# 商法 / Commercial Code — 第五百五十九条 (Article 559)

This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-559. 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: 第五百五十九条 (Article 559)（定義等） — address `art-559`
- Text in force since: 2026-06-24
- URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-559
- Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-559
- 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.

---

### 第五百五十九条（定義等） — (Definitions)
<sup>caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>
<sup>art-559 · https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-559 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-559</sup>

  **第一項**  この章において「運送取扱人」とは、自己の名をもって物品運送の取次ぎをすることを業とする者をいう。
  <sup>art-559/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-559/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-559/par-1</sup>
  The term "freight forwarder" as used in this Chapter means a person in the business of commissioning the transportation of goods in its own name.
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

  **第二項**  運送取扱人については、この章に別段の定めがある場合を除き、第五百五十一条に規定する問屋に関する規定を準用する。
  <sup>art-559/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-559/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-559/par-2</sup>
  Unless otherwise provided in this Chapter, the provisions on commission merchants prescribed in Article 551 apply mutatis mutandis to freight forwarders.
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

---

## Cites
- art-559/par-2: 第五百五十一条 → 商法 第五百五十一条 (Article 551), art-551 — https://japanlaw.org/en/commercial-code/art-551 · https://japanlaw.org/l/132AC0000000048/art-551

---

## 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
