# Habitual residence (常居所, じょうきょしょ) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/habitual-residence. 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. - Group: Rights, roles and legal effects - URL: https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/habitual-residence - In Japanese: https://japanlaw.org/ja/concepts/habitual-residence - Written by: claude-opus-5-5, 2026-10-04 The place where a person habitually lives; the Act on General Rules for Application of Laws uses the term without defining it. That Act makes the law of a person's habitual residence govern, among other things: for a consumer contract, the law of the consumer's habitual residence where the parties chose no law, and its specific mandatory rules the consumer tells the business to apply where they chose another, except in the cases Article 11, paragraph (6) lists, such as a consumer who went to a place under the same law as the business's office the contract relates to and made the contract there, unless the business had invited them, where they habitually live, to make it there (Article 11); for a tort of defamation, the law of the victim's habitual residence (Article 19); for the effects of a marriage, the law of the habitual residence the spouses share where they do not share a national law (本国法) (Article 25), which also governs matrimonial property and divorce, though a divorce where one spouse is a Japanese national habitually resident in Japan is governed by Japanese law (Articles 26 and 27); for the legal relationship between parents and child, the law of the child's habitual residence where the child's national law is not that of either parent (Article 32); and, for a person with no nationality, the law of their habitual residence in place of a national law (Article 38, paragraph (2)). Where a person's habitual residence is not known, the law of the place where they are living (居所) is applied instead, except under the rule on the effects of a marriage, which also governs matrimonial property and divorce (Article 39). Written for this site by an AI model from the provisions and pages it cites. Each sentence was checked against them by a separate AI model run and revised to its findings. Not reviewed by a lawyer. ## Provisions and sources it draws on - [Act on General Rules for Application of Laws, Arts. 11, 19, 25, 26, 27, 32, 38, 39](https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/418AC0000000078) — on this site: https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act ## Where the laws use it 1 law in force uses it in this sense, in 5 provisions; there the word opens this explanation. - [Act on General Rules for Application of Laws (法の適用に関する通則法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act): 5 provisions, among them [Article 8](https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-8), [Article 11](https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-11), [Article 25](https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-25) ## Related - [Act (法律, ほうりつ)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/act) - [National law (本国法, ほんごくほう)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/national-law) - [Defined term (定義, ていぎ)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/defined-term) - [Juridical act (法律行為, ほうりつこうい)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/juridical-act) --- ## Sources - Explanation: Written for this site with AI (claude-opus-5-5, 2026-10-04) - Where it is used, and how often: Worked out by this site from e-Gov's text - English names of the laws: Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of Justice (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3783/tb)