Japanese statutes and the Ministry of Justice's English, cited to the item, every line sourced.
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Read what an id from search names. A provision's id (labor-standards-act/art-36) returns it as Markdown: the Japanese text with each paragraph's English under it, every English line marked as the Ministry of Justice's translation, the Ministry's with a slip corrected, or machine translation; its address and URLs on every line; what it cites and what cites it; and its sources. A law's id (labor-standards-act) returns the law's overview — what it is for, who it applies to, how it is enforced — the texts held, and its outline, never its whole text. A japanlaw.org URL is accepted as an id too. A provision is read in the text in force unless asOf (a day) or version names another text held: an earlier one, or one an amendment not yet in force will leave.
An id from search or get_law: a law's slug, or <slug>/<address>. A japanlaw.org URL also works.
Read the text as it stood on this day, YYYY-MM-DD (2027-04-01): past, today or to come. Unset reads the text in force. A day whose text japanlaw.org does not hold is refused as not held, with the texts that are; never answered with the nearest text.
The language of the pages every url opens, and of the card get_provision is drawn as: "en" (default) or "ja". The text returned always holds both languages.
Read one held text by its version, as get_law's versions lists it (20270401_508AC0000000060). Unset reads the text in force. Pass asOf or version, not both.
Pick your client. Values in capitals, like YOUR_TOKEN, are yours to fill in.
claude mcp add --transport http japanese-law https://japanlaw.org/mcp
Read what an id from search names. A provision's id (labor-standards-act/art-36) returns it as Markdown: the Japanese text with each paragraph's English under it, every English line marked as the Ministry of Justice's translation, the Ministry's with a slip corrected, or machine translation; its address and URLs on every line; what it cites and what cites it; and its sources. A law's id (labor-standards-act) returns the law's overview — what it is for, who it applies to, how it is enforced — the texts held, and its outline, never its whole text. A japanlaw.org URL is accepted as an id too. A provision is read in the text in force unless asOf (a day) or version names another text held: an earlier one, or one an amendment not yet in force will leave.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| id* | string | An id from search or get_law: a law's slug, or <slug>/<address>. A japanlaw.org URL also works. |
| asOf | string | Read the text as it stood on this day, YYYY-MM-DD (2027-04-01): past, today or to come. Unset reads the text in force. A day whose text japanlaw.org does not hold is refused as not held, with the texts that are; never answered with the nearest text. |
| lang | string | The language of the pages every url opens, and of the card get_provision is drawn as: "en" (default) or "ja". The text returned always holds both languages. |
| version | string | Read one held text by its version, as get_law's versions lists it (20270401_508AC0000000060). Unset reads the text in force. Pass asOf or version, not both. |
{
"type": "object",
"$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
"required": [
"id"
],
"properties": {
"id": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 500,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "An id from search or get_law: a law's slug, or <slug>/<address>. A japanlaw.org URL also works."
},
"asOf": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 20,
"description": "Read the text as it stood on this day, YYYY-MM-DD (2027-04-01): past, today or to come. Unset reads the text in force. A day whose text japanlaw.org does not hold is refused as not held, with the texts that are; never answered with the nearest text."
},
"lang": {
"enum": [
"en",
"ja"
],
"type": "string",
"description": "The language of the pages every url opens, and of the card get_provision is drawn as: \"en\" (default) or \"ja\". The text returned always holds both languages."
},
"version": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 80,
"description": "Read one held text by its version, as get_law's versions lists it (20270401_508AC0000000060). Unset reads the text in force. Pass asOf or version, not both."
}
}
}A law's amendments whose changes japanlaw.org holds: the amending Act (titles, law number), the day it takes effect, whether it is in force, not yet in force or since replaced (state), how many provisions it changes, adds and removes, and its revision key. With revision — {"law": "labor-standards-act", "revision": "20270401_508AC0000000060"} — every provision that amendment changes, its wording before and after in Japanese and English, and whose each English is (beforeEnglishWhose, afterEnglishWhose). A long one stops at a provision; continued.from, passed back as from with the same revision, goes on. An amendment e-Gov publishes no text for is named as such (comparedAcross, textPublished false): its changes are listed with the next amendment's and cannot be told apart from them — never describe them as its own. One whose changes are not held says so; never describe its changes from memory. version names the text an amendment leaves, for get_provision and fetch. Link each amendment by its url.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| law* | string | The law: its Japanese title (労働基準法), English title (Labor Standards Act), short name (労基法), slug (labor-standards-act) or e-Gov law ID (322AC0000000049). |
| from | string | Go on from this provision: the from an earlier answer's continued gave, with the same revision. |
| lang | string | The language of the pages every url opens, and of the card get_provision is drawn as: "en" (default) or "ja". The text returned always holds both languages. |
| revision | string | One amendment, by the revision key a list gave (20270401_508AC0000000060): its changes, provision by provision. Unset lists the amendments. |
Every provision in the laws japanlaw.org holds that cites the given one — the other direction from what a statute says, which no official source publishes. Each with its law, designation, the words it cites with, an id for fetch and its url; link each one you name by its fromUrl. Call it with law and address, as get_provision: {"law": "labor-standards-act", "address": "Article 36(1)"}.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| law* | string | The law: its Japanese title (労働基準法), English title (Labor Standards Act), short name (労基法), slug (labor-standards-act) or e-Gov law ID (322AC0000000049). |
| lang | string | The language of the pages every url opens, and of the card get_provision is drawn as: "en" (default) or "ja". The text returned always holds both languages. |
| limit | integer | How many to return, 1–300; default 50. total counts them all. |
| address* | string | The provision, as the statute writes it (第三十六条第二項第一号), as the Ministry's English does (Article 36(2)(i)), or as japanlaw.org does (art-36/par-2/item-1). A bare number is an article: 36. Supplementary provisions and appended tables use the site's addresses, which search and get_law hand out. |
{
"type": "object",
"$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
"required": [
"law",
"address"
],
"properties": {
"law": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "The law: its Japanese title (労働基準法), English title (Labor Standards Act), short name (労基法), slug (labor-standards-act) or e-Gov law ID (322AC0000000049)."
},
"lang": {
"enum": [
"en",
"ja"
],
"type": "string",
"description": "The language of the pages every url opens, and of the card get_provision is drawn as: \"en\" (default) or \"ja\". The text returned always holds both languages."
},
"limit": {
"type": "integer",
"maximum": 300,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "How many to return, 1–300; default 50. total counts them all."
},
"address": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "The provision, as the statute writes it (第三十六条第二項第一号), as the Ministry's English does (Article 36(2)(i)), or as japanlaw.org does (art-36/par-2/item-1). A bare number is an article: 36. Supplementary provisions and appended tables use the site's addresses, which search and get_law hand out."
}
}
}The words a law defines for itself (定義語): inside that law, and only as far as each definition reaches, the word means what the statute says, not what it means in everyday speech or in another law. For each, the statute's own words (statuteJa), its reading, its English and whose that is (englishWhose), a plain explanation by japanlaw.org (explanation, in lang), where it is defined (definedAt, url) and how far it reaches (scope, scopeLabel). With address — {"law": "labor-standards-act", "address": "art-36"} — the definitions that apply in that provision, because its text uses the word, and japanlaw.org's explanations of the words of Japanese law it uses (concepts: 施行, 政令, 附則…). Call it before explaining what a provision means. term narrows the answer to one word, in Japanese, its reading or its English. A law with many terms stops at one; continued.from, passed back as from with the same arguments, goes on. The text in force only.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| law* | string | The law: its Japanese title (労働基準法), English title (Labor Standards Act), short name (労基法), slug (labor-standards-act) or e-Gov law ID (322AC0000000049). |
| from | string | Go on from this term: the from an earlier answer's continued gave, with the same law, address and term. |
| lang | string | The language of the pages every url opens, and of the card get_provision is drawn as: "en" (default) or "ja". The text returned always holds both languages. |
| term | string | One word to look up: the term (労働者), its reading (ろうどうしゃ) or its English (worker). |
One law: titles, number, kind, when the text in force took effect, the texts held (versions: in force, not yet in force, no longer in force, each with the days it stands), how much of it has the Ministry's English, and this site's plain description of it — what it is for, who it applies to and who it does not, and on request (section) its exceptions and how it is enforced — each claim with the provisions it rests on (basis). Then its outline: by default the parts and chapters of the main text (編, 章); outline "articles" lists every article (for a very long law, its headings instead), and under (a heading's path, such as ch-4) lists everything under that heading. outlineUrl turns an outline path into its page.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| law* | string | The law: its Japanese title (労働基準法), English title (Labor Standards Act), short name (労基法), slug (labor-standards-act) or e-Gov law ID (322AC0000000049). |
| lang | string | The language of the pages every url opens, and of the card get_provision is drawn as: "en" (default) or "ja". The text returned always holds both languages. |
| under | string | A heading's or run's path from the outline, such as ch-4 or from-art-31: list everything under it. |
| outline | string | "headings" (default) or "articles". |
| section | string | One section of the description, in full: summary, applies, excludes, exceptions, enforcement or topics. Unset gives summary, applies, excludes and topics, and names the others in description.more. |
One article, paragraph or item of a law, with everything under it. Call it with law and address: {"law": "labor-standards-act", "address": "art-36"}, or {"law": "労働基準法", "address": "第三十二条の三第一項"}. For each paragraph and item, the Japanese text (textJa), its English (textEn) and whose that English is (englishWhose: ministry — the Ministry of Justice's translation; corrected — the Ministry's with a slip this site corrected; machine — this site's machine translation, not official), and its url. Also what the provision cites, the terms it defines, how many provisions cite it, and the official e-Gov page. A very long one — a big appended table, a 附則 of many articles — stops at a provision; continued.from, passed back as from with the same address, goes on from there. Shown to the reader as a card where the chat app can draw one. The text in force by default; asOf (a day) or version reads another text held — as it stood on a past day, or as an amendment not yet in force will leave it — and version says which text the answer is. Quoting it, link its url (the reader's page, with the English marked), not e-Gov's, and say whose English each quoted paragraph is.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| law* | string | The law: its Japanese title (労働基準法), English title (Labor Standards Act), short name (労基法), slug (labor-standards-act) or e-Gov law ID (322AC0000000049). |
| asOf | string | Read the text as it stood on this day, YYYY-MM-DD (2027-04-01): past, today or to come. Unset reads the text in force. A day whose text japanlaw.org does not hold is refused as not held, with the texts that are; never answered with the nearest text. |
| from | string | Go on from this provision: the from an earlier answer's continued gave, with the same address. Unset starts at the address. |
Every law japanlaw.org holds: Japanese and English title, short names, kind (法律 Act, 政令 Cabinet Order, 省令 Ministerial Order…), law number, the date the text held took effect, number of articles, the share of paragraphs with English, and URLs; kinds counts them by kind. A law not in this list is not held, whatever its kind — a 条例 (a prefecture's or city's ordinance) included — so say so rather than quoting its text from memory.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| lang | string | The language of the pages every url opens, and of the card get_provision is drawn as: "en" (default) or "ja". The text returned always holds both languages. |
{
"type": "object",
"$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
"properties": {
"lang": {
"enum": [
"en",
"ja"
],
"type": "string",
"description": "The language of the pages every url opens, and of the card get_provision is drawn as: \"en\" (default) or \"ja\". The text returned always holds both languages."
}
}
}Search the Japanese statutes japanlaw.org holds, in force today. A query with any Japanese in it searches the Japanese text (時間外労働, 有給休暇); one without searches the English shown for each provision, stemmed (overtime, paid leave). Results are laws whose title matches, then one result per matching article at its best-matching paragraph or item, best first; each has an id to pass to fetch (or pass its law and path to get_provision as law and address), the page's url, the Japanese and English designation (第三十六条第一項 / Article 36, paragraph (1)) and a snippet. terms lists words a law defines that match; concepts, words of Japanese law the site explains. Every word must be at least two characters. Only the laws list_laws names are searched; law searches one of them alone, its provisions and the terms it defines. When a law the reader names finds nothing, check list_laws: one not there is not held — say so rather than answering from memory.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| law | string | Search this law only: its Japanese title, English title, short name, slug or e-Gov law ID. Unset searches every law held. |
| lang | string | The language of the pages every url opens, and of the card get_provision is drawn as: "en" (default) or "ja". The text returned always holds both languages. |
| page | integer | Which page of results, from 1. |
| limit | integer | Articles per page, 1–25; default 10. |
| query* | string | Words to find, in Japanese or English. |
We read every tool's name, description and inputs the way the model will, looking for instructions hidden from you. A clean result means no warning signs, not a guarantee. Scanned Oct 31, 2026.
{
"type": "object",
"$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
"required": [
"law"
],
"properties": {
"law": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "The law: its Japanese title (労働基準法), English title (Labor Standards Act), short name (労基法), slug (labor-standards-act) or e-Gov law ID (322AC0000000049)."
},
"from": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"description": "Go on from this provision: the from an earlier answer's continued gave, with the same revision."
},
"lang": {
"enum": [
"en",
"ja"
],
"type": "string",
"description": "The language of the pages every url opens, and of the card get_provision is drawn as: \"en\" (default) or \"ja\". The text returned always holds both languages."
},
"revision": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 80,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "One amendment, by the revision key a list gave (20270401_508AC0000000060): its changes, provision by provision. Unset lists the amendments."
}
}
}| address |
| string |
| A provision: the definitions that apply in it, and the legal vocabulary it uses. Unset lists every term the law defines. Written as for get_provision: 第三十六条, Article 36(2) or art-36/par-2. |
{
"type": "object",
"$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
"required": [
"law"
],
"properties": {
"law": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "The law: its Japanese title (労働基準法), English title (Labor Standards Act), short name (労基法), slug (labor-standards-act) or e-Gov law ID (322AC0000000049)."
},
"from": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 300,
"description": "Go on from this term: the from an earlier answer's continued gave, with the same law, address and term."
},
"lang": {
"enum": [
"en",
"ja"
],
"type": "string",
"description": "The language of the pages every url opens, and of the card get_provision is drawn as: \"en\" (default) or \"ja\". The text returned always holds both languages."
},
"term": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 100,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "One word to look up: the term (労働者), its reading (ろうどうしゃ) or its English (worker)."
},
"address": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "A provision: the definitions that apply in it, and the legal vocabulary it uses. Unset lists every term the law defines. Written as for get_provision: 第三十六条, Article 36(2) or art-36/par-2."
}
}
}{
"type": "object",
"$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
"required": [
"law"
],
"properties": {
"law": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "The law: its Japanese title (労働基準法), English title (Labor Standards Act), short name (労基法), slug (labor-standards-act) or e-Gov law ID (322AC0000000049)."
},
"lang": {
"enum": [
"en",
"ja"
],
"type": "string",
"description": "The language of the pages every url opens, and of the card get_provision is drawn as: \"en\" (default) or \"ja\". The text returned always holds both languages."
},
"under": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"description": "A heading's or run's path from the outline, such as ch-4 or from-art-31: list everything under it."
},
"outline": {
"enum": [
"headings",
"articles"
],
"type": "string",
"description": "\"headings\" (default) or \"articles\"."
},
"section": {
"enum": [
"summary",
"applies",
"excludes",
"exceptions",
"enforcement",
"topics"
],
"type": "string",
"description": "One section of the description, in full: summary, applies, excludes, exceptions, enforcement or topics. Unset gives summary, applies, excludes and topics, and names the others in description.more."
}
}
}| lang | string | The language of the pages every url opens, and of the card get_provision is drawn as: "en" (default) or "ja". The text returned always holds both languages. |
| address* | string | The provision, as the statute writes it (第三十六条第二項第一号), as the Ministry's English does (Article 36(2)(i)), or as japanlaw.org does (art-36/par-2/item-1). A bare number is an article: 36. Supplementary provisions and appended tables use the site's addresses, which search and get_law hand out. |
| version | string | Read one held text by its version, as get_law's versions lists it (20270401_508AC0000000060). Unset reads the text in force. Pass asOf or version, not both. |
{
"type": "object",
"$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
"required": [
"law",
"address"
],
"properties": {
"law": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "The law: its Japanese title (労働基準法), English title (Labor Standards Act), short name (労基法), slug (labor-standards-act) or e-Gov law ID (322AC0000000049)."
},
"asOf": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 20,
"description": "Read the text as it stood on this day, YYYY-MM-DD (2027-04-01): past, today or to come. Unset reads the text in force. A day whose text japanlaw.org does not hold is refused as not held, with the texts that are; never answered with the nearest text."
},
"from": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"description": "Go on from this provision: the from an earlier answer's continued gave, with the same address. Unset starts at the address."
},
"lang": {
"enum": [
"en",
"ja"
],
"type": "string",
"description": "The language of the pages every url opens, and of the card get_provision is drawn as: \"en\" (default) or \"ja\". The text returned always holds both languages."
},
"address": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "The provision, as the statute writes it (第三十六条第二項第一号), as the Ministry's English does (Article 36(2)(i)), or as japanlaw.org does (art-36/par-2/item-1). A bare number is an article: 36. Supplementary provisions and appended tables use the site's addresses, which search and get_law hand out."
},
"version": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 80,
"description": "Read one held text by its version, as get_law's versions lists it (20270401_508AC0000000060). Unset reads the text in force. Pass asOf or version, not both."
}
}
}{
"type": "object",
"$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
"required": [
"query"
],
"properties": {
"law": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "Search this law only: its Japanese title, English title, short name, slug or e-Gov law ID. Unset searches every law held."
},
"lang": {
"enum": [
"en",
"ja"
],
"type": "string",
"description": "The language of the pages every url opens, and of the card get_provision is drawn as: \"en\" (default) or \"ja\". The text returned always holds both languages."
},
"page": {
"type": "integer",
"maximum": 1000,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Which page of results, from 1."
},
"limit": {
"type": "integer",
"maximum": 25,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Articles per page, 1–25; default 10."
},
"query": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "Words to find, in Japanese or English."
}
}
}