Japan’s Minor Offenses Act English Translation

English translation of Misdemeanor law in Japan

Following is the text of Japan’s Minor offenses Act (misdemeanor law )in English.

Minor Offenses Act

Article 1.

Any person who falls under any of the following items shall be punished by detention or fine.

(1) Any person who, without a justifiable reason, is hiding in an unoccupied and unattended residence, building, or vessel

(2) A person who carries a knife, iron bar, or any other instrument that can be used to injure another person’s life or cause serious bodily harm without a justifiable reason

(3) a person who, without justifiable reason, concealed and carried a ligature, a hammer, a pestle, a glass cutter, or any other instrument that could be used to break into the residence or building of another person

(4) A person who has no livelihood, has no intention to take up a job even though he/she is capable of working, and does not have a fixed place of residence, and who wanders about in various directions

(5) A person who has annoyed the visitors in a public hall, theater, restaurant, dance hall, or other public place of entertainment, or passengers in a train, passenger car, ship, airplane, or other public vehicle by extremely coarse or violent language or behavior

(6) Any person who, without just cause, extinguishes another person’s lamps or lights on streets or other places where the public passes or congregates

(7) A person who unnecessarily leaves a boat or raft in a waterway or otherwise acts in such a manner as to obstruct traffic in a waterway

(8) Any person who, in the event of windstorm, flood, earthquake, fire, traffic accident, the occurrence of a crime or other calamity, without justifiable reason, refuses to follow the instructions of public officials or persons assisting them in entering or leaving the scene, or fails to comply with the request for assistance from the public officials

(9) Any person who, without due care and attention, builds a fire in the vicinity of a building, forest, or other flammable object, or uses fire in the vicinity of gasoline or another inflammable substance

(10) Any person who uses or indulges in the use of firearms or gun powder, boilers, or other explosive materials without due care and attention

(11) Any person who, without due care and attention, throws, pours, or discharges any object into any place where injury to the body or property of others is likely to occur

(12) Any person who has released without just cause a dog or any other animal or bird which is known to have a propensity to cause harm to humans or livestock, or who has neglected to take custody of such dog or animal and has allowed it to escape

(13) Any person who annoys a large number of persons in a public place by extremely coarse or violent speech or behavior, or who waits for a train, passenger car, vessel, other public vehicle, theatrical performance, or other event or ration of goods, or buys a ticket for such vehicle or event, or obtains a ticket for ration of goods (xiv) Any person who interrupts or disrupts the queue of the public waiting to receive ration coupons

(14) Any person who, without the permission of a government official, makes an abnormally loud noise, such as the human voice, a musical instrument, or a radio, which disturbs the peace and quiet and causes trouble in the neighborhood

(15) Any person who falsely claims to hold a public or government office, rank, order, degree, title prescribed by law, thereof in a foreign country, or uses a medal, uniform, insignia, emblem, and others prescribed by law or any object made in the likeness thereof, even though one is not qualified for such office, rank, order, degree, or equivalent thereof

(16) Any person who has falsely reported to a public official the fact of a crime or disaster

(17) Any person who makes a false statement and causes a false entry to be made in the books concerning pawn or sale or exchange of secondhand articles with respect to his/her name, residence, occupation, or other matters required to be entered by laws and regulations

(18) Any person who, knowing that there is a person in need of assistance due to infirmity, infirmity, or injury or illness, or a dead body or dead fetus in the place he/she occupies, fails to promptly notify a public officer thereof

(19) Any person who changes the place of an altered corpse or dead fetus without justifiable reason

(20) Any person who has indecently exposed his/her buttocks, thighs, or any other part of his/her body in such a manner as to cause offence to the public in a place where he/she can be seen by the public

(21) Deleted

(22) Any person who commits or causes to be committed a misbehavior

(23) Any person who, without justifiable reason, secretly peeps into a person’s dwelling, bathhouse, dressing room, lavatory, or any other place where other persons are usually unclothed

(24) Any person who obstructs public or private ceremonies by mischief or other mischief

(25) Any person who obstructs the circulation of a river, gutter, or other waterway

(26) Any person who spits or urinates or causes others to do so on a street or in a park or other place where the public gathers

(27) Any person who recklessly abandons garbage, carcasses of birds or animals, or other filth or waste in violation of the public interest

(28) Any person who stands in the way of another person, or who crowds around another person and does not move away, or who follows another person in such a manner as to cause uneasiness or annoyance

(29) A conspirator in a case where any person who has conspired to cause bodily harm to another person commits a preliminary act to the act pertaining to the conspiracy

(30) Any person who has set a dog or other animal on a person or animal, or has frightened a horse or cow so that it runs away

(31) Any person who obstructs another person’s business by mischief, etc.

(32) Any person who without justifiable reason entered into a place where entry is prohibited or into the fields of another person

(33) Any person who has put a tag on another person’s house or other structure, or removed another person’s signboard, prohibited tag, or other markings, or defaced such structures or markings without justifiable reason