It was superseded by the general corporation (一般社団法人, ippan shadan hōjin) on December 1, 2008.
Prior to the enforcement of the law on April 1, 2002, excepting the labor union whose establishing rules were regulated under specific laws, voluntary groups such as a condo association board and hobby club were operated under informal agreements and their assets were registered with one or more of group members.
While they could be reclaimed through a civil suit, this does not resolve the problem of the ownership of assets.
The intermediary corporation and its associated laws were designed to protect the group's assets while limiting the potential of lawsuits against individual members.
Limited liability intermediary corporations (有限責任中間法人, yūgen sekinin chūkan hōjin) were designed to resemble yūgen kaisha (limited companies) in formation and function, while unlimited liability intermediary corporations (無限責任中間法人, mugen sekinin chūkan hōjin) were closer to gomei kaisha (general partnership corporations).