Where, with regard to a document to be served under the preceding Article, the address, residence, office and place of business of the person to be served are unknown, or where it is found that there are difficult circumstances regarding service to be made in a foreign country, the head of a local government may effect service by publication in lieu of that service.
Service by publication is effected by taking measures to put the information necessary to identify the document to be served, the name of the person to be served, and the statement that the head of the local government keeps the document and will deliver it to the person to be served at any time (hereinafter in this paragraph referred to as the "particulars of the public notice") in a state in which they can be viewed by an unspecified large number of persons, by a method specified by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, and by posting a document stating the particulars of the public notice on the bulletin board of the local government, or taking measures to put the particulars of the public notice, displayed on the screen of a computer installed at an office of the local government, in a state in which they can be viewed.
In the case referred to in the preceding paragraph, the document is deemed to have been served when seven days have elapsed counting from the day on which the measures under that paragraph were commenced.
Read this with the articles around it
local governmentmachine translation
「地方団体」
A prefecture (道府県) or a municipality (市町村).
Defined inArticle 1, paragraph (1), item (i)· applies throughout the law
head of a local governmentmachine translation
「地方団体の長」
The governor of a prefecture (道府県知事) or the mayor of a municipality (市町村長).
Defined inArticle 1, paragraph (1), item (ii)· applies throughout the law
particulars of the public noticemachine translation
「公示事項」
What service by public notice (公示送達) makes available for anyone to view: the information needed to identify the document to be served, the name of the person it is to be served on, and that the head of the local government keeps the document and will hand it to that person at any time.
Short name set inArticle 20-2, paragraph (2)· applies only in this paragraph
service
送達
The delivery of a document in a court proceeding, such as a lawsuit, to the person it is for, by a procedure the law lays down: unless a provision says otherwise, the court carries it out of its own motion, the court clerk handles the work (Code of Civil Procedure, Article 98), and the person who effects it reports on it to the court in writing (Article 100, paragraph (1)); the complaint must be served on the defendant (Article 138, paragraph (1)), and the judgment on the parties (Article 255, paragraph (1)). A document is served by post or by a court enforcement officer (執行官) (Article 101, paragraph (1)), as a rule by handing it to the person (Article 102-2), at their address, residence, place of business or office, or at their workplace where those are unknown or service there meets an obstacle (Article 103); each party, legal representative and litigation representative (訴訟代理人) must tell the court a place in Japan where they are to be served (Article 104, paragraph (1)), and service abroad is made at the presiding judge's request to that country's authorities or to a Japanese ambassador, minister or consul there (Article 108). If the person is not found at a place other than their workplace, the document may be handed to an employee or a person living with them who can be trusted to receive it, and if it is refused without a legitimate reason it may be left there (Article 106, paragraphs (1) and (3)); where it cannot be served in those ways, the court clerk may send it by registered mail, and it counts as served when it is sent (Article 107, paragraphs (1) and (3)). An electronic record can also be served through the courts' electronic system on a person who has registered for it, by making it available to them and sending them a notice, and that service takes effect when they view it or save it to their computer, or one week after the notice was sent, whichever comes first (Articles 109-2, paragraph (1), and 109-3, paragraph (1)); a person who must make filings online, such as a litigation representative (訴訟代理人) entrusted with the case, can be served this way even without registering, and without a notice, the week then running from when the record was made available (Articles 109-4 and 132-11, paragraph (1)). Where a party's address or other place for service is unknown, among other cases, the court clerk may serve by publication (公示送達), on petition or where the court orders it, and serves the same party by publication again of the clerk's own motion, as a rule (Article 110, paragraphs (1) to (3)): that the clerk holds the document and will hand it over at any time is made available for anyone to view, by a method the Supreme Court's rules (最高裁判所規則) set, and posted on the court's notice board or shown on a screen at the court (Article 111), and service takes effect two weeks after that begins, or six weeks for service to be made abroad, though one made again of the clerk's own motion takes effect the day after it begins (Article 112, paragraphs (1) and (2)). Some time limits run from service: an appeal to the court of second instance (控訴), for one, must be filed within two weeks of the day the judgment is served (Article 285).
Written by AI using Code of Civil Procedure, Arts. 98, 100 to 104, 106 to 112, 132-11, 138, 255, 285 as a reference.