Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations

不当景品類及び不当表示防止法（ふとうけいひんるいおよびふとうひょうじぼうしほう）

It protects consumers by limiting the premiums (goods, money and other benefits offered with a deal) and banning the misleading advertisements and other representations that businesses use to draw customers unfairly and that are likely to hinder consumers' free and rational choice.

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

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What this law does

A representation (表示) is an advertisement or other representation a business makes, to draw customers, about the content or terms of the goods or services it supplies, or other matters relating to those deals. A premium (景品類) is goods, money or another economic benefit a business gives the other party along with a deal in its own goods or services (real estate included), to draw customers, whether directly or indirectly and whether by lottery or not. Both cover only what the Prime Minister () designates, by public notice (告示) after a public hearing and after hearing the Consumer Commission ().(Art. 2(3), Art. 2(4), Art. 3(1), Art. 3(2)) (the provisions it rests on)

Read the full overview

Where the Prime Minister finds it necessary to prevent customers being drawn unfairly and to secure consumers' free and rational choice, the Prime Minister may restrict premiums — such as their maximum or total value, their kind or how they are given — or ban them. These restrictions and bans are made by public notice (告示) after a public hearing and after hearing the Consumer Commission.(Art. 4(1), Art. 6(1), Art. 6(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
A business must not make a representation that shows general consumers the quality, standard or other content of goods or services it supplies as much better than they really are, or, contrary to fact, as much better than a rival's (another business supplying the same or similar goods or services), where it is found likely to draw customers unfairly and hinder consumers' free and rational choice.(Art. 5(1), Art. 5(1)(i)) (the provisions it rests on)
Nor may it make a representation that leads general consumers to mistake the price or other terms of a deal for its goods or services as much more favourable to the other party than they really are, or than a rival's, where it is found likely to draw customers unfairly and hinder consumers' free and rational choice.(Art. 5(1), Art. 5(1)(ii)) (the provisions it rests on)
Beyond these two, a business must not make any other representation about a deal in goods or services that general consumers are likely to misunderstand and that the Prime Minister has designated as likely to draw customers unfairly and hinder their free and rational choice. Which representations these are is set by that designation, made by public notice (告示) after a public hearing and after hearing the Consumer Commission.(Art. 5(1), Art. 5(1)(iii), Art. 6(1), Art. 6(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
Every business must set up the systems and take the other measures needed to manage properly the premiums it gives — their maximum and total value and the like — and its representations of the quality, standard and other content of its goods or services, so that it does not draw customers unfairly. The Prime Minister is to set and publish guidelines (指針) on these measures, and may give a business guidance and advice where it finds this necessary; where a business fails to take the measures without good reason, the Prime Minister may recommend that it do so, and publish that it has not followed the recommendation.(Art. 22(1), Art. 22(2), Art. 22(4), Art. 23(1), Art. 24(1), Art. 24(2)) (the provisions it rests on)

Article 1 states the law's own purpose

Misleading representationsLimits on premiumsOrder for measuresSurchargeCorrective measures planConsumer organizations' injunctionsFair competition agreements and rulesManaging premiums and representations

52 214 68 17 49

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.

11 amendments already in force

21 May 2026
The text on this site
Act Partially Amending the Code of Civil Procedure, etc.
民事訴訟法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
15 May 2026
Act Partially Amending the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations
不当景品類及び不当表示防止法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 October 2024
Act Partially Amending the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations
不当景品類及び不当表示防止法の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
17 May 2023
Act Partially Amending the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations
不当景品類及び不当表示防止法の一部を改正する法律
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
25 May 2022
Act Partially Amending the Code of Civil Procedure, etc.
民事訴訟法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
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
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 April 2016
Act Partially Amending the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations
不当景品類及び不当表示防止法の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 April 2016
Act Partially Amending the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations, etc., and Other Matters
不当景品類及び不当表示防止法等の一部を改正する等の法律
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

Businesses (事業者): anyone who carries on commerce, industry, finance or any other business. The ban on misleading representations, the premium limits and the duty to manage premiums and representations concern what a business gives or says in its deals in the goods or services it supplies itself.(Art. 2(1), Art. 2(3), Art. 2(4), Art. 5(1), Art. 22(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Officers, employees, agents and others acting for a business's benefit count as that business for the definition of a trade association and for agreements or rules under Article 36. Separately, a representative, agent, employee or other worker who, in the business of a company, an individual or an unincorporated body, breaks an order for measures, makes a representation Article 48 punishes, or fails to report or obstructs an inspection, is punished personally, and the employer is fined as well.(Art. 2(1), Art. 49(1), Art. 49(2)) (the provisions it rests on)

3 more

Trade associations (事業者団体): associations of two or more businesses, or federations of them, whose main purpose is to further their common interest as businesses — including incorporated associations, foundations and partnerships of businesses, but not ones that have capital or members' contributions, have running a business for profit as their main purpose and actually run it. With the approval of the Prime Minister and the Fair Trade Commission they may set agreements or rules under Article 36, and their officers, managers and member businesses are fined if they knew of a planned or actual breach of an order for measures and did nothing to prevent or correct it.(Art. 2(2), Art. 2(2)(i), Art. 2(2)(ii), Art. 2(2)(iii), Art. 36(1), Art. 51(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Qualified consumer organizations (適格消費者団体) under the Consumer Contract Act (消費者契約法): besides their rights against businesses, they must not use or pass on information given to them by consumer affairs cooperation groups and members (消費生活協力団体, 消費生活協力員) under the Consumer Safety Act (消費者安全法) for any purpose but exercising those rights properly, on pain of a non-penal fine (過料) of up to 300,000 yen.(Consumer Contract Act Art. 2(4), Art. 34(2), Art. 34(3), Art. 52(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Companies that take over a business, for a surcharge: the conduct of a company that merged away is treated as the surviving or new company's. Where a company, on or after the day the investigation of the case began, transferred or split off the whole business to a subsidiary, parent or sister company (control being a majority of voting rights) and then ceased to exist other than by merger, the conduct is treated as that company's, and two or more such companies are jointly liable.(Art. 12(3), Art. 12(4), Art. 12(5)) (the provisions it rests on)

Special rules and exceptions (4)

No surcharge can be ordered if it would come to less than 1.5 million yen, or if the business is found not to have known, throughout the time it made the representation, that it showed the goods or services as much better, or the terms as much more favourable, than the reality or than a rival's, and not to have failed to take due care (相当の注意) in not knowing.(Art. 8(1), Art. 8(1)(i), Art. 8(1)(ii)) (the provisions it rests on)
Once the Prime Minister approves a business's corrective measures plan or impact corrective measures plan, no order for measures and no surcharge order can be made for the conduct it covers, unless the approval is revoked — which must happen if the plan is not carried out or the approval was obtained on false or wrongful facts. If the revocation comes within the last two years of the five-year limit for a surcharge, a surcharge order may still be made for two years after it.(Art. 28(1), Art. 29(1), Art. 29(3), Art. 32(1), Art. 33(1), Art. 33(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
Businesses and trade associations may, with the approval of the Prime Minister and the Fair Trade Commission (), conclude or set agreements or rules (協定又は規約) on premiums or representations, to prevent customers being drawn unfairly and to secure consumers' free and rational choice and fair competition between businesses. Approval requires that they are fit for that purpose, do not unfairly harm consumers or related businesses, are not unfairly discriminatory and do not unfairly restrict joining or leaving, and the approval must be revoked once they cease to meet these conditions. The provisions of the Act on Prohibition of Private Monopolization and Maintenance of Fair Trade (私的独占の禁止及び公正取引の確保に関する法律) that Article 36(5) lists do not apply to an approved agreement or rules, or to what businesses and trade associations do under them.(Art. 36(1), Art. 36(2), Art. 36(3), Art. 36(5)) (the provisions it rests on)
Chapter 3 of the Administrative Procedure Act (行政手続法), on adverse dispositions, does not apply to surcharge orders and the other dispositions of the Act's surcharge section — apart from its Articles 12 and 14 for revoking a refund-plan approval; before a surcharge order, the Act's own procedure for explanation (弁明) applies instead.(Art. 21(1), Art. 13(1), Administrative Procedure Act Chapter 3) (the provisions it rests on)

How it is enforced (12)

The Act gives its powers to the Prime Minister (), who delegates them, apart from those a Cabinet Order (政令) keeps back, to the Commissioner of the Consumer Affairs Agency (消費者庁長官); under a Cabinet Order, the Commissioner may pass part of them on to the Fair Trade Commission (). Where circumstances a Cabinet Order sets, such as a need to deal with unjustifiable premiums and representations urgently, exist and it is needed to make an order for measures, a surcharge order or a recommendation effectively, the Commissioner may, as a Cabinet Order provides, pass the power to demand reports and items, inspect and question to the minister in charge of the business's industry or the Commissioner of the Financial Services Agency (金融庁長官), who may pass it on in turn to the heads of local branch offices, the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (証券取引等監視委員会) or the Directors-General of Local Finance Bureaus and Local Finance Branch Bureaus (財務局長, 財務支局長). A Cabinet Order may also have prefectural governors (都道府県知事) carry out part of the Commissioner's work.(Art. 38(1), Art. 38(2), Art. 38(3), Art. 38(5), Art. 38(6), Art. 38(7), Art. 38(8), Art. 38(11)) (the provisions it rests on)
Where needed to carry out the Act, the Prime Minister may require a business, or a business connected with it, to report on its operations or assets or to hand over books and other items, and may send officials into its offices and other places of business to inspect them and question those concerned. The officials must carry identification and show it to those concerned, and these powers are not to be read as given for criminal investigation.(Art. 25(1), Art. 25(2), Art. 25(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
Where a business breaches a restriction or ban on premiums under Article 4 or the ban on misleading representations in Article 5, the Prime Minister may order it to stop, to do what is needed to keep it from happening again, and to publish a notice about it or take other necessary steps — an order for measures (措置命令), made by serving a certified copy of the written order. Even after the conduct has stopped, the order may be made against the business that did it; against the company that survived or was formed by a merger, where that business was a company that merged away; against a company that took over all or part of the business in a company split; and against a business that acquired all or part of it.(Art. 7(1), Art. 7(1)(i), Art. 7(1)(ii), Art. 7(1)(iii), Art. 7(1)(iv), Art. 7(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
To judge whether a representation shows goods or services as much better than they really are (Article 5, item 1), the Prime Minister may set a period and ask the business for materials showing a reasonable basis for it. If the business does not submit them, the representation is deemed to be of that kind for an order for measures, and presumed to be for a surcharge order.(Art. 7(2), Art. 8(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
For a representation banned by Article 5, item 1 or 2 — not one designated under item 3 — the Prime Minister must, unless an exception in Article 8(1) applies, order the business to pay the national treasury a surcharge (課徴金) of 3% of its sales of the goods or services concerned, reckoned as a Cabinet Order (政令) sets. The sales counted are those in the period the representation ran, extended to the last sale in the six months after it stopped (or up to the earlier day the business took the steps a Cabinet Office Order (内閣府令) sets to remove the risk it created), and limited to the last three years of that period. If the business does not report the facts the surcharge is calculated on when required to, the Prime Minister may estimate its sales for that time from materials from it, from other businesses supplying or buying those goods or services, or from other materials, by a reasonable method a Cabinet Office Order sets (only for conduct on or after the day, set by Cabinet Order, on which Act No. 29 of 2023 came into force); and no surcharge can be ordered once five years have passed since the conduct stopped.(Art. 8(1), Art. 8(2), Art. 8(4), Art. 12(7), Suppl. Prov. Art. 1(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
The rate is 4.5% instead of 3% if, within the ten years before the case's first step — a demand for reports or items, an inspection or questioning, a request for substantiating materials, or the notice of a planned surcharge order, whichever came first — the business received a surcharge order that has become final, and it engaged in the conduct now at issue on or after that order's date. This higher rate counts only conduct on or after the day, set by Cabinet Order, on which Act No. 29 of 2023 came into force.(Art. 8(5), Art. 8(6), Suppl. Prov. Art. 1(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
If a business reports the facts of its conduct to the Prime Minister as a Cabinet Office Order (内閣府令) sets, its surcharge is cut by half — unless it reported because an investigation had led it to expect a surcharge order.(Art. 9(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
A business told of a planned surcharge order may, by the deadline for its written explanation, apply for approval of a plan to give consumers who bought the goods or services in the surcharge period, are identified as a Cabinet Order (政令) sets, and ask for it, at least 3% of what they paid — in money, or in payment instruments usable like money for those who agree to take them — and may list in it refunds it has already made. The plan is approved only if the refunds are expected to be made smoothly and surely, do not unfairly discriminate among those they cover and end within a period a Cabinet Office Order (内閣府令) sets, and the approval must be revoked if the refunds are not made as the plan says. While the approval stands, no surcharge order can be made until the business's report on the refunds is due; what it paid out as the plan said, listed earlier refunds included, is then deducted from the surcharge, and if less than 10,000 yen is left, no order is made.(Art. 10(1), Art. 10(3), Art. 10(5), Art. 10(8), Art. 10(10), Art. 11(1), Art. 11(2), Art. 11(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
Before ordering a surcharge, the Prime Minister must tell the business in writing the amount, how it was calculated and the conduct it is for, and give it the chance to explain (弁明) — in writing unless an oral explanation is allowed, with evidence if it wishes, and through an agent if it chooses. Where the business cannot be found, that notice can be posted publicly and counts as received two weeks later; other documents that cannot be served can be served by public notice (公示送達), effective after two weeks, or six weeks for service abroad. The surcharge is due seven months after the copy of the written order is sent; if it is not paid on time, a written demand is sent and a late charge (延滞金) of 14.5% a year from the day after the due date may be collected (not if under 1,000 yen), and if it is still unpaid by the demand's deadline, the order is enforced under the Civil Execution Act (民事執行法), the order to enforce it having the force of an enforceable title (債務名義).(Art. 13(1), Art. 14(1), Art. 14(2), Art. 15(1), Art. 15(2), Art. 16(1), Art. 16(2), Art. 17(3), Art. 18(1), Art. 18(2), Art. 19(1), Art. 19(2), Art. 44(1), Art. 44(3), Art. 44(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
Where there are facts enough to suspect a breach of a premium restriction or ban or of Article 5, the Prime Minister may, if it is needed to secure consumers' free and rational choice and before giving notice of a planned order for measures or surcharge order, notify the business in writing; the business may then, within 60 days, submit its own plan to correct the conduct and its effects — a corrective measures plan (是正措置計画) — and apply for approval. The plan is approved if the measures are enough to correct the conduct and its effects and are expected to be carried out, and rejected otherwise. Where the conduct has already stopped, the same route leads to an impact corrective measures plan (影響是正措置計画), correcting its effects.(Art. 26(1), Art. 27(1), Art. 27(3), Art. 27(6), Art. 30(1), Art. 31(1), Art. 31(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
A qualified consumer organization (適格消費者団体) — a body certified by the Prime Minister under the Consumer Contract Act (消費者契約法) — may demand that a business stop or prevent it, and take other steps such as making known what it did, where the business is making, or is likely to make, to large numbers of general consumers a representation mistaken as showing much better quality or much more favourable terms than the reality or than a rival's. Where it has good reason to suspect a representation of much better quality, it may, giving its reasons, ask the business to disclose the materials that support it, and the business is to try to comply unless trade secrets or another good reason stand in the way.(Consumer Contract Act Art. 2(4), Art. 34(1), Art. 34(1)(i), Art. 34(1)(ii), Art. 35(1), Art. 35(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
The penalties are in Chapter 6 (Articles 46 to 52): breaking an order for measures is punishable by imprisonment (拘禁刑) of up to two years or a fine of up to 3 million yen, or both; making a representation that misleads general consumers into believing goods or services are much better, or the terms much more favourable, than they really are or than a rival's, by a fine of up to 1 million yen; and failing to report or hand over items when required or doing so falsely, refusing, obstructing or evading an inspection, or not answering or answering falsely when questioned, by up to one year's imprisonment or a fine of up to 3 million yen. When a representative, agent, employee or other worker commits one of these in the business of a company, an individual or an unincorporated body, that person is punished and the company, individual or body is fined as well — up to 300 million yen for breaking an order for measures. A company representative, or an officer, manager or member business of a trade association, who knew of a planned or actual breach of an order for measures and did nothing to prevent or correct it faces a fine of up to 3 million yen; where the officer or member is itself a body, the fine falls on that body's directors or managers.(Chapter 6, Art. 46(1), Art. 46(2), Art. 47(1), Art. 48(1), Art. 49(1), Art. 49(2), Art. 50(1), Art. 51(1), Art. 51(2)) (the provisions it rests on)

How it connects to other laws

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It also names 17 laws not yet held here.

Where the translation comes from

259
105
28not 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)不当景品類及び不当表示防止法 — the text in force from 2026-05-21Original
e-Gov (Digital Agency)不当景品類及び不当表示防止法 — revision historyOriginal
Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of JusticeAct against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations — 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
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