japanlaw.org

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---
name: japanese-law
description: Read, cite and explain Japanese statutes from the text itself — the Japanese as published, the Ministry of Justice's English translation where there is one, and labelled machine translation where there is not — via japanlaw.org. Use whenever a question turns on a Japanese law (法律, 政令, 省令), an article such as 第三十六条 or "Article 36(2)", or an English translation of one.
---

# Japanese law, from the text

Answer questions of Japanese law from the statute, not from memory. japanlaw.org
holds Japanese statutes split into addressable provisions, each with its English
and a record of whose English it is.

## Where to read it

**With MCP** — if the japanlaw tools are available (add `https://japanlaw.org/mcp` as a remote MCP
server; no key):

- `search` — Finds provisions, laws and defined terms by Japanese or English words, in every law held or in one, best match first. Each result has an id for fetch and the page's URL.
- `fetch` — Reads what a search result's id names: a provision in Japanese with its English, each line marked as the Ministry's translation or machine translation — in force, or as it stood on a day; or a law's overview and outline.
- `list_laws` — The laws japanlaw.org holds — all, or those of one kind, one topic or whose names hold some words — each with its title, number and kind.
- `get_law` — One law: what it is for, who it binds and who it does not — its exceptions and how it is enforced on request — the texts of it held, earlier and to come, and its chapters, or what is under one of them.
- `get_provision` — An article, paragraph or item by its citation — 第三十六条第二項, Article 36(2) or art-36/par-2 — in Japanese and English, with the terms it defines, how many provisions it cites and how many cite it, and its URLs: in force, or as it stood on a day. Shown as a card where the app can draw one.
- `get_citing_provisions` — Every provision in the collection that cites the one given, with links. No official source publishes this direction.
- `get_definitions` — The words a law defines for itself — 労働者, 賃金 — each with the statute's own definition, its English and whose that is, a plain explanation, where it is defined and how far it reaches. Given a provision, the definitions that apply in it and the legal vocabulary it uses.
- `get_amendments` — A law's amendments: the amending Act, its number, the day it takes effect and whether it is in force. Given one, every provision it changes, before and after, in Japanese and English, each English marked as the Ministry's or machine translation.
- `list_changes` — What changes in Japanese law between two days, across every law held, or one law's or one topic's: each change's day, the law, the amending Act and a link. With no end day, every change still to come.

**Without MCP** — plain HTTP, no key:

- Search: `https://japanlaw.org/api/search?q=<words>` (Japanese or English)
- A provision as Markdown: `https://japanlaw.org/md/en/<law-slug>/<address>`
- What is held, and how addresses work: `https://japanlaw.org/llms.txt`

A good order: search (or `get_provision` when the law and article are known) →
read the provision itself → answer, quoting it and linking its `url`.

## Citing a provision

Japanese statutes are numbered 条 (article), 項 (paragraph), 号 (item):

| Japanese | Ministry of Justice English | japanlaw.org address |
|---|---|---|
| 第三十六条 | Article 36 | `art-36` |
| 第三十六条第二項 | Article 36, paragraph (2) — "Article 36(2)" | `art-36/par-2` |
| 第三十六条第二項第一号 | Article 36, paragraph (2), item (i) | `art-36/par-2/item-1` |
| 第三十二条の三の二 | Article 32-3-2 | `art-32-3-2` |
| 附則 | Supplementary Provisions | `suppl-…` (from search or get_law) |
| 別表第一 | Appended Table 1 | `appdx-1` |

- 第五条の二 is a separate article inserted after 第五条 by an amendment, not a
  paragraph of it. Repealed articles stay as 削除 ("deleted"); numbers are not
  reused.
- An article with one paragraph has no "paragraph (1)" in English; its items are
  cited straight off the article.
- Give the reader the provision's japanlaw.org link. A link to a paragraph or item
  opens the article at that point.

## What kind of law it is

The kind decides who made it and what it can do, so never call all of them "law":

- 憲法 — the Constitution.
- 法律 — an Act of the Diet.
- 政令 — a Cabinet Order, made under an Act.
- 府令・省令 — a Cabinet Office or Ministerial Order (施行規則 is usually one), made
  under an Act or a Cabinet Order.
- 条例 — a local ordinance, made by a prefecture or a city. Ask the tools whether
  one is held (`list_laws`); never assume it is or is not.

An Act often leaves the detail to an order: 「厚生労働省令で定める」 means the rule is
in a Ministerial Order. Follow it there before saying what the rule is.

## Words a law defines

A law defines its own words (定義語): 「この法律で「労働者」とは、…をいう。」 Inside
that law, and only as far as the definition reaches, the word means what the
sentence says — not what it means in everyday speech or in another law. Before
explaining a provision, ask `get_definitions` with the law and the provision's
address: it gives the definitions that apply there, each with the statute's own
sentence, where it is defined and how far it reaches, and the site's explanations
of the legal vocabulary the provision uses. Quote the statute's sentence as the
definition; the plain explanation is japanlaw.org's, not the law's.

## Which English, and how to say so

Every English paragraph is marked (`englishWhose`, or the line under it in Markdown):

- **ministry** — the Ministry of Justice's translation (Japanese Law Translation).
  Still not official: only the Japanese has legal effect.
- **corrected** — the Ministry's translation with a slip japanlaw.org corrected; say so.
- **machine** — japanlaw.org's machine translation, not official, not reviewed by a
  lawyer. Say "machine translation" whenever you quote it.

Never present machine translation as the Ministry's. When the precise words matter,
quote the Japanese.

## Versions

A law is a sequence of versions. japanlaw.org gives the text in force (and says
since when) unless asked for another. `get_law` lists the texts it holds — earlier
ones, and those amendments passed but not yet in force will leave — and
`get_provision` and `fetch` read one with `asOf` (a day, YYYY-MM-DD) or
`version`. A day whose text is not held is answered "not held": say so, and do
not quote the nearest text instead. When an answer is not the text in force, say
which text it is and the days it stands, as `version` and `notice` give them.

`get_amendments` lists the amendments whose changes japanlaw.org holds — the
amending Act, its number, the day it takes effect and whether it is in force — and,
given one by its `version`, each provision it changes, before and after. Where
e-Gov publishes no text for an amendment, the tool says so and its changes are
shown with the next amendment's: never describe them as that amendment's alone.
`list_changes` answers what changes across the laws between two days ("what
comes into force on 1 April 2027?"), one law's or one topic's, each change with
its law, its day and its `version` for `get_amendments`.

## Honesty

- If a law is not held (`list_laws` lists every law that is), say so; do not
  reconstruct its text.
- If an address does not exist, the tools say so and suggest what to ask for —
  never guess an article's content from its number.
- This is information about the law, not legal advice. For a decision, point the
  reader to the official text on e-Gov (each provision links it) and to a lawyer.