# 商法 / Commercial Code — 第四条 (Article 4) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-4. 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: 第四条 (Article 4)（定義） — address `art-4` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-4 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-4 - 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. --- ### 第四条（定義） — (Definitions) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-4 · https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-4 **第一項** この法律において「商人」とは、自己の名をもって商行為をすることを業とする者をいう。 art-4/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-4/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-4/par-1 The term "merchant" as used in this Code means a person in the business of conducting commercial transactions in its own name. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 店舗その他これに類似する設備によって物品を販売することを業とする者又は鉱業を営む者は、商行為を行うことを業としない者であっても、これを商人とみなす。 art-4/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-4/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-4/par-2 A person in the business of selling goods at a store or other similar facility or a person engaged in the mining business is deemed to be a merchant even if that person is not in the business of conducting commercial transactions. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System ## Cited by 2 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 商法 第五条第一項（未成年者登記） — https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-5/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-5/par-1 - 商法 第六条第一項（後見人登記） — https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-6/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-6/par-1 --- ## Sources - 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 — 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