# 日本国憲法 / The Constitution of Japan — 第五十七条 (Article 57)

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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: 第五十七条 (Article 57) — address `art-57`
- Text in force since: 1947-05-03
- URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/art-57
- e-Gov law ID: 321CONSTITUTION — never renamed. A permanent link, `/l/{lawId}/{address}` on this site, redirects to the page.
- Every provision below carries its address and its URL 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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### 第五十七条
<sup>art-57 · https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/art-57</sup>

**第一項**  両議院の会議は、公開とする。但し、出席議員の三分の二以上の多数で議決したときは、秘密会を開くことができる。
<sup>art-57/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/art-57/par-1</sup>
Deliberation in each House shall be public. However, a secret meeting may be held where a majority of two-thirds or more of those members present passes a resolution therefor.
<sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

**第二項**  両議院は、各々その会議の記録を保存し、秘密会の記録の中で特に秘密を要すると認められるもの以外は、これを公表し、且つ一般に頒布しなければならない。
<sup>art-57/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/art-57/par-2</sup>
Each House shall keep a record of proceedings. This record shall be published and given general circulation, excepting such parts of proceedings of secret session as may be deemed to require secrecy.
<sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

**第三項**  出席議員の五分の一以上の要求があれば、各議員の表決は、これを会議録に記載しなければならない。
<sup>art-57/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/constitution/art-57/par-3</sup>
Upon demand of one-fifth or more of the members present, votes of the members on any matter shall be recorded in the minutes.
<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