# 会社法 / Companies Act — 第二十六条 (Article 26) - Law: 会社法 (Companies Act), 平成十七年法律第八十六号 - English title "Companies Act": 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: 第二十六条 (Article 26)（定款の作成） — address `art-26` - Text in force since: 2026-08-12 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/companies-act/art-26 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-26 - 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. --- ### 第二十六条（定款の作成） — (Preparation of Articles of Incorporation) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-26 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/companies-act/art-26 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-26 **第一項** 株式会社を設立するには、発起人が定款を作成し、その全員がこれに署名し、又は記名押印しなければならない。 art-26/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/companies-act/art-26/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-26/par-1 In order to incorporate a stock company, incorporator must prepare articles of incorporation, and all incorporators must sign or affix the name and seal to it. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 前項の定款は、電磁的記録（電子的方式、磁気的方式その他人の知覚によっては認識することができない方式で作られる記録であって、電子計算機による情報処理の用に供されるものとして法務省令で定めるものをいう。以下同じ。）をもって作成することができる。この場合において、当該電磁的記録に記録された情報については、法務省令で定める署名又は記名押印に代わる措置をとらなければならない。 art-26/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/companies-act/art-26/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-26/par-2 Articles of incorporation referred to in the preceding paragraph may be prepared in the form of an electronic or magnetic record (meaning a record that Ministry of Justice Order prescribes as being used in computerized information processing and created in electronic form, magnetic form, or any other form that cannot be perceived by the human senses; the same applies hereinafter). In these cases, actions prescribed by Ministry of Justice Order must be taken in lieu of the signing or the affixing of the names and seals, with respect to the data recorded in such an electronic or magnetic record. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-26/par-2: 前項 → 会社法 第二十六条第一項 (Article 26, paragraph (1)), art-26/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/companies-act/art-26/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-26/par-1 ## Cited by 3 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 会社法 第二十六条第二項（定款の作成） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/companies-act/art-26/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-26/par-2 - 会社法 第二十八条第一項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/companies-act/art-28/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-28/par-1 - 会社法 第三十条第一項（定款の認証） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/companies-act/art-30/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/417AC0000000086/art-30/par-1 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 会社法 — the text in force from 2026-08-12 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/417AC0000000086/20260812_508AC0000000064), retrieved 2026-09-17 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Companies Act — Ministry of Justice translation (part 1 of 2) (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4481/tb), retrieved 2026-09-17 - This site's parser, version 211 — 会社法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-09-17