Land and House Surveyor Examination study guide
Land and House Surveyor Examination · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Land and House Surveyor Examination (土地家屋調査士試験) is the Japanese national examination for the registered professional who prepares and files applications to register land and building descriptions - boundary measurements, parcel area, building floor area and layout - and who supports 境界確定 work between neighbours. Candidates are typically surveying and registration practitioners, legal-affairs staff, and graduates of law, civil engineering or geography who intend to open or join a 土地家屋調査士事務所. The Land and House Surveyor Examination study guide has 10 sections and about 2,713 words.
01Surveying: measurement theory, instruments, error adjustment and field practice
The Surveying domain rewards candidates who can defend a number. Expect traverse computation, angle and distance observation, instrument corrections, error propagation, and the tolerance (較差) rules of 作業規程の準則 as applied to 公共測量.
316 words, about 2 min02Cadastral surveying and land boundary determination (境界確定)
This domain tests whether you can separate three different things: the 筆界 (the registered line between two 一筆の土地), the 所有権界 (where ownership actually ends), and the 公図 (an old, non-authoritative sketch). Only 筆界 can be fixed administratively.
281 words, about 1 min03Real property registration law (不動産登記法) and registration procedure
Expect pure procedure: who applies, with what information, what the 登記官 may examine, and what happens when the application is defective. 共同申請主義 (法60条): registration follows a joint application by the registered right holder and the new right holder.
276 words, about 1 min04Land and building identification (土地家屋の表示に関する登記) and map preparation
The 表示に関する登記 domain covers 表題登記 for land and buildings, 分筆・合筆, 建物の滅失, and the drawings that must accompany them: 地積測量図, 建物図面 and 各階平面図. Land 表題登記 (法37条) and building 表題登記 (法36条) are the owner's duty, within one month of acquiring ownership.
247 words, about 1 min05Civil law relating to land and buildings
Civil law questions test 物権変動, 相隣関係, 地役権, 共有 and 区分所有 - the substantive rules sitting behind every boundary and every 表示登記. 民法176条: ownership transfers by mere agreement (意思主義).
279 words, about 1 min06Public map and cadastral survey statutes (公図・地籍調査)
This domain tests the statutes that actually produce the maps surveyors work from: 国土調査法 (地籍調査) and the rules that turn a 公図 into a modern 地図. The 公図 is the former 土地台帳附属地図, largely Meiji-era, without control points; it shows relative shape, not reliable distance or area.
285 words, about 1 min07Administrative law and procedure applicable to surveyors
Administrative law here means the 処分 a surveyor receives or challenges - 懲戒処分, 筆界特定, 登記官の処分 - and the procedural statutes that govern them. Effects of an 行政行為: 公定力, 不可争力, 執行力.
248 words, about 1 min08Ethics, professional responsibility and practice management
Ethics questions test 土地家屋調査士法, the 会則, and the professional judgments that appear in no measurement manual. 土地家屋調査士法1条 states the profession's role in 表示に関する登記 and 筆界; 品位保持 and 信用維持 are continuing duties, not entry requirements.
261 words, about 1 min09Written descriptive examination (記述式): boundary and area determination
The 記述式 paper is the calculation and drafting test: typically one land problem (求積, 地積測量図, 登記申請書) and one building problem (床面積, 建物図面, 区分建物). 座標法: S = ½ Σ(xᵢyᵢ₊₁ − xᵢ₊₁yᵢ) with vertices taken in order around the parcel.
263 words, about 1 min10Oral examination (口述試験): practical judgment and case reasoning
The 口述試験 is a short oral examination in which examiners probe judgment rather than recall: what you would do, on what authority, and why. Answer in three beats: conclusion, legal basis, application to the facts.
257 words, about 1 min