# 医療法 / Medical Care Act — 第二条 (Article 2)

- Law: 医療法 (Medical Care Act), 昭和二十三年法律第二百五号
- English title "Medical Care Act": Ministry of Justice translation
- Kind: Act — 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: 第二条 (Article 2) — address `art-2`
- Text in force since: 2026-10-01
- URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/medical-care-act/art-2
- Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000205/art-2
- 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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### 第二条
<sup>art-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/medical-care-act/art-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000205/art-2</sup>

**第一項**  この法律において、「助産所」とは、助産師が公衆又は特定多数人のためその業務（病院又は診療所において行うものを除く。）を行う場所をいう。
<sup>art-2/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/medical-care-act/art-2/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000205/art-2/par-1</sup>
The term "birthing center" as used in this Act means a place where midwives perform services (excluding those carried out in a hospital or clinic) for the public or other specific groups of people.
<sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

**第二項**  助産所は、妊婦、産婦又はじよく婦十人以上の入所施設を有してはならない。
<sup>art-2/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/medical-care-act/art-2/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/323AC0000000205/art-2/par-2</sup>
A birthing center is not to have in-patient facilities for more than 10 pregnant women, women in labor, or women resting after childbirth.
<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) — 医療法 — the text in force from 2026-10-01 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/323AC0000000205/20261001_507AC0000000087), retrieved 2026-10-19
- Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Medical Care Act — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4006/tb), retrieved 2026-10-19
- This site's parser, version 210 — 医療法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-19