# 日本国憲法 / The Constitution of Japan — 第十五条 (Article 15)

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- Law: 日本国憲法 (The Constitution of Japan), 昭和二十一年憲法
- English title "The Constitution of Japan": Ministry of Justice translation
- Kind: Constitution — the distinction between 法律 (Act), 政令 (Cabinet Order), 省令 (Ministerial Order) and 条例 (local ordinance) decides who may issue it and what it may say.
- Provision: 第十五条 (Article 15) — address `art-15`
- Text in force since: 1947-05-03
- URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/art-15
- Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/321CONSTITUTION/art-15
- Every provision below carries its address and both URLs on the line under it.
- Japanese text: e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁). English: as marked on each line below.

Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect; the text
below is a copy of it. Every English rendering below is a translation and
says which kind: the Ministry of Justice's translation, or this
site's machine translation, whose model and date the Sources list names.
They are never merged and never substituted for one another.

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### 第十五条
<sup>art-15 · https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/art-15 · https://japanlaw.org/l/321CONSTITUTION/art-15</sup>

**第一項**  公務員を選定し、及びこれを罷免することは、国民固有の権利である。
<sup>art-15/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/art-15/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/321CONSTITUTION/art-15/par-1</sup>
The people have the inalienable right to choose their public officials and to dismiss them.
<sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

**第二項**  すべて公務員は、全体の奉仕者であつて、一部の奉仕者ではない。
<sup>art-15/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/art-15/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/321CONSTITUTION/art-15/par-2</sup>
All public officials are servants of the whole community and not of any group thereof.
<sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

**第三項**  公務員の選挙については、成年者による普通選挙を保障する。
<sup>art-15/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/art-15/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/321CONSTITUTION/art-15/par-3</sup>
Universal adult suffrage is guaranteed with regard to the election of public officials.
<sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

**第四項**  すべて選挙における投票の秘密は、これを侵してはならない。選挙人は、その選択に関し公的にも私的にも責任を問はれない。
<sup>art-15/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/art-15/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/321CONSTITUTION/art-15/par-4</sup>
In all elections, secrecy of the ballot shall not be violated.A voter shall not be answerable, publicly or privately, for the choice he has made.
<sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

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## Sources

- e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 日本国憲法 — the text in force from 1947-05-03 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/321CONSTITUTION/19470503_000000000000000), retrieved 2026-09-16
- Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — The Constitution of Japan — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/174/tb), retrieved 2026-09-16
- This site's parser, version 211 — 日本国憲法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-09-16