# 民法 / Civil Code — 第二百四十条 (Article 240) - 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: 第二百四十条 (Article 240)（遺失物の拾得） — address `art-240` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-240 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-240 - 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. --- ### 第二百四十条（遺失物の拾得） — (Finding of Lost Property) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-240 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-240 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-240 **第一項** 遺失物は、遺失物法（平成十八年法律第七十三号）の定めるところに従い公告をした後三箇月以内にその所有者が判明しないときは、これを拾得した者がその所有権を取得する。 art-240/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-240/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-240/par-1 If the owner of lost property is not identified within three months of the time when public notice is effected as prescribed by the Lost Property Act (Act No. 73 of 2006), the person who found the lost property acquires ownership of the same. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System ## Cited by 9 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 民法 附則第二条第一項（経過措置） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/suppl-4181-73/art-2/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/suppl-4181-73/art-2/par-1 - 遺失物法 第三条第一項（準遺失物に関する民法の規定の準用） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/lost-property-act/art-3/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000073/art-3/par-1 - 遺失物法 第二十七条第一項（費用の負担） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/lost-property-act/art-27/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000073/art-27/par-1 - 遺失物法 第三十三条第一項（施設占有者の権利取得等） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/lost-property-act/art-33/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000073/art-33/par-1 - 遺失物法 第三十四条第一項（費用請求権等の喪失） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/lost-property-act/art-34/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000073/art-34/par-1 - 遺失物法 第三十五条第一項（所有権を取得することができない物件） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/lost-property-act/art-35/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000073/art-35/par-1 - 遺失物法 第三十六条第一項（拾得者等の所有権の喪失） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/lost-property-act/art-36/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000073/art-36/par-1 - 遺失物法 第三十七条第一項（都道府県への所有権の帰属等） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/lost-property-act/art-37/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000073/art-37/par-1 - 遺失物法 附則第二条第一項（経過措置） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/lost-property-act/suppl-4181-73/art-2/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/418AC0000000073/suppl-4181-73/art-2/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