# 個人情報の保護に関する法律 / Act on the Protection of Personal Information — 第百六十三条 (Article 163) - Law: 個人情報の保護に関する法律 (Act on the Protection of Personal Information), 平成十五年法律第五十七号 - English title "Act on the Protection of Personal Information": 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: 第百六十三条 (Article 163)（公示送達） — address `art-163` - Text in force since: 2026-10-01 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/personal-information-protection-act/art-163 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000057/art-163 - 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. --- ### 第百六十三条（公示送達） — (Service by Publication) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-163 · https://japanlaw.org/en/personal-information-protection-act/art-163 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000057/art-163 **第一項** 委員会は、次に掲げる場合には、公示送達をすることができる。 art-163/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/personal-information-protection-act/art-163/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000057/art-163/par-1 The Commission may effect service by publication in the following cases: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **一** 送達を受けるべき者の住所、居所その他送達をすべき場所が知れない場合 art-163/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/personal-information-protection-act/art-163/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000057/art-163/par-1/item-1 the address or residence of the person to be served or the place where service is to be effected is unknown; Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **二** 外国（本邦の域外にある国又は地域をいう。以下同じ。）においてすべき送達について、前条において読み替えて準用する民事訴訟法第百八条の規定によることができず、又はこれによっても送達をすることができないと認めるべき場合 art-163/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/personal-information-protection-act/art-163/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000057/art-163/par-1/item-2 in cases of service that would be effected in a foreign country (meaning a country or region located outside the territory of Japan; the same applies hereinafter), the Commission finds that it is impossible to follow the provisions of Article 108 of the Code of Civil Procedure as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to the preceding Article following the deemed replacement of terms, or it is impossible to effect service even if the Commission follows those provisions; Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **三** 前条において読み替えて準用する民事訴訟法第百八条の規定により外国の管轄官庁に嘱託を発した後六月を経過してもその送達を証する書面の送付がない場合 art-163/par-1/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/personal-information-protection-act/art-163/par-1/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000057/art-163/par-1/item-3 even after six months have elapsed since a commission was issued to the competent government agency of a foreign country pursuant to the provisions of Article 108 of the Code of Civil Procedure as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to the preceding Article following the deemed replacement of terms, no document that certifies that the agency has effected service has been sent. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 公示送達は、送達をすべき書類を送達を受けるべき者にいつでも交付すべき旨を委員会の掲示場に掲示することにより行う。 art-163/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/personal-information-protection-act/art-163/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000057/art-163/par-2 A posting to the effect that the documents to be served will be delivered at any time to the person to be served is made on the notice board of the Commission to effect service by publication. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第三項** 公示送達は、前項の規定による掲示を始めた日から二週間を経過することによって、その効力を生ずる。 art-163/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/personal-information-protection-act/art-163/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000057/art-163/par-3 Service by publication becomes effective once two weeks have elapsed since the date on which the posting under the preceding paragraph was commenced. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第四項** 外国においてすべき送達についてした公示送達にあっては、前項の期間は、六週間とする。 art-163/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/en/personal-information-protection-act/art-163/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000057/art-163/par-4 Regarding service by publication in lieu of service to be made in a foreign country, the period referred to in the preceding paragraph is six weeks. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-163/par-1/item-2: 前条 → 個人情報の保護に関する法律 第百六十二条 (Article 162), art-162 — https://japanlaw.org/en/personal-information-protection-act/art-162 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000057/art-162 - art-163/par-1/item-2: 民事訴訟法第百八条 → e-Gov law 408AC0000000109, 第百八条 (Article 108), art-108 — not held in this collection - art-163/par-1/item-3: 前条 → 個人情報の保護に関する法律 第百六十二条 (Article 162), art-162 — https://japanlaw.org/en/personal-information-protection-act/art-162 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000057/art-162 - art-163/par-1/item-3: 民事訴訟法第百八条 → e-Gov law 408AC0000000109, 第百八条 (Article 108), art-108 — not held in this collection - art-163/par-3: 前項 → 個人情報の保護に関する法律 第百六十三条第二項 (Article 163, paragraph (2)), art-163/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/en/personal-information-protection-act/art-163/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000057/art-163/par-2 - art-163/par-4: 前項 → 個人情報の保護に関する法律 第百六十三条第三項 (Article 163, paragraph (3)), art-163/par-3 — https://japanlaw.org/en/personal-information-protection-act/art-163/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000057/art-163/par-3 ## Cited by 2 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 個人情報の保護に関する法律 第百六十三条第三項（公示送達） — https://japanlaw.org/en/personal-information-protection-act/art-163/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000057/art-163/par-3 - 個人情報の保護に関する法律 第百六十三条第四項（公示送達） — https://japanlaw.org/en/personal-information-protection-act/art-163/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000057/art-163/par-4 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 個人情報の保護に関する法律 — the text in force from 2026-10-01 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/415AC0000000057/20261001_507AC0000000070), retrieved 2026-10-10 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Act on the Protection of Personal Information — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4241/tb), retrieved 2026-10-10 - This site's parser, version 190 — 個人情報の保護に関する法律 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-10