# Legal Affairs Bureau (法務局, ほうむきょく) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/legal-affairs-bureau. 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: Institutions, offices and documents - URL: https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/legal-affairs-bureau - In Japanese: https://japanlaw.org/ja/concepts/legal-affairs-bureau - Written by: claude-opus-5-5, 2026-09-29 A local office of the Ministry of Justice (法務省). The Legal Affairs Bureaus and the District Legal Affairs Bureaus (地方法務局) are set up under the Ministry (Act for Establishment of the Ministry of Justice, Article 15), and handle its work on nationality, family registers (戸籍), registration (登記), deposits (供託) and notarization, among other things (Articles 4 and 18). The Minister of Justice may open branch offices of either (Article 19). Under the Real Property Registration Act, the registration of land and buildings is handled, as a registry office (登記所), by the Legal Affairs Bureau or District Legal Affairs Bureau for the place where the property lies, or by one of their branch offices (支局) or sub-branch offices (出張所) (Real Property Registration Act, Article 6, paragraph (1)); the work of a registry office is done by registrars (登記官), whom the head of the Legal Affairs Bureau or District Legal Affairs Bureau designates from among the Ministry of Justice officials working there (Article 9). 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 for Establishment of the Ministry of Justice, Arts. 4, 15, 18, 19](https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/411AC0000000093) - [Real Property Registration Act, Arts. 2, 6, 9](https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/416AC0000000123) — on this site: https://japanlaw.org/en/real-property-registration-act ## Where the laws use it 4 laws in force use it in this sense, in 26 provisions; there the word opens this explanation. - [Real Property Registration Act (不動産登記法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/real-property-registration-act): 18 provisions, among them [Article 6](https://japanlaw.org/en/real-property-registration-act/art-6), [Article 9](https://japanlaw.org/en/real-property-registration-act/art-9), [Article 67](https://japanlaw.org/en/real-property-registration-act/art-67) - [Family Register Act (戸籍法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/family-register-act): 5 provisions, among them [Article 3](https://japanlaw.org/en/family-register-act/art-3), [Article 8](https://japanlaw.org/en/family-register-act/art-8), [Article 126](https://japanlaw.org/en/family-register-act/art-126) - [Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (金融商品取引法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/financial-instruments-and-exchange-act): 2 provisions, among them [Article 89-7](https://japanlaw.org/en/financial-instruments-and-exchange-act/art-89-7), [Supplementary Provisions](https://japanlaw.org/en/financial-instruments-and-exchange-act/suppl-3301-120) - [Act on the Use of Numbers to Identify a Specific Individual in Administrative Procedures (行政手続における特定の個人を識別するための番号の利用等に関する法律)](https://japanlaw.org/en/my-number-act): 1 provision, among them [Supplementary Provisions, Article 1](https://japanlaw.org/en/my-number-act/suppl-5011-17/art-1) ## Related - [Family register (戸籍, こせき)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/family-register) - [Registration (登記, とうき)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/registration) - [Official depository (供託所, きょうたくじょ)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/official-depository) --- ## Sources - Explanation: Written for this site with AI (claude-opus-5-5, 2026-09-29) - 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 (4 records)