Residential Basic Book Act

An organ of the State or a local government may, when it is necessary for the performance of duties specified by laws and regulations, request the mayor of the municipality to issue a copy of the certificate of residence pertaining to a person recorded in the basic resident register kept by that municipality, with the entries of the matters listed in Article 7, item (viii)-2 and item (xiii) omitted, or a certificate of items stated in resident register concerning the matters listed in items (i) through (viii), items (ix) through (xii), and item (xiv) of the same Article.

A request under the provision of the preceding paragraph must be made in a manner that makes clear the following matters, as specified by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

The name of the organ of the State or the local government making that request

The title and name of the person actually undertaking the request

The name and address of the person who is the subject of that request

The reason for the request (in the case where the request relates to a criminal investigation or it is otherwise difficult, due to special circumstances, to make clear the reason for the request because of the nature of the duties, the fact that it is necessary for the performance of duties specified by laws and regulations and the name of the laws and regulations that form the basis for it)

In addition to the matters listed in the preceding items, matters specified by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

When making a request under the provision of paragraph (1), the person actually undertaking the request must make clear to the mayor of the municipality, by the method of presenting a document showing that the person is an employee of the organ of the State or the local government, or by another method specified by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, that the person actually undertaking the request is the person himself or herself.

The mayor of the municipality may, unless there is a special request, when a request has been made for the issuance of a copy of the certificate of residence prescribed in paragraph (1), issue the copy of the certificate of residence prescribed in that paragraph with all or part of the entries concerning the matters listed in Article 7, items (iv), (v), items (ix) through (xii), and item (xiv) omitted.

An organ of the State or a local government that intends to make a request under the provision of paragraph (1) may request the sending of a copy of the certificate of residence or a certificate of items stated in resident register prescribed in that paragraph, by mail or another method specified by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

The mayor of the municipality may, in addition to what is provided for under the provisions of the preceding two Articles, when there has been a request from a person listed in the following items, with regard to the basic resident register kept by that municipality, to the effect that a copy of the certificate of residence showing only the basic certified matters (meaning the matters listed in Article 7, items (i) through (iii) and items (vi) through (viii); hereinafter the same applies in this paragraph and paragraph (7)) or a certificate of items stated in resident register concerning the basic certified matters is necessary, and finds that request to be reasonable, issue that copy of the certificate of residence or certificate of items stated in resident register to the person making that request.

A person who needs to confirm the matters entered in a certificate of residence in order to exercise his or her own right or perform his or her own obligation

A person who needs to submit it to an organ of the State or a local government

A person, other than those listed in the preceding two items, who has a justifiable reason to use the matters entered in a certificate of residence

The mayor of the municipality may, in addition to what is provided for under the provisions of the preceding two Articles and the preceding paragraph, when there has been a request from a specified mandated professional, with regard to the basic resident register kept by that municipality, to the effect that a copy of the certificate of residence or a certificate of items stated in resident register prescribed in the preceding paragraph is necessary, on the ground that the client of the case or affairs entrusted to the specified mandated professional falls under a person listed in the items of that paragraph, and finds that request to be reasonable, issue that copy of the certificate of residence or certificate of items stated in resident register to that specified mandated professional.

The "specified mandated professional" prescribed in the preceding paragraph means an attorney (including a legal professional corporation and a joint corporation of attorneys and registered foreign lawyers), a judicial scrivener (including a judicial scrivener corporation), a land and house investigator (including a land and house investigator corporation), a certified public tax accountant (including a certified public tax accountant corporation), a labor and social security attorney (including a labor and social security attorney corporation), a patent attorney (including a patent attorney corporation), a maritime procedure agent, or an administrative scrivener (including an administrative scrivener corporation).

A request under paragraph (1) or paragraph (2) must be made in a manner that makes clear the following matters, as specified by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

The name and address of the person making the request (meaning a person who makes a request under paragraph (1) or paragraph (2); hereinafter the same applies in this Article) (in the case where the person making the request is a juridical person, its name, the name of its representative or administrator, and the location of its principal office)

Where the person actually undertaking the request is the agent of the person making the request, or is otherwise a person different from the person making the request, the name and address of the person actually undertaking the request

The name and address of the person who is the subject of that request

The purpose of use of the copy of the certificate of residence or the certificate of items stated in resident register prescribed in paragraph (1)

In the case of a request under paragraph (2), the qualification and type of duties of the specified mandated professional prescribed in the preceding paragraph with respect to the case or affairs entrusted to that professional, and the name of the client (in the case where the duties with respect to that entrusted case or affairs are representation duties concerning procedures for the resolution of a civil or administrative dispute in a court procedure or an out-of-court procedure, or other duties specified by Cabinet Order, the qualification and type of duties with respect to that case or affairs)

In addition to the matters listed in the preceding items, matters specified by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

When making a request under paragraph (1) or paragraph (2), the person actually undertaking the request must make clear to the mayor of the municipality, by the method of presenting an Individual Number Card or by another method specified by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, that the person actually undertaking the request is the person himself or herself.

In the case referred to in the preceding paragraph, where the person actually undertaking the request is the agent of the person making the request, or is otherwise a person different from the person making the request, the person actually undertaking the request must present or submit to the mayor of the municipality, by the method specified by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, a document making clear that that person is undertaking the request at the request of the person making the request or under the provisions of laws and regulations.

Where a person making the request needs, in order to achieve the purpose of use set out in paragraph (4), item (iv), a copy of the certificate of residence showing all or part of the matters other than the basic certified matters (excluding the matters set out in Article 7, item (viii)-2 and item (xiii); the same applies in the rest of this paragraph), in addition to the basic certified matters, or a certificate of items stated in resident register stating all or part of the matters other than the basic certified matters, in addition to the basic certified matters, that person may, when making the request under paragraph (1) or paragraph (2), notify the mayor of the municipality to that effect.

Where the mayor of the municipality finds the request made under the preceding paragraph reasonable, the mayor may, in lieu of the copy of the certificate of residence or the certificate of items stated in resident register prescribed in paragraph (1), issue the copy of the certificate of residence or the certificate of items stated in resident register prescribed in the preceding paragraph.

A person intending to make the request under paragraph (1) or paragraph (2) may request that the copy of the certificate of residence or the certificate of items stated in resident register prescribed in paragraph (1) be sent by mail or another method specified by Ministerial Order.

A person recorded in the basic resident register may request the mayor of a municipality other than the mayor of the municipality that maintains the basic resident register in which that person is recorded (hereinafter in this Article referred to as the "mayor of the municipality of domicile") to issue a copy of the certificate of residence relating to that person or a person belonging to the same household as that person, from which the matters set out in Article 7, item (v), item (ix) through item (xii), and item (xiv) are omitted. In this case, the person making the request must, as specified by Ministerial Order, present an Individual Number Card or a document specified by Ministerial Order in making the request.

The mayor of the municipality that received the request under the preceding paragraph (hereinafter in this Article referred to as the "mayor of the issuing municipality") must notify the matters specified by Cabinet Order to the mayor of the municipality of domicile of the person who made the request under that paragraph.

The mayor of the municipality of domicile who received the notice under the preceding paragraph must notify the matters specified by Cabinet Order to the mayor of the issuing municipality.

The mayor of the issuing municipality who received the notice under the preceding paragraph is to, as specified by Cabinet Order, prepare a copy of the certificate of residence relating to the request under paragraph (1) and issue it to the person who made the request under that paragraph. In this case, the mayor of the issuing municipality may, unless a special request is made, issue the copy of the certificate of residence prescribed in that paragraph from which all or part of the matters set out in Article 7, item (iv), item (viii)-2, and item (xiii) are omitted.

The notice under paragraph (2) or paragraph (3) is to be given, as specified by Ministerial Order, by transmitting it via a telecommunications line from a computer used by the mayor of the issuing municipality or the mayor of the municipality of domicile to a computer used by the other party, the mayor of the municipality of domicile or the mayor of the issuing municipality.

Article 12, paragraph (2) (excluding item (ii)) and paragraph (6) apply mutatis mutandis to a request under paragraph (1). In this case, the term "the mayor of the municipality" in paragraph (6) of that Article is deemed to be replaced with "the mayor of the issuing municipality prescribed in Article 12-4, paragraph (2)".