# Preamble (前文, ぜんぶん)

This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/preamble. 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/preamble
- In Japanese: https://japanlaw.org/ja/concepts/preamble
- Written by: claude-opus-5, 2026-09-16

An opening passage, before the first article, saying what the law is for and what it rests on. Few Japanese laws have one; the Constitution of Japan (日本国憲法) does, and its four paragraphs are where popular sovereignty, the renunciation of war and the right to live in peace are stated. A preamble is part of the law and is cited like any other part — the Preamble, paragraph (1) (前文第一項) is its first paragraph — but it states purposes rather than rules, so it is not on its own the source of a right a court enforces.

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

- [Constitution of Japan, Preamble](https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/321CONSTITUTION) — on this site: https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution
- [Wikipedia (Japanese): 前文](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%89%8D%E6%96%87)

## Related

- [Constitution (憲法, けんぽう)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/constitution)

---

## Sources

- Explanation: Written for this site with AI (claude-opus-5, 2026-09-16)