# 破産法 / Bankruptcy Act — 第四十条 (Article 40)

- Law: 破産法 (Bankruptcy Act), 平成十六年法律第七十五号
- English title "Bankruptcy 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: 第四十条 (Article 40)（破産者等の説明義務） — address `art-40`
- Text in force since: 2026-05-21
- URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40
- Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40
- 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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### 第四十条（破産者等の説明義務） — (Obligation of Explanation of Bankrupts)
<sup>caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>
<sup>art-40 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40</sup>

    **第一項**  次に掲げる者は、破産管財人若しくは第百四十四条第二項に規定する債権者委員会の請求又は債権者集会の決議に基づく請求があったときは、破産に関し必要な説明をしなければならない。ただし、第五号に掲げる者については、裁判所の許可がある場合に限る。
    <sup>art-40/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40/par-1</sup>
    Upon the request of a bankruptcy trustee or the creditors' committee prescribed in Article 144, paragraph (2) or the request based on a resolution at a creditors' meeting, the following persons must give necessary explanation concerning bankruptcy; provided, however, that with regard to the person stated in item (v), this applies only when permitted by the court:
    <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

      **一**  破産者
      <sup>art-40/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40/par-1/item-1</sup>
      bankrupt;
      <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

      **二**  破産者の代理人
      <sup>art-40/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40/par-1/item-2</sup>
      bankrupt's agent;
      <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

      **三**  破産者が法人である場合のその理事、取締役、執行役、監事、監査役及び清算人
      <sup>art-40/par-1/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40/par-1/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40/par-1/item-3</sup>
      when the bankrupt is a corporation, its director, company director, executive officer, inspector, company auditor, and liquidator;
      <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

      **四**  前号に掲げる者に準ずる者
      <sup>art-40/par-1/item-4 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40/par-1/item-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40/par-1/item-4</sup>
      any other person equivalent to the persons stated in the preceding item; and
      <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

      **五**  破産者の従業者（第二号に掲げる者を除く。）
      <sup>art-40/par-1/item-5 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40/par-1/item-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40/par-1/item-5</sup>
      bankrupt's employee (excluding the person stated in item (ii)).
      <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

    **第二項**  前項の規定は、同項各号（第一号を除く。）に掲げる者であった者について準用する。
    <sup>art-40/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40/par-2</sup>
    The provisions of the preceding paragraph apply mutatis mutandis to a person that is any of the persons stated in the items of that paragraph (excluding item (i)).
    <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

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## Cites
- art-40/par-1: 第百四十四条第二項 → 破産法 第百四十四条第二項 (Article 144, paragraph (2)), art-144/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-144/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-144/par-2
- art-40/par-1: 第五号 → 破産法 第四十条第一項第五号 (Article 40, paragraph (1), item (v)), art-40/par-1/item-5 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40/par-1/item-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40/par-1/item-5
- art-40/par-1/item-4: 前号 → 破産法 第四十条第一項第三号 (Article 40, paragraph (1), item (iii)), art-40/par-1/item-3 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40/par-1/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40/par-1/item-3
- art-40/par-1/item-5: 第二号 → 破産法 第四十条第一項第二号 (Article 40, paragraph (1), item (ii)), art-40/par-1/item-2 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40/par-1/item-2
- art-40/par-2: 前項 → 破産法 第四十条第一項 (Article 40, paragraph (1)), art-40/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40/par-1
- art-40/par-2: 第一号 → 破産法 第四十条第一項第一号 (Article 40, paragraph (1), item (i)), art-40/par-1/item-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40/par-1/item-1

## Cited by

10 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction.

- 破産法 第十二条第一項第一号（支障部分の閲覧等の制限） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-12/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-12/par-1/item-1
- 破産法 第四十条第一項（破産者等の説明義務） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40/par-1
- 破産法 第四十条第一項第四号（破産者等の説明義務） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40/par-1/item-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40/par-1/item-4
- 破産法 第四十条第一項第五号（破産者等の説明義務） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40/par-1/item-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40/par-1/item-5
- 破産法 第四十条第二項（破産者等の説明義務） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-40/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-40/par-2
- 破産法 第八十三条第一項（破産管財人による調査等） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-83/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-83/par-1
- 破産法 第九十六条第一項（準用） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-96/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-96/par-1
- 破産法 第二百五十二条第一項第十一号（免責許可の決定の要件等） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-252/par-1/item-11 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-252/par-1/item-11
- 破産法 第二百六十八条第一項（説明及び検査の拒絶等の罪） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-268/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-268/par-1
- 破産法 第二百六十八条第二項（説明及び検査の拒絶等の罪） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-268/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-268/par-2

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## Sources

- e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 破産法 — the text in force from 2026-05-21 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/416AC0000000075/20260521_505AC0000000053), retrieved 2026-10-19
- Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Bankruptcy Act — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4895/tb), retrieved 2026-10-19
- This site's parser, version 204 — 破産法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-19