①A person who defames another person by making allegations in public, regardless of whether such facts are true or false, is punished by imprisonment for 3 years or less or a fine of 500,000 yen or less.

②A person who defames a dead person is not punished unless such defamation is based on a false facts.

①When an act prescribed under paragraph (1) of the preceding Article is found to relate to matters of public interest and to have been conducted solely for the benefit of the public, the truth or falsity of the alleged facts are to be examined, and punishment is not imposed if they are proven to be true.

②In application of the preceding paragraph, matters concerning the criminal act of a person who has not been prosecuted is deemed to be matters of public interest.

③When the act prescribed under paragraph (1) of the preceding Article is made with regard to matters concerning a public employee or a candidate for election, punishment is not imposed if an inquiry into the truth or falsity of the alleged facts are made and they are proven to be true.

A person who insults another person in public, irrespective of whether the accusation alleges facts or not, the person is punished by imprisonment for 1 year or less or a fine of 300,000 yen or less, or by penal detention or a petty fine.

①The crimes prescribed under this Chapter are prosecuted only upon complaint.

②If the person who is to make a complaint is the Emperor, Empress, Grand Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager or Imperial Heir, the Prime Minister is to file a complaint on their behalf, and when such person is the Sovereign or President of a foreign state, a representative of the State is to make a complaint on their behalf.