# 民法 / Civil Code — 第百六十八条 (Article 168) - Law: 民法 (Civil Code), 明治二十九年法律第八十九号 - English title "Civil 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: 第百六十八条 (Article 168)（定期金債権の消滅時効） — address `art-168` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-168 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-168 - 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. --- ### 第百六十八条（定期金債権の消滅時効） — (Extinctive Prescription of Claims for Periodic Payments) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-168 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-168 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-168 **第一項** 定期金の債権は、次に掲げる場合には、時効によって消滅する。 art-168/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-168/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-168/par-1 A claim for periodic payments is extinguished by prescription in the following cases: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **一** 債権者が定期金の債権から生ずる金銭その他の物の給付を目的とする各債権を行使することができることを知った時から十年間行使しないとき。 art-168/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-168/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-168/par-1/item-1 if the obligee does not exercise each claim for the delivery of things such as money arising from the claim for periodic payments within 10 years from the time when the obligee comes to know that each claim is exercisable; or Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **二** 前号に規定する各債権を行使することができる時から二十年間行使しないとき。 art-168/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-168/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-168/par-1/item-2 if the obligee does not exercise each claim prescribed in the preceding item within 20 years from the time when it becomes exercisable. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 定期金の債権者は、時効の更新の証拠を得るため、いつでも、その債務者に対して承認書の交付を求めることができる。 art-168/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-168/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-168/par-2 The obligee of periodic payments may require its obligor at any time to issue a written acknowledgment in order to acquire the evidence of the renewal of period of prescription. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-168/par-1/item-2: 前号 → 民法 第百六十八条第一項第一号 (Article 168, paragraph (1), item (i)), art-168/par-1/item-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-168/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-168/par-1/item-1 ## Cited by 1 provision cites this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 民法 第百六十八条第一項第二号（定期金債権の消滅時効） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-168/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-168/par-1/item-2 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 民法 — the text in force from 2026-06-24 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/129AC0000000089/20260624_508AC0000000045), retrieved 2026-10-11 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Civil Code — Ministry of Justice translation (part 1 of 2) (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4848/tb), retrieved 2026-10-11 - This site's parser, version 190 — 民法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-11