 0

Read the text Open on e-Gov

What this law does

No one but a doctor (医師) may practise medicine (医業). No one but a doctor may call themselves a doctor or use a title that could be confused with it.(Art. 17(1), Art. 18(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

Read the full overview

To become a doctor, a person must pass the national examination for medical practitioners and receive a licence from the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, granted on application by entering them in the register of medical practitioners (). A minor is never licensed. A licence may be refused to someone who cannot do a doctor's work properly because of a mental or physical impairment as a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order defines it, someone addicted to narcotics, cannabis or opium, someone sentenced to a fine or heavier, or someone who committed a crime or wrongful act in medical matters; before refusing on the ground of impairment, the Minister must tell the applicant and, if they ask, have a designated official hear them.(Art. 2(1), Art. 6(1), Art. 3(1), Art. 4(1), Art. 6-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Only three kinds of person may sit the national examination: graduates of a regular medical course at a university who passed the common test (共用試験) universities use before students start clinical practice; people who passed the preliminary examination (医師国家試験予備試験) and then did at least a year of practical training in medical care and public health; and graduates of a foreign medical school or holders of a foreign doctor's licence whom the Minister recognises as having knowledge and skills at least equal to those of the first two groups, and as suitable. Others with a foreign medical degree or licence may sit the preliminary examination if the Minister recognises them as suitable.(Art. 11(1), Art. 12(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
A doctor who intends to treat patients must first do at least two years of clinical training (臨床研修) at a hospital the prefectural governor designates, or at a foreign hospital the Minister designates. On application, the Minister records the completed training in the register of medical practitioners and issues a certificate of it.(Art. 16-2(1), Art. 16-6(1), Art. 16-6(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
A doctor who treats patients may not refuse a request for examination or treatment without a legitimate reason, and a doctor who examined a patient, examined a body (検案) or attended a birth may not refuse, without one, to issue the medical certificate, post-mortem certificate, birth certificate or stillbirth certificate asked for. A doctor may not treat, or issue a medical certificate or prescription, without examining the patient personally; may not issue a birth or stillbirth certificate without attending the birth; and may not issue a post-mortem certificate without examining the body. Where a doctor judges that a patient needs medicine dispensed, the doctor must give the patient, or the person caring for them, a prescription (処方箋).(Art. 19(1), Art. 19(2), Art. 20(1), Art. 22(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
After treating a patient, a doctor must give the patient or their guardian guidance on how to look after their health, and must enter the treatment in a medical record (診療録) without delay; the record is kept for five years by the administrator of the hospital or clinic where the doctor works, or otherwise by the doctor. A doctor who finds something abnormal on examining a dead body, or a stillborn child of four months' pregnancy or more, must report it to the police station within 24 hours. Every second year a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets, a doctor must report their name, address (and, if practising, where they practise) and other details as of 31 December to the Minister by the following 15 January, through the governor of the prefecture where they live, unless they file it online under a separate Act.(Art. 23(1), Art. 24(1), Art. 24(2), Art. 21(1), Art. 6(3)) (the provisions it rests on)

Medical licenceNational medical examinationClinical trainingPractising medicine without a licenceDuty to treatPrescriptionsMedical recordsSuspension and revocation of a licence

52 214 55 34 24

Amendments

A Japanese law is changed by another law or order that rewrites it — an . No amendment to this law is waiting to come into force. 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.

18 amendments already in force

21 May 2026
The text on this site
Act Partially Amending the Basic Act on the Formation of a Digital Society, etc. to Promote Regulatory Reform for the Formation of a Digital Society
デジタル社会の形成を図るための規制改革を推進するためのデジタル社会形成基本法等の一部を改正する法律
The 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
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 April 2025
Act Partially Amending the Medical Care Act, etc. for Promoting the Securing of a System for Efficiently Providing High-Quality and Appropriate Medical Care
良質かつ適切な医療を効率的に提供する体制の確保を推進するための医療法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 April 2024
Act Partially Amending the Medical Care Act, etc. for Promoting the Securing of a System for Efficiently Providing High-Quality and Appropriate Medical Care
良質かつ適切な医療を効率的に提供する体制の確保を推進するための医療法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 April 2023
Act Partially Amending the Medical Care Act, etc. for Promoting the Securing of a System for Efficiently Providing High-Quality and Appropriate Medical Care
良質かつ適切な医療を効率的に提供する体制の確保を推進するための医療法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 January 2023
Act Partially Amending the Act on Securing Quality, Efficacy and Safety of Products Including Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices, etc.
医薬品、医療機器等の品質、有効性及び安全性の確保等に関する法律等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
20 August 2022
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
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
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
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
20 May 2022
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
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
20 May 2022
Act Partially Amending the Act on Securing Quality, Efficacy and Safety of Products Including Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices, etc.
医薬品、医療機器等の品質、有効性及び安全性の確保等に関する法律等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 October 2021
Act Partially Amending the Medical Care Act, etc. for Promoting the Securing of a System for Efficiently Providing High-Quality and Appropriate Medical Care
良質かつ適切な医療を効率的に提供する体制の確保を推進するための医療法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
28 May 2021
Act Partially Amending the Medical Care Act, etc. for Promoting the Securing of a System for Efficiently Providing High-Quality and Appropriate Medical Care
良質かつ適切な医療を効率的に提供する体制の確保を推進するための医療法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 April 2020
Act Partially Amending the Medical Care Act and the Medical Practitioners' Act
医療法及び医師法の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
14 December 2019
Act on the Development of Related Acts to Rationalize Measures concerning the Restriction of Rights of Adult Wards, etc.
成年被後見人等の権利の制限に係る措置の適正化等を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
14 September 2019
Act on the Development of Related Acts to Rationalize Measures concerning the Restriction of Rights of Adult Wards, etc.
成年被後見人等の権利の制限に係る措置の適正化等を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
14 June 2019
Act on the Development of Related Acts to Rationalize Measures concerning the Restriction of Rights of Adult Wards, etc.
成年被後見人等の権利の制限に係る措置の適正化等を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
25 July 2018
Act Partially Amending the Medical Care Act and the Medical Practitioners' Act
医療法及び医師法の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
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
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

Who it applies to

It applies to

Doctors (医師): the duties to patients, records and reports, the clinical training, and the Minister's discipline.(Art. 2(1), Chapter 5, Art. 16-2(1), Art. 7(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
People who want to become doctors, including those who studied medicine or were licensed abroad: the examinations and the licence.(Art. 2(1), Art. 11(1), Art. 12(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

4 more

Everyone who is not a doctor, who may neither practise medicine nor use the title of doctor or one that could be confused with it, except that a medical student who has passed the common test may practise in a university's clinical practice.(Art. 17(1), Art. 18(1), Art. 17-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Hospitals that give clinical training: the prefectural governor, or for a foreign hospital the Minister, designates them on their founder's application, may not designate one that does not meet the standards, and can revoke the designation of one found no longer suitable; before designating or revoking, the governor must hear the regional medical council (地域医療対策協議会) that the Medical Care Act (医療法), a separate Act, provides for. Where needed to make sure the training is carried out properly, the governor may ask the administrator or founder of a hospital the governor designated for reports and give instructions, and the Minister may ask a hospital the Minister designated for reports or request the measures needed.(Art. 16-2(1), Art. 16-2(2), Art. 16-2(3), Art. 16-2(4), Art. 16-2(6), Art. 16-4(1), Art. 16-4(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
Administrators of hospitals and clinics, who keep the medical records of the doctors working there for five years.(Art. 24(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
Academic medical societies and other bodies a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order names: before setting or changing a training plan for doctors whose effect on the provision of medical care would be serious, in cases that Order sets, they must hear the Minister's opinion and try to reflect it.(Art. 16-10(1), Art. 16-10(5)) (the provisions it rests on)

Special rules and exceptions (6)

A university medical student who has passed the common test may, despite the rule that only doctors practise medicine, practise it in the university's clinical practice under a doctor's supervision, to acquire the knowledge and skills a doctor needs, except for acts a Cabinet Order excludes. They must not reveal, without a legitimate reason, a secret learned in that work, even after they stop.(Art. 17-2(1), Art. 17-3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
The ban on certifying without examining does not apply to a death certificate for a patient under the doctor's care who dies within 24 hours of their last consultation.(Art. 20(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
No prescription is needed where the patient or carer says they do not need one, or where giving one could defeat a hoped-for suggestive effect or make the patient anxious and treatment harder, where medicine follows rapid changes in symptoms, where diagnosis or treatment is not yet decided, in emergency treatment, where there is no one but a patient who must rest to receive the medicine, where stimulants (覚醒剤) are given, or on a ship with no pharmacist aboard.(Art. 22(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Doctors who already held a licence on 1 April 2004, or who had applied before that day and were licensed after it, are treated as registered as having completed clinical training.(Suppl. Prov. Art. 8(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 1(1)(i)) (the provisions it rests on)
People who, on 1 April 2025, met the earlier wording of Article 11's first route — the one for university graduates — may still sit the national examination, whatever the current wording of that route requires. So may people whom the Act for Establishment of the Ministry of Defense (防衛省設置法), a separate Act, as it then read, treated as meeting that route.(Suppl. Prov. Art. 11(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 1(1)(vii)) (the provisions it rests on)
A doctor who provides a prescription under Article 12-2(1) of the Act on Promotion of Comprehensive Securing of Medical and Long-Term Care in Communities (地域における医療及び介護の総合的な確保の促進に関する法律), a separate Act, is treated as having given it to the patient or the person caring for them.(Art. 22(2)) (the provisions it rests on)

How it is enforced (11)

Where a doctor comes to fall under one of the grounds on which a licence may be refused, or has acted in a way that damages their standing as a doctor, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may reprimand them (戒告), suspend them from practice for up to three years, or revoke their licence. The Minister must first hear the Medical Ethics Council ().(Art. 7(1), Art. 7(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
Before revoking a licence, the Minister may have the prefectural governor hold a hearing of opinions (意見の聴取) with the doctor in place of the Minister's own hearing, and must weigh the record, report and opinion the governor sends. Before suspending a doctor, the Minister may have the governor or a member of the Medical Ethics Council hold an explanation hearing (弁明の聴取), of which the doctor is told in writing, in good time, the proposed disposition, the facts behind it, and when and where it will be held. The doctor may send an agent and submit documents or other evidence.(Art. 7(4), Art. 7(7), Art. 7(9), Art. 7(10), Art. 7(11), Art. 7(12), Art. 7(13)) (the provisions it rests on)
The Minister may order a doctor who was reprimanded or suspended, or a person seeking a new licence after revocation, to undergo re-education training (再教育研修) in medical ethics or a doctor's knowledge and skills, as a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets it; before ordering it, the Minister may have the prefectural governor hold an explanation hearing (弁明の聴取), as for a suspension. Failing to undergo it when ordered is punishable by a fine of up to 500,000 yen.(Art. 7-2(1), Art. 7-2(5), Art. 7(10), Art. 33-3(1)(ii)) (the provisions it rests on)
A person whose licence was revoked may be granted a new licence once the reason for revocation no longer applies or later circumstances make it appropriate. Where the licence was revoked for a sentence of a fine or heavier, a crime or wrongful act in medical matters, or conduct damaging their standing as a doctor, this cannot happen until five years from the revocation have passed.(Art. 7(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
To decide whether to discipline a doctor, the Minister may collect opinions or reports from those involved in the case or witnesses, order the owner of medical records or other items to produce them, and have officials enter a hospital or other place connected with the case and inspect them; the officials carry identification and must show it when asked, and the power is not for criminal investigation. Failing to state or report, stating or reporting falsely, failing to produce items, or refusing, obstructing or evading the inspection is punishable by a fine of up to 500,000 yen, and where it is done in a business, the corporation or employer is fined as well.(Art. 7-3(1), Art. 7-3(2), Art. 7-3(3), Art. 33-3(1)(iii), Art. 33-4(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Practising medicine without being a doctor, or obtaining a licence on false or wrongful facts, is punishable by imprisonment () of up to three years, a fine of up to 1 million yen, or both; the fine rises to 2 million yen where someone practising without a licence used the title of doctor or one like it. Practising during a suspension is punishable by imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to 500,000 yen, or both.(Art. 31(1), Art. 31(2), Art. 32(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
A fine of up to 500,000 yen applies to breaking the rules on the two-yearly report, the title of doctor, the ban on treating or issuing certificates or prescriptions without examining or attending personally, reporting an abnormal death to the police, issuing prescriptions, and medical records.(Art. 33-3(1)(i)) (the provisions it rests on)
A medical student allowed to practise in clinical practice who, without a legitimate reason, reveals a secret learned in that work, during it or after, is punishable by imprisonment (拘禁刑) of up to six months or a fine of up to 100,000 yen, but can be prosecuted only on a complaint (告訴).(Art. 33-2(1), Art. 33-2(2), Art. 17-3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Where there has been a wrongful act in connection with the national examination or the preliminary examination, those involved may be stopped from sitting it or have their result made void, and may also be barred from sitting it for a set period.(Art. 15(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Where there is a risk of serious harm to public health, the Minister may, if especially necessary to prevent it, give doctors the instructions needed on medical care or health guidance, after first hearing the Medical Ethics Council.(Art. 24-2(1), Art. 24-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
The Minister publishes doctors' names and other details a Cabinet Order sets, so that patients and others can check a doctor's qualification and choose medical care suitably.(Art. 30-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

How it connects to other laws

Cites this lawLawThis law cites it

It also names 22 laws not yet held here.

Where the translation comes from

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)医師法 — the text in force from 2026-05-21Original
e-Gov (Digital Agency)医師法 — revision historyOriginal
Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of JusticeMedical Practitioners' 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
Worked out by this site from e-Gov's text

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