{
  "id": "jp-joho-kokai",
  "name": "Act on Access to Information Held by Administrative Organs",
  "short_name": "情報公開法",
  "citation": "Act No. 42 of 1999",
  "jurisdiction": "foreign",
  "state": null,
  "state_name": null,
  "country": "Japan",
  "country_code": "JP",
  "url": "https://aletheca.com/laws/jp-joho-kokai",
  "description": "Japan's national access law. Anyone may file, from anywhere, for a ¥300 fee — but responses issue in Japanese.",
  "statutory_days": 30,
  "business_days": false,
  "statutory_text": "Disclosure decision within 30 days of the request, extendable by 30; very large requests may be answered in instalments.",
  "appeal_deadline_days": 90,
  "appeal_basis": "three months to seek administrative review",
  "appeal_process": "Administrative review referred to the Information Disclosure and Personal Information Protection Review Board, or suit in district court.",
  "litigation": "District court; venue rules were loosened specifically for disclosure suits.",
  "fee_waiver_standard": "¥300 application fee per request, plus copying charges.",
  "expedited_criteria": [],
  "exemptions": [
    "Art. 5(iii) Defense and diplomacy",
    "Art. 5(iv) Public safety",
    "Art. 5(i) Personal information"
  ],
  "portal": "https://www.e-gov.go.jp",
  "turnaround_notes": "In September 2020 the Defense Minister ordered SDF units to record and report unidentified aerial objects and preserve imagery — that instruction created the record class worth asking for.",
  "quirks": null,
  "sources": [
    {
      "label": "e-Gov 法令検索 — Act No. 42 of 1999",
      "url": "https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/411AC0000000042",
      "status": "blocked",
      "checked_at": "2026-08-31"
    }
  ],
  "text": null,
  "text_note": null,
  "agencies": [
    {
      "slug": "jp-mod",
      "name": "Ministry of Defense (Japan)",
      "local_name": "防衛省 (Bōei-shō)",
      "abbr": "MOD",
      "jurisdiction": "foreign",
      "state": null,
      "state_name": null,
      "country": "Japan",
      "country_code": "JP",
      "category": "defense",
      "agency_type": "ministry",
      "parent": null,
      "parent_name": null,
      "url": "https://aletheca.com/agencies/jp-mod",
      "website": "https://www.mod.go.jp",
      "reading_room": null,
      "subject_to_foia": true,
      "law": {
        "id": "jp-joho-kokai",
        "citation": "Act No. 42 of 1999",
        "statutory_days": 30,
        "business_days": false,
        "appeal_deadline_days": 90
      },
      "intake": [
        {
          "channel": "portal",
          "detail": "https://www.e-gov.go.jp",
          "label": "e-Gov electronic disclosure request",
          "verified": false,
          "verification": "unverified",
          "verification_source": null,
          "last_checked": null,
          "automatable": false,
          "preferred": false,
          "reliability": null,
          "instructions": null
        },
        {
          "channel": "mail",
          "detail": "Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of Defense, 5-1 Honmura-cho, Ichigaya, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8801",
          "label": "Postal mail",
          "verified": false,
          "verification": "unverified",
          "verification_source": null,
          "last_checked": null,
          "automatable": false,
          "preferred": false,
          "reliability": null,
          "instructions": null
        }
      ],
      "submission_readiness": null,
      "holdings": [
        "Post-2020 SDF reporting on unidentified aerial objects, ordered by the Defense Minister in September 2020",
        "Air Self-Defense Force scramble and radar incident records",
        "Correspondence on UAP information-sharing with the United States"
      ],
      "tips": [
        "Name the September 2020 ministerial instruction on unidentified aerial objects — it created the record class worth asking for.",
        "Requests carry a ¥300 fee and answers issue in Japanese; budget for translation."
      ],
      "tracking": "Disclosure request number issued by the ministry's disclosure office.",
      "confidence": "high",
      "source": "Hand-compiled international layer. Bodies and statutes are real; contact routes are inferred unless marked verified, and none has yet been proven by a delivered letter."
    }
  ]
}