# 民法 / Civil Code — 第二百十九条 (Article 219) - 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: 第二百十九条 (Article 219)（水流の変更） — address `art-219` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-219 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-219 - 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. --- ### 第二百十九条（水流の変更） — (Changes to Streams) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-219 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-219 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-219 **第一項** 溝、堀その他の水流地の所有者は、対岸の土地が他人の所有に属するときは、その水路又は幅員を変更してはならない。 art-219/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-219/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-219/par-1 An owner of a channel, moat, or other land containing a stream must not change the course or width of the same if the land on the other side is owned by another person. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 両岸の土地が水流地の所有者に属するときは、その所有者は、水路及び幅員を変更することができる。ただし、水流が隣地と交わる地点において、自然の水路に戻さなければならない。 art-219/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-219/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-219/par-2 If the land on both sides of a stream is owned by the owner of the land containing the stream, that owner may change the course or the width of the same; provided, however, that the owner must return the stream to its natural course at the point where the stream meets a neighboring land. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第三項** 前二項の規定と異なる慣習があるときは、その慣習に従う。 art-219/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-219/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-219/par-3 If there are customs that differ from the provisions of the preceding two paragraphs, those customs prevail. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-219/par-3: 前二項 → 民法 第二百十九条第一項 (Article 219, paragraph (1)), art-219/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-219/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-219/par-1 - art-219/par-3: 前二項 → 民法 第二百十九条第二項 (Article 219, paragraph (2)), art-219/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-219/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-219/par-2 ## Cited by 1 provision cites this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 民法 第二百十九条第三項（水流の変更） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-219/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-219/par-3 --- ## 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