# National law (本国法, ほんごくほう)

This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/national-law. 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/national-law
- In Japanese: https://japanlaw.org/ja/concepts/national-law
- Written by: claude-opus-5-5, 2026-10-04

The law of the country whose nationality a person has. The Act on General Rules for Application of Laws makes it the law that governs, among other things, a person's capacity to act (Article 4, paragraph (1)), the formation of a marriage, for each party (Article 24, paragraph (1)), and inheritance, by the national law of the person who died (Article 36). Under that Act, for a person with two or more nationalities it is the law of the one of those countries where the person has their habitual residence (常居所), or, if they have it in none of them, of the one most closely connected with them; but if one of the nationalities is Japanese, it is Japanese law (Article 38, paragraph (1)). Under that Act, for a person with no nationality the law of their habitual residence is applied instead, except under the rules on the effects of a marriage, which also govern matrimonial property and divorce, and on the legal relationship between parents and child (Articles 25, 26(1), 27 and 32; Article 38, paragraph (2)). Where a person's national law would itself have Japanese law apply, Japanese law applies, except where the national law is applied under those same two rules (Article 41).

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. 4, 24, 25, 26, 27, 32, 36, 38, 41](https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/418AC0000000078) — on this site: https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act

## Where the laws use it

2 laws in force use it in this sense, in 11 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): 9 provisions, among them [Article 4](https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-4), [Article 24](https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-24), [Article 28](https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act/art-28)
- [Nationality Act (国籍法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/nationality-act): 2 provisions, among them [Article 5](https://japanlaw.org/en/nationality-act/art-5), [Article 8](https://japanlaw.org/en/nationality-act/art-8)

## Related

- [Act (法律, ほうりつ)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/act)
- [Habitual residence (常居所, じょうきょしょ)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/habitual-residence)

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## 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 (2 records)