# Paragraph (項, こう)

This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/paragraph. 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: Laws and how to read them
- URL: https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/paragraph
- In Japanese: https://japanlaw.org/ja/concepts/paragraph
- Written by: claude-opus-5, 2026-09-11

A subdivision of an article, begun on a new line. In the official text, paragraphs from the second on are numbered 2, 3 and so on, and the first has no number; this site shows them as ②, ③, as printed law collections do. 第三十六条第二項 is Article 36, paragraph (2).

Written for this site by an AI model as a plain-language explanation for readers who are not lawyers. Not reviewed by a lawyer.

## Provisions and sources it draws on

- [Upper House Legislative Bureau: 条・項・号・号の細分](https://houseikyoku.sangiin.go.jp/column/column021.htm)
- [Wikipedia: 日本の法令の基本形式](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E3%81%AE%E6%B3%95%E4%BB%A4%E3%81%AE%E5%9F%BA%E6%9C%AC%E5%BD%A2%E5%BC%8F)

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## Sources

- Explanation: Written for this site with AI (claude-opus-5, 2026-09-11)