# 民法 / Civil Code — 第二百三十七条 (Article 237) - 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: 第二百三十七条 (Article 237)（境界線付近の掘削の制限） — address `art-237` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-237 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-237 - 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. --- ### 第二百三十七条（境界線付近の掘削の制限） — (Restrictions on Digging near Boundary Lines) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-237 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-237 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-237 **第一項** 井戸、用水だめ、下水だめ又は肥料だめを掘るには境界線から二メートル以上、池、穴蔵又はし尿だめを掘るには境界線から一メートル以上の距離を保たなければならない。 art-237/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-237/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-237/par-1 In order to dig a well, service water pit, sewage pit or compost pit, the same must be distanced two or more meters from the boundary line, and in order to dig a pond, cellar or human waste pit, the same must be distanced one or more meters from the boundary line. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 導水管を埋め、又は溝若しくは堀を掘るには、境界線からその深さの二分の一以上の距離を保たなければならない。ただし、一メートルを超えることを要しない。 art-237/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-237/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-237/par-2 In order to bury water pipes, or dig a channel or moat, the water pipes, channel or moat must be distanced from the boundary line by a measurement equivalent to at least half the depth of the water pipes, channel or moat; provided, however, that the distance is not required to be exceeding one meter. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System ## Cited by 1 provision cites this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 民法 第二百三十八条第一項（境界線付近の掘削に関する注意義務） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-238/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-238/par-1 --- ## 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