# 商法 / Commercial Code — 第十九条 (Article 19) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-19. Every law, and how to address a provision: https://japanlaw.org/llms.txt. The same laws as MCP tools (no sign-in): https://japanlaw.org/mcp. - Law: 商法 (Commercial Code), 明治三十二年法律第四十八号 - English title "Commercial 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: 第十九条 (Article 19) — address `art-19` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-19 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-19 - 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. --- ### 第十九条 art-19 · https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-19 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-19 **第一項** 商人の会計は、一般に公正妥当と認められる会計の慣行に従うものとする。 art-19/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-19/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-19/par-1 A merchant's accounting is subject to the accounting practices that are generally accepted as fair and appropriate. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 商人は、その営業のために使用する財産について、法務省令で定めるところにより、適時に、正確な商業帳簿（会計帳簿及び貸借対照表をいう。以下この条において同じ。）を作成しなければならない。 art-19/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-19/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-19/par-2 A merchant must prepare accurate commercial books for the assets that the merchant uses for its business (meaning accounting books and balance sheets; hereinafter the same applies in this Article) in a timely manner and as provided by the Ministry of Justice Order. Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "A merchant must prepare accurate commercial books (meaning accounting books and balance sheets; hereinafter the same applies in this Article) in a timely manner and as provided by the Ministry of Justice Order." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4293/tb **第三項** 商人は、帳簿閉鎖の時から十年間、その商業帳簿及びその営業に関する重要な資料を保存しなければならない。 art-19/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-19/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-19/par-3 A merchant must keep commercial books and important business materials on file for ten years from the time of the closing of the books. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第四項** 裁判所は、申立てにより又は職権で、訴訟の当事者に対し、商業帳簿の全部又は一部の提出を命ずることができる。 art-19/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-19/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-19/par-4 The court, upon petition or by its own authority, may order the parties to a suit to submit all or part of their commercial books. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-19/par-2: この条 → 商法 第十九条 (Article 19), art-19 — https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-19 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-19 ## Cited by 1 provision cites this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 商法 第十九条第二項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-19/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-19/par-2 --- ## Sources - claude-opus-5-5 — Corrections to the Ministry of Justice's English of paragraphs, written 2026-11-05 - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 商法 — the text in force from 2026-06-24 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/132AC0000000048/20260624_508AC0000000046), retrieved 2026-11-05 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Commercial Code (商法), Article 19, paragraph (2) — the Ministry of Justice's English as printed (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4293/tb), retrieved 2026-11-05 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Commercial Code — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4293/tb), retrieved 2026-11-05 - This site's parser, version 224 — 商法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-11-05