# 民法 / Civil Code — 第九百七十六条 (Article 976) - 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: 第九百七十六条 (Article 976)（死亡の危急に迫った者の遺言） — address `art-976` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976 - 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. --- ### 第九百七十六条（死亡の危急に迫った者の遺言） — (Will Made by Person Rapidly Approaching Death) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-976 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976 **第一項** 疾病その他の事由によって死亡の危急に迫った者が遺言をしようとするときは、証人三人以上の立会いをもって、その一人に遺言の趣旨を口授して、これをすることができる。この場合においては、その口授を受けた者が、これを筆記して、遺言者及び他の証人に読み聞かせ、又は閲覧させ、各証人がその筆記の正確なことを承認した後、これに署名し、印を押さなければならない。 art-976/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976/par-1 If a person who is rapidly approaching death due to illness or any other reason seeks to make a will, that person may do so in the presence of not less than three witnesses by giving oral instructions as to the tenor of the person's will to one of the witnesses. The person receiving the oral instructions in such a case must transcribe them and read back the transcription for the testator and other witnesses to hear or have them inspect it, and then sign the transcription and affix the person's own seal thereto after each of the witnesses has confirmed its accuracy. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 口がきけない者が前項の規定により遺言をする場合には、遺言者は、証人の前で、遺言の趣旨を通訳人の通訳により申述して、同項の口授に代えなければならない。 art-976/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976/par-2 In order for a testator who cannot speak to make a will pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the testator must state the tenor of the will through an interpreter before the witnesses in lieu of the oral instructions referred to in that paragraph. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第三項** 第一項後段の遺言者又は他の証人が耳が聞こえない者である場合には、遺言の趣旨の口授又は申述を受けた者は、同項後段に規定する筆記した内容を通訳人の通訳によりその遺言者又は他の証人に伝えて、同項後段の読み聞かせに代えることができる。 art-976/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976/par-3 If the testator or one of the other witnesses as referred to in the latter clause of paragraph (1) is deaf, the person receiving the oral instructions or statement as to the tenor of the person's will may convey the details of the transcription prescribed in that clause to the testator or other witness through an interpreter in lieu of reading it back for the person to hear as referred to in that clause. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第四項** 前三項の規定によりした遺言は、遺言の日から二十日以内に、証人の一人又は利害関係人から家庭裁判所に請求してその確認を得なければ、その効力を生じない。 art-976/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976/par-4 A will made pursuant to the provisions of the preceding three paragraphs is not valid unless declared so by the family court, as requested by one of the witnesses or an interested party within twenty days of the creation of the will. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第五項** 家庭裁判所は、前項の遺言が遺言者の真意に出たものであるとの心証を得なければ、これを確認することができない。 art-976/par-5 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976/par-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976/par-5 The family court may not issue a declaratory judgment that a will as referred to in the preceding paragraph captures the true intention of the testator unless it has the abiding conviction that such is the case. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-976/par-2: 前項 → 民法 第九百七十六条第一項 (Article 976, paragraph (1)), art-976/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976/par-1 - art-976/par-3: 第一項 → 民法 第九百七十六条第一項 (Article 976, paragraph (1)), art-976/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976/par-1 - art-976/par-4: 前三項 → 民法 第九百七十六条第一項 (Article 976, paragraph (1)), art-976/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976/par-1 - art-976/par-4: 前三項 → 民法 第九百七十六条第二項 (Article 976, paragraph (2)), art-976/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976/par-2 - art-976/par-4: 前三項 → 民法 第九百七十六条第三項 (Article 976, paragraph (3)), art-976/par-3 — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976/par-3 - art-976/par-5: 前項 → 民法 第九百七十六条第四項 (Article 976, paragraph (4)), art-976/par-4 — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976/par-4 ## Cited by 7 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 民法 第九百七十六条第二項（死亡の危急に迫った者の遺言） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976/par-2 - 民法 第九百七十六条第三項（死亡の危急に迫った者の遺言） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976/par-3 - 民法 第九百七十六条第四項（死亡の危急に迫った者の遺言） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976/par-4 - 民法 第九百七十六条第五項（死亡の危急に迫った者の遺言） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976/par-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976/par-5 - 民法 第九百七十九条第四項（船舶遭難者の遺言） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-979/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-979/par-4 - 民法 第九百八十二条第一項（普通の方式による遺言の規定の準用） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-982/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-982/par-1 - 民法 第九百八十三条第一項（特別の方式による遺言の効力） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-983/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-983/par-1 --- ## 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