# 民法 / Civil Code — 第八百九十七条 (Article 897) - 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: 第八百九十七条 (Article 897)（祭祀に関する権利の承継） — address `art-897` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-897 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-897 - 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. --- ### 第八百九十七条（祭祀に関する権利の承継） — (Assumption of Rights in Respect of Rituals) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-897 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-897 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-897 **第一項** 系譜、祭具及び墳墓の所有権は、前条の規定にかかわらず、慣習に従って祖先の祭祀を主宰すべき者が承継する。ただし、被相続人の指定に従って祖先の祭祀を主宰すべき者があるときは、その者が承継する。 art-897/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-897/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-897/par-1 Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding Article, rights of ownership in genealogical records, implements used in rituals, and graves are succeeded to by the person that custom dictates is to preside over ancestral rituals; provided, however, that if the decedent has designated a person to preside over ancestral rituals, this person succeeds to these rights. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 前項本文の場合において慣習が明らかでないときは、同項の権利を承継すべき者は、家庭裁判所が定める。 art-897/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-897/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-897/par-2 In a case as referred to in the main clause of the preceding paragraph, if it is not evident whom custom dictates, the family court determines who succeeds to the rights referred to in that paragraph. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-897/par-1: 前条 → 民法 第八百九十六条 (Article 896), art-896 — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-896 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-896 - art-897/par-2: 前項 → 民法 第八百九十七条第一項 (Article 897, paragraph (1)), art-897/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-897/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-897/par-1 ## Cited by 2 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 民法 第七百六十九条第一項（離婚による復氏の際の権利の承継） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-769/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-769/par-1 - 民法 第八百九十七条第二項（祭祀に関する権利の承継） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-897/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-897/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 2 of 2) (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4275/tb), 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