# 刑法 / Penal Code — 第百五十五条 (Article 155) - Law: 刑法 (Penal Code), 明治四十年法律第四十五号 - English title "Penal Code": 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: 第百五十五条 (Article 155)（公文書偽造等） — address `art-155` - Text in force since: 2026-05-21 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-155 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-155 - 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. --- ### 第百五十五条（公文書偽造等） — (Counterfeiting of Official Documents) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-155 · https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-155 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-155 **第一項** 行使の目的で、次の各号に掲げるいずれかの行為をした者は、一年以上十年以下の拘禁刑に処する。 art-155/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-155/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-155/par-1 For the purpose of uttering, a person who commits any of the acts set forth in the following items is punished by imprisonment for 1 year or more and 10 years or less: machine translation, not official **一** 公務所若しくは公務員の印章若しくは署名（以下この章、第百六十五条及び第百六十七条において「印章等」という。）を使用して公務所若しくは公務員の作成すべき文書若しくは図画（以下この章において「文書等」という。）を偽造し、又は偽造した公務所若しくは公務員の印章等を使用して公務所若しくは公務員の作成すべき文書等を偽造する行為 art-155/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-155/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-155/par-1/item-1 the act of counterfeiting, using the seal or signature of a public office or a public employee (hereinafter referred to as a "seal or signature" in this Chapter, Article 165 and Article 167), a document or drawing to be prepared by a public office or a public employee (hereinafter referred to as a "document or drawing" in this Chapter), or of counterfeiting, using a counterfeited seal or signature of such public office or public employee, a document or drawing to be prepared by a public office or a public employee; machine translation, not official **二** 公務所若しくは公務員の電磁的記録印章等（印章等として表示されることとなる電磁的記録をいう。以下この章、第百六十五条及び第百六十七条において同じ。）を使用して公務所若しくは公務員の作成すべき電磁的記録文書等（文書等として表示されて行使されることとなる電磁的記録をいう。以下この章において同じ。）を偽造し、又は偽造した公務所若しくは公務員の電磁的記録印章等を使用して公務所若しくは公務員の作成すべき電磁的記録文書等を偽造する行為 art-155/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-155/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-155/par-1/item-2 the act of counterfeiting, with the use of an electronic or magnetic record of a seal or signature of a public office or a public employee (meaning an electronic or magnetic record that is to be displayed as a seal or signature; the same applies hereinafter in this Chapter and in Articles 165 and 167), an electronic or magnetic record of a document or drawing to be prepared by a public office or a public employee (meaning an electronic or magnetic record that is to be displayed as a document or drawing and uttered; the same applies hereinafter in this Chapter), or counterfeiting an electronic or magnetic record of a document or drawing to be prepared by a public office or a public employee with the use of a counterfeit electronic or magnetic record of a seal or signature of a public office or a public employee. machine translation, not official **第二項** 公務所若しくは公務員が押印し若しくは署名した文書等又は公務所若しくは公務員が電磁的記録印章等を使用して作成した電磁的記録文書等を変造した者も、前項と同様とする。 art-155/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-155/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-155/par-2 The same applies to a person who alters a document or drawing bearing the seal or signature of a public office or a public employee, or an electronic or magnetic record of a document or drawing prepared by a public office or a public employee with the use of an electronic or magnetic record of a seal or signature. machine translation, not official **第三項** 前二項に規定するもののほか、公務所若しくは公務員の作成すべき文書等若しくは電磁的記録文書等を偽造し、又は公務所若しくは公務員が作成した文書等若しくは電磁的記録文書等を変造した者は、三年以下の拘禁刑又は二十万円以下の罰金に処する。 art-155/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-155/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-155/par-3 Beyond what are provided for in the preceding two paragraphs, a person who counterfeits a document or drawing or an electronic or magnetic record of a document or drawing to be made by a public office or a public employee or who alters a document or drawing or an electronic or magnetic record of a document or drawing which has been prepared by a public office or a public employee is punished by imprisonment for 3 years or less or a fine of 200,000 yen or less. machine translation, not official --- ## Cites - art-155/par-1/item-1: 第百六十五条 → 刑法 第百六十五条 (Article 165), art-165 — https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-165 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-165 - art-155/par-1/item-1: 第百六十七条 → 刑法 第百六十七条 (Article 167), art-167 — https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-167 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-167 - art-155/par-1/item-2: 第百六十五条 → 刑法 第百六十五条 (Article 165), art-165 — https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-165 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-165 - art-155/par-1/item-2: 第百六十七条 → 刑法 第百六十七条 (Article 167), art-167 — https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-167 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-167 - art-155/par-2: 前項 → 刑法 第百五十五条第一項 (Article 155, paragraph (1)), art-155/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-155/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-155/par-1 - art-155/par-3: 前二項 → 刑法 第百五十五条第一項 (Article 155, paragraph (1)), art-155/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-155/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-155/par-1 - art-155/par-3: 前二項 → 刑法 第百五十五条第二項 (Article 155, paragraph (2)), art-155/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-155/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-155/par-2 ## Cited by 7 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 刑法 第二条第一項第五号（すべての者の国外犯） — https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-2/par-1/item-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-2/par-1/item-5 - 刑法 第百五十五条第二項（公文書偽造等） — https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-155/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-155/par-2 - 刑法 第百五十五条第三項（公文書偽造等） — https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-155/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-155/par-3 - 刑法 第百五十六条第一項（虚偽公文書作成等） — https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-156/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-156/par-1 - 刑法 第百五十八条第一項（偽造公文書行使等） — https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/art-158/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/art-158/par-1 - 刑法 附則第八条第一項（刑法の一部改正に伴う調整規定） — https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/suppl-5071-39/art-8/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/140AC0000000045/suppl-5071-39/art-8/par-1 - 旅券法 第十三条第一項第五号（一般旅券の発給等の制限） — https://japanlaw.org/en/passport-act/art-13/par-1/item-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/326AC0000000267/art-13/par-1/item-5 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 刑法 — the text in force from 2026-05-21 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/140AC0000000045/20260521_507AC0000000039), retrieved 2026-10-03 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Penal Code — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3581/tb), retrieved 2026-10-03 - claude-opus-5-5 — Machine translation, batch penal-code-20261003T023134-005, translated 2026-10-03 - claude-opus-5-5 — Machine translation, batch penal-code-20261003T023134-006, translated 2026-10-03 - This site's parser, version 211 — 刑法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-03