# 民法 / Civil Code — 第九百六十九条 (Article 969)

- 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: 第九百六十九条 (Article 969)（公正証書遺言） — address `art-969`
- Text in force since: 2026-06-24
- URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-969
- Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-969
- 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.

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### 第九百六十九条（公正証書遺言） — (Notarial Will)
<sup>caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>
<sup>art-969 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-969 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-969</sup>

      **第一項**  公正証書によって遺言をするには、次に掲げる方式に従わなければならない。
      <sup>art-969/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-969/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-969/par-1</sup>
      For a will to be made in the form of a notarial instrument, it must be prepared according to the following formalities:
      <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

        **一**  証人二人以上の立会いがあること。
        <sup>art-969/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-969/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-969/par-1/item-1</sup>
        at least two witnesses are present;
        <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

        **二**  遺言者が遺言の趣旨を公証人に口授すること。
        <sup>art-969/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-969/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-969/par-1/item-2</sup>
        the testator gives oral instructions to a notary as to the tenor of the will;
        <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

      **第二項**  前項の公正証書は、公証人法（明治四十一年法律第五十三号）の定めるところにより作成するものとする。
      <sup>art-969/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-969/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-969/par-2</sup>
      The notarial instrument referred to in the preceding paragraph is to be prepared as provided by the Notary Act (Act No. 53 of 1908).
      <sup>machine translation, not official</sup>

      **第三項**  第一項第一号の証人については、公証人法第三十条に規定する証人とみなして、同法の規定（同法第三十五条第三項の規定を除く。）を適用する。
      <sup>art-969/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-969/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-969/par-3</sup>
      With regard to the witness referred to in paragraph (1), item (i), the provisions of the Notary Act (excluding the provisions of Article 35, paragraph (3) of that Act) apply, deeming the witness to be a witness prescribed in Article 30 of that Act.
      <sup>machine translation, not official</sup>

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## Cites
- art-969/par-2: 前項 → 民法 第九百六十九条第一項 (Article 969, paragraph (1)), art-969/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-969/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-969/par-1
- art-969/par-3: 第一項第一号 → 民法 第九百六十九条第一項第一号 (Article 969, paragraph (1), item (i)), art-969/par-1/item-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-969/par-1/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-969/par-1/item-1
- art-969/par-3: 公証人法第三十条 → e-Gov law 141AC0000000053, 第三十条 (Article 30), art-30 — not held in this collection
- art-969/par-3: 同法第三十五条第三項 → e-Gov law 141AC0000000053, 第三十五条第三項 (Article 35, paragraph (3)), art-35/par-3 — not held in this collection

## Cited by

3 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction.

- 民法 第九百六十九条第二項（公正証書遺言） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-969/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-969/par-2
- 民法 第九百六十九条第三項（公正証書遺言） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-969/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-969/par-3
- 民法 第九百六十九条の二第一項（公正証書遺言の方式の特則） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-969-2/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-969-2/par-1

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## 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 2 of 2) (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4275/tb), 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
- claude-sonnet-5-5 — Machine translation, batch civil-code-20261011T170941-007, translated 2026-10-12
- This site's parser, version 190 — 民法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-11