# 中小企業基本法 / Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Basic Act — 第三条 (Article 3) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/sme-basic-act/art-3. 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. - Law: 中小企業基本法 (Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Basic Act), 昭和三十八年法律第百五十四号 - English title "Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Basic Act": Ministry of Justice translation database, which lists the title - 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: 第三条 (Article 3)（基本理念） — address `art-3` - Text in force since: 2026-01-01 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/sme-basic-act/art-3 - e-Gov law ID: 338AC0000000154 — never renamed. A permanent link, `/l/{lawId}/{address}` on this site, redirects to the page. - Every provision below carries its address and its URL 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. --- ### 第三条（基本理念） — Basic Principles caption: machine translation, not official art-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/sme-basic-act/art-3 **第一項** 中小企業については、多様な事業の分野において特色ある事業活動を行い、多様な就業の機会を提供し、個人がその能力を発揮しつつ事業を行う機会を提供することにより我が国の経済の基盤を形成しているものであり、特に、多数の中小企業者が創意工夫を生かして経営の向上を図るための事業活動を行うことを通じて、新たな産業を創出し、就業の機会を増大させ、市場における競争を促進し、地域における経済の活性化を促進する等我が国経済の活力の維持及び強化に果たすべき重要な使命を有するものであることにかんがみ、独立した中小企業者の自主的な努力が助長されることを旨とし、その経営の革新及び創業が促進され、その経営基盤が強化され、並びに経済的社会的環境の変化への適応が円滑化されることにより、その多様で活力ある成長発展が図られなければならない。 art-3/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/sme-basic-act/art-3/par-1 In light of the fact that small and medium-sized enterprises form the foundation of the economy of Japan by carrying out distinctive business activities in diverse fields of business, providing diverse employment opportunities, and providing individuals with opportunities to carry on business while exercising their abilities, and that, in particular, through the many small and medium-sized enterprises carrying out business activities to improve their management by making use of creativity and ingenuity, they have an important mission to fulfill in maintaining and strengthening the vitality of the Japanese economy by creating new industries, increasing employment opportunities, promoting competition in the market, and promoting the revitalization of regional economies, their diverse and vigorous growth and development must be achieved, based on the principle that the voluntary efforts of independent small and medium-sized enterprises are to be fostered, by promoting their business innovation and founding, strengthening their management base, and facilitating their adaptation to changes in the economic and social environment. machine translation, not official **第二項** 中小企業の多様で活力ある成長発展に当たつては、小規模企業が、地域の特色を生かした事業活動を行い、就業の機会を提供するなどして地域における経済の安定並びに地域住民の生活の向上及び交流の促進に寄与するとともに、創造的な事業活動を行い、新たな産業を創出するなどして将来における我が国の経済及び社会の発展に寄与するという重要な意義を有するものであることに鑑み、独立した小規模企業者の自主的な努力が助長されることを旨としてこれらの事業活動に資する事業環境が整備されることにより、小規模企業の活力が最大限に発揮されなければならない。 art-3/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/sme-basic-act/art-3/par-2 In light of the fact that, in the diverse and vigorous growth and development of small and medium-sized enterprises, small-scale enterprises have the important significance of contributing to the stability of regional economies and to the improvement of the lives of local residents and the promotion of exchange among them, by carrying out business activities that make use of regional characteristics and providing employment opportunities, and of contributing to the future development of the economy and society of Japan, by carrying out creative business activities and creating new industries, the vitality of small-scale enterprises must be exerted to the fullest extent by developing a business environment conducive to these business activities, based on the principle that the voluntary efforts of independent small-scale enterprises are to be fostered. machine translation, not official ## Cited by 2 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 中小企業基本法 第二条第一項（中小企業者の範囲及び用語の定義） — https://japanlaw.org/en/sme-basic-act/art-2/par-1 - 中小企業基本法 第四条第一項（国の責務） — https://japanlaw.org/en/sme-basic-act/art-4/par-1 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 中小企業基本法 — the text in force from 2026-01-01 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/338AC0000000154/20260101_507AC0000000041), retrieved 2026-11-06 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — 中小企業基本法 — its English title as the Ministry of Justice's translation database lists it (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/822), retrieved 2026-10-07 - claude-sonnet-5-5 — Machine translation, batch sme-basic-act-20261106T173426-001, translated 2026-11-07 - This site's parser, version 225 — 中小企業基本法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-11-06