# 道路交通法 / Road Traffic Act — 第五十二条 (Article 52) - Law: 道路交通法 (Road Traffic Act), 昭和三十五年法律第百五号 - English title "Road Traffic 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: 第五十二条 (Article 52)（車両等の灯火） — address `art-52` - Text in force since: 2026-07-21 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-52 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-52 - 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. --- ### 第五十二条（車両等の灯火） — (Vehicle and Streetcar Lights) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-52 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-52 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-52 **第一項** 車両等は、夜間（日没時から日出時までの時間をいう。以下この条及び第六十三条の九第二項において同じ。）、道路にあるときは、政令で定めるところにより、前照灯、車幅灯、尾灯その他の灯火をつけなければならない。政令で定める場合においては、夜間以外の時間にあつても、同様とする。 art-52/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-52/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-52/par-1 When traveling on a road at night (meaning the period from sunset to sunrise; the same applies hereinafter in this Article and Article 63-9, paragraph (2)), a vehicle must have its headlights, road lights, taillights, and other lights turned on pursuant to Cabinet Order. The same applies at times other than night in cases that Cabinet Order prescribes. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 車両等が、夜間（前項後段の場合を含む。）、他の車両等と行き違う場合又は他の車両等の直後を進行する場合において、他の車両等の交通を妨げるおそれがあるときは、車両等の運転者は、政令で定めるところにより、灯火を消し、灯火の光度を減ずる等灯火を操作しなければならない。 art-52/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-52/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-52/par-2 The driver of a vehicle or streetcar must turn off or reduce the brightness of its lights or otherwise operate them in accordance with Cabinet Order at night (or in a case as referred to in second sentence of the preceding paragraph) when there is an oncoming vehicle or streetcar and when traveling behind another vehicle or streetcar, if the brightness of those lights are likely to interfere with vehicle or streetcar traffic. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-52/par-1: この条 → 道路交通法 第五十二条 (Article 52), art-52 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-52 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-52 - art-52/par-1: 第六十三条の九第二項 → 道路交通法 第六十三条の九第二項 (Article 63-9, paragraph (2)), art-63-9/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-63-9/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-63-9/par-2 - art-52/par-2: 前項 → 道路交通法 第五十二条第一項 (Article 52, paragraph (1)), art-52/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-52/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-52/par-1 ## Cited by 6 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 道路交通法 第五十二条第一項（車両等の灯火） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-52/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-52/par-1 - 道路交通法 第五十二条第二項（車両等の灯火） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-52/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-52/par-2 - 道路交通法 第六十三条の九第二項（自転車の制動装置等） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-63-9/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-63-9/par-2 - 道路交通法 第百十七条の二の二第一項第八号ト — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-117-2-2/par-1/item-8/sub-7 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-117-2-2/par-1/item-8/sub-7 - 道路交通法 第百二十条第一項第五号 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-120/par-1/item-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-120/par-1/item-5 - 道路交通法 第百二十条第一項第六号 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-120/par-1/item-6 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-120/par-1/item-6 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 道路交通法 — the text in force from 2026-07-21 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/335AC0000000105/20260721_508AC0000000052), retrieved 2026-10-13 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Road Traffic Act — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/2962/tb), retrieved 2026-10-13 - This site's parser, version 190 — 道路交通法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-13