# 民法 / Civil Code — 第九百七十九条 (Article 979) - 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: 第九百七十九条 (Article 979)（船舶遭難者の遺言） — address `art-979` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-979 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-979 - 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. --- ### 第九百七十九条（船舶遭難者の遺言） — (Will of a Person Aboard a Ship in Distress) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-979 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-979 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-979 **第一項** 船舶が遭難した場合において、当該船舶中に在って死亡の危急に迫った者は、証人二人以上の立会いをもって口頭で遺言をすることができる。 art-979/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-979/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-979/par-1 If a ship is in distress, a person rapidly approaching death aboard that ship may make a will orally in the presence of at least two witnesses. 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、通訳人の通訳によりこれをしなければならない。 art-979/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-979/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-979/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 do so through an interpreter. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第三項** 前二項の規定に従ってした遺言は、証人が、その趣旨を筆記して、これに署名し、印を押し、かつ、証人の一人又は利害関係人から遅滞なく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-979/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-979/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-979/par-3 A will made according to the provisions of the preceding two paragraphs is not valid unless a witness transcribes the tenor thereof and signs and affixes the witness' seal to the transcription, and is also not valid without being declared so by the family court, as requested without delay by one of the witnesses or an interested party. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第四項** 第九百七十六条第五項の規定は、前項の場合について準用する。 art-979/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-979/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-979/par-4 The provisions of Article 976, paragraph (5) apply mutatis mutandis to a case as referred to in the preceding paragraph. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-979/par-2: 前項 → 民法 第九百七十九条第一項 (Article 979, paragraph (1)), art-979/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-979/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-979/par-1 - art-979/par-3: 前二項 → 民法 第九百七十九条第一項 (Article 979, paragraph (1)), art-979/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-979/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-979/par-1 - art-979/par-3: 前二項 → 民法 第九百七十九条第二項 (Article 979, paragraph (2)), art-979/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-979/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-979/par-2 - art-979/par-4: 第九百七十六条第五項 → 民法 第九百七十六条第五項 (Article 976, paragraph (5)), art-976/par-5 — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-976/par-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-976/par-5 - art-979/par-4: 前項 → 民法 第九百七十九条第三項 (Article 979, paragraph (3)), art-979/par-3 — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-979/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-979/par-3 ## Cited by 6 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 民法 第九百七十九条第二項（船舶遭難者の遺言） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-979/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-979/par-2 - 民法 第九百七十九条第三項（船舶遭難者の遺言） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-979/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-979/par-3 - 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 第九百八十一条第一項（署名又は押印が不能の場合） — https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code/art-981/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-981/par-1 - 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