# 民法 / Civil Code — 第百九十六条 (Article 196) - Law: 民法 (Civil Code), 明治二十九年法律第八十九号 - English title "Civil Code": Ministry of Justice translation - Kind: Act — the distinction between 法律 (Act), 政令 (Cabinet Order), 省令 (Ministerial Order) and 条例 (local ordinance) decides who may issue it and what it may say. - Provision: 第百九十六条 (Article 196)（占有者による費用の償還請求） — address `art-196` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-196 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-196 - Every provision below carries its address and both URLs on the line under it. - Japanese text: e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁). English: as marked on each line below. Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect; the text below is a copy of it. Every English rendering below is a translation and says which kind: the Ministry of Justice's translation, or this site's machine translation, whose model and date the Sources list names. They are never merged and never substituted for one another. --- ### 第百九十六条（占有者による費用の償還請求） — (Possessors' Claims for Reimbursement of Expenses) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-196 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-196 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-196 **第一項** 占有者が占有物を返還する場合には、その物の保存のために支出した金額その他の必要費を回復者から償還させることができる。ただし、占有者が果実を取得したときは、通常の必要費は、占有者の負担に帰する。 art-196/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-196/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-196/par-1 If a possessor returns a thing possessed by them, the possessor may have the person recovering the thing reimburse the possessor for the costs the possessor has paid for its preservation and other necessary expenses; provided, however, that if the possessor has acquired fruits, ordinary and necessary expenses are borne by the possessor. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 占有者が占有物の改良のために支出した金額その他の有益費については、その価格の増加が現存する場合に限り、回復者の選択に従い、その支出した金額又は増価額を償還させることができる。ただし、悪意の占有者に対しては、裁判所は、回復者の請求により、その償還について相当の期限を許与することができる。 art-196/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-196/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-196/par-2 With respect to the costs paid for by a possessor to improve the thing under their possession and other beneficial expenses, the possessor may have the person recovering the thing reimburse the possessor for either the costs the possessor has paid or the amount of the increased value, whichever the person recovering the thing chooses, but only if there is a current increase in value; provided, however, that with regard to a possessor in bad faith, the court may, at the request of the person recovering the thing, grant a reasonable period of time for the same. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System ## Cited by 3 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 民法 第三百九十一条第一項（抵当不動産の第三取得者による費用の償還請求） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-391/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-391/par-1 - 民法 第五百八十三条第二項（買戻しの実行） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-583/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-583/par-2 - 民法 第六百八条第二項（賃借人による費用の償還請求） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-608/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-608/par-2 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 民法 — the text in force from 2026-06-24 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/129AC0000000089/20260624_508AC0000000045), retrieved 2026-10-11 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Civil Code — Ministry of Justice translation (part 1 of 2) (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4848/tb), retrieved 2026-10-11 - This site's parser, version 190 — 民法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-11