# 民法 / Civil Code — 第四百四条 (Article 404) - 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: 第四百四条 (Article 404)（法定利率） — address `art-404` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-404 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-404 - 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. --- ### 第四百四条（法定利率） — (Statutory Interest Rate) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-404 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-404 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-404 **第一項** 利息を生ずべき債権について別段の意思表示がないときは、その利率は、その利息が生じた最初の時点における法定利率による。 art-404/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-404/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-404/par-1 Unless the parties manifest a particular intention with respect to a claim which bears interest, the rate of the interest is the statutory interest rate on the time when the interest first accrues. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 法定利率は、年三パーセントとする。 art-404/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-404/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-404/par-2 The statutory interest rate is 3% per annum. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第三項** 前項の規定にかかわらず、法定利率は、法務省令で定めるところにより、三年を一期とし、一期ごとに、次項の規定により変動するものとする。 art-404/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-404/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-404/par-3 Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, pursuant to the provisions of Ministry of Justice Order, the statutory interest rate is to change pursuant to the provisions of the following paragraph for each term consisting of three years. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第四項** 各期における法定利率は、この項の規定により法定利率に変動があった期のうち直近のもの（以下この項において「直近変動期」という。）における基準割合と当期における基準割合との差に相当する割合（その割合に一パーセント未満の端数があるときは、これを切り捨てる。）を直近変動期における法定利率に加算し、又は減算した割合とする。 art-404/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-404/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-404/par-4 The statutory interest rate for each term is the rate calculated by adding or deducting the rate equivalent to the difference between the benchmark rate for the most recent term during which there was a change in the statutory interest rate pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph (referred to as the "most recent term of change" in this paragraph below) and the benchmark rate for the current term (if the decimal portion is a figure with less than 1%, it is to be rounded down ), to or from the statutory interest rate for the most recent term of change. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第五項** 前項に規定する「基準割合」とは、法務省令で定めるところにより、各期の初日の属する年の六年前の年の一月から前々年の十二月までの各月における短期貸付けの平均利率（当該各月において銀行が新たに行った貸付け（貸付期間が一年未満のものに限る。）に係る利率の平均をいう。）の合計を六十で除して計算した割合（その割合に〇・一パーセント未満の端数があるときは、これを切り捨てる。）として法務大臣が告示するものをいう。 art-404/par-5 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-404/par-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-404/par-5 The term "benchmark rate" prescribed in the preceding paragraph means the rate announced by the Minister of Justice as the rate calculated by dividing, by 60, the sum of the average interest rate for short-term loans for each month (meaning the average of the interest rates for loans (limited to loans for a term of less than one year) extended by banks in each month) during the period from January of the year six years before the year which contains the first day of each term to December of the year two years before the year which contains the first date of each term (if the decimal portion is a figure with less than 0.1%, it is to be rounded down), pursuant to the provisions of Ministry of Justice Order. Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "The term "benchmark rate" prescribed in the preceding paragraph means the rate announced by the Minister of Justice as the rate calculated by dividing, by 60, the sum of the average interest rate for short-term loans for each month (meaning the average of the interest rates for loans (limited to loans for a term of less than one year) extended by banks in each month)) during the period from January of the year six years before the year which contains the first day of each term to December of the year two years before the year which contains the first date of each term (if the decimal portion is a figure with less than 0.1%, it is to be rounded down), pursuant to the provisions of Ministry of Justice Order." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4848/tb --- ## Cites - art-404/par-3: 前項 → 民法 第四百四条第二項 (Article 404, paragraph (2)), art-404/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-404/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-404/par-2 - art-404/par-3: 次項 → 民法 第四百四条第四項 (Article 404, paragraph (4)), art-404/par-4 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-404/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-404/par-4 - art-404/par-4: この項 → 民法 第四百四条第四項 (Article 404, paragraph (4)), art-404/par-4 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-404/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-404/par-4 - art-404/par-5: 前項 → 民法 第四百四条第四項 (Article 404, paragraph (4)), art-404/par-4 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-404/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-404/par-4 ## Cited by 5 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 民法 第四百四条第三項（法定利率） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-404/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-404/par-3 - 民法 第四百四条第四項（法定利率） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-404/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-404/par-4 - 民法 第四百四条第五項（法定利率） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-404/par-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-404/par-5 - 民法 附則第十五条第一項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/suppl-4291-44/art-15/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/suppl-4291-44/art-15/par-1 - 民法 附則第十五条第二項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/suppl-4291-44/art-15/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/suppl-4291-44/art-15/par-2 --- ## Sources - claude-opus-5-5 — Corrections to the Ministry of Justice's English of paragraphs, written 2026-10-12 - 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 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Civil Code (民法), Article 404, paragraph (5) — the Ministry of Justice's English as printed (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