# 民法 / Civil Code — 第九百七十一条 (Article 971)

- 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: 第九百七十一条 (Article 971)（方式に欠ける秘密証書遺言の効力） — address `art-971`
- Text in force since: 2026-06-24
- URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-971
- Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-971
- 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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### 第九百七十一条（方式に欠ける秘密証書遺言の効力） — (Validity of a Sealed and Notarized Will with a Formal Deficiency)
<sup>caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>
<sup>art-971 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-971 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-971</sup>

      **第一項**  秘密証書による遺言は、前条に定める方式に欠けるものがあっても、第九百六十八条に定める方式を具備しているときは、自筆証書による遺言としてその効力を有する。
      <sup>art-971/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-971/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-971/par-1</sup>
      Even if a will that is in the form of a sealed and notarized instrument is deficient in terms of a formality prescribed in the preceding Article, it is valid as a will made in the form of a holographic instrument if prepared according to the formalities provided for in Article 968.
      <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

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## Cites
- art-971/par-1: 前条 → 民法 第九百七十条 (Article 970), art-970 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-970 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-970
- art-971/par-1: 第九百六十八条 → 民法 第九百六十八条 (Article 968), art-968 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-968 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-968

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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
- This site's parser, version 190 — 民法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-11