# Family, contracts and courts — Japanese laws in English — japanlaw.org

This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/laws/civil. 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.

Japan's civil law in English: the Civil Code on contracts, property, family and inheritance, and the rules for lawsuits, mediation, enforcement and bankruptcy.

- Family, contracts and courts (民事): 8 laws on this topic, each Act (法律) with the orders that go with it — Cabinet Orders (政令) and Ministerial Orders (省令) — listed beneath it, then the laws at home in another topic that this one lists too.
- Each law links to its page; its Markdown twin is the same path under /md. The descriptions are this site's own summaries, not the law's words.
- Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect.

## Laws

- [民法 / Civil Code](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-code): 明治二十九年法律第八十九号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-06-24 · 1173 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The Civil Code sets out private rights (私権) and how they work: persons and their capacity, juridical acts (法律行為) such as contracts, real rights (物権) in things and security over them, claims (債権) arising from contracts and other sources, unjust enrichment and torts, and family relations and succession. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/civil-code
- [民事訴訟法 / Code of Civil Procedure](https://japanlaw.org/en/code-of-civil-procedure): 平成八年法律第百九号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-06-24 · 475 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The procedure of a civil suit, from which court hears it and how it is filed, served, argued and proved, to judgment, appeal and retrial, with separate routes for small claims, bills and checks, and demands for payment. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/code-of-civil-procedure
- [民事調停法 / Civil Mediation Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-mediation-act): 昭和二十六年法律第二百二十二号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-05-21 · 58 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Court mediation (調停) of civil disputes: the parties, helped by a judge and civil mediation commissioners, look for a settlement by mutual concession that is reasonable and fits the facts of their case. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/civil-mediation-act
- [民事執行法 / Civil Enforcement Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/civil-enforcement-act): 昭和五十四年法律第四号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-05-21 · 250 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. How a court and its court enforcement officers (執行官) make a debtor pay or do what a judgment or other enforceable instrument requires, sell property to enforce a mortgage or other security interest or where another Act calls for an auction, and find out what property a debtor has. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/civil-enforcement-act
- [破産法 / Bankruptcy Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/bankruptcy-act): 平成十六年法律第七十五号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-05-21 · 297 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. How a court winds up a debtor who cannot pay its debts — the property of a person, a corporation or other body, or a deceased person's estate or a trust — by sharing it fairly among creditors, and how an individual can then be freed from the debts left over to make a fresh start. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/bankruptcy-act
- [法の適用に関する通則法 / Act on General Rules for Application of Laws](https://japanlaw.org/en/application-of-laws-act): 平成十八年法律第七十八号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-06-24 · 43 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Which country's law governs a matter that crosses borders — a contract, a tort (不法行為, a wrongful act that harms someone), a marriage, a child, an inheritance — together with when an Act takes effect and when a custom counts as law. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/application-of-laws-act

## Also on this topic

- [戸籍法 / Family Register Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/family-register-act): 昭和二十二年法律第二百二十四号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-09-03 · 171 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Sets up the family register (戸籍) — the record, kept by each municipality's mayor, of each person's name, date of birth, parents, marriage and other family relationships, from which anyone who loses Japanese nationality is removed — and the notifications (届出) that keep it up to date. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/family-register-act
- [借地借家法 / Act on Land and Building Leases](https://japanlaw.org/en/land-and-building-leases-act): 平成三年法律第九十号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-05-21 · 61 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Special rules for rights to use land in order to own a building on it — by superficies (地上権) or by lease — and for leases of buildings: how long they last, how they are renewed and what effect they have, with the court procedure for changing the conditions of a land lease. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/land-and-building-leases-act

## Other topics

- [Work and employment (労働)](https://japanlaw.org/en/laws/work): Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/laws/work
- [Visas, residence and nationality (在留・国籍)](https://japanlaw.org/en/laws/immigration): Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/laws/immigration
- [Tax (税)](https://japanlaw.org/en/laws/tax): Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/laws/tax
- [Pensions, insurance and welfare (社会保障)](https://japanlaw.org/en/laws/social-security): Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/laws/social-security
- [Business and companies (会社・取引)](https://japanlaw.org/en/laws/business): Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/laws/business
- [Consumers and personal data (消費者・個人情報)](https://japanlaw.org/en/laws/consumers): Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/laws/consumers
- [Housing and property (住まい・不動産)](https://japanlaw.org/en/laws/housing): Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/laws/housing
- [Crime and safety (刑事)](https://japanlaw.org/en/laws/crime): Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/laws/crime
- [Driving and transport (交通)](https://japanlaw.org/en/laws/transport): Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/laws/transport
- [Constitution and government (憲法・行政)](https://japanlaw.org/en/laws/government): Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/laws/government
- [Every law](https://japanlaw.org/en/laws): Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/laws