# 商法 / Commercial Code — 第五百二十一条 (Article 521)

This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-521. 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: 第五百二十一条 (Article 521)（商人間の留置権） — address `art-521`
- Text in force since: 2026-06-24
- URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-521
- Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-521
- 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.

---

### 第五百二十一条（商人間の留置権） — (Right of Retention Between Merchants)
<sup>caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>
<sup>art-521 · https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-521 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-521</sup>

  **第一項**  商人間においてその双方のために商行為となる行為によって生じた債権が弁済期にあるときは、債権者は、その債権の弁済を受けるまで、その債務者との間における商行為によって自己の占有に属した債務者の所有する物又は有価証券を留置することができる。ただし、当事者の別段の意思表示があるときは、この限りでない。
  <sup>art-521/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-521/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-521/par-1</sup>
  If performance is due on a claim arising between merchants from an action that constitutes a commercial transaction for both parties, the obligee may retain an object or negotiable instrument of value belonging to the obligor that the obligee has gained possession of in the commercial transaction with the obligor, until the claim is satisfied; provided, however, that this does not apply if the parties have manifested a different intention.
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

---

## 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