Door latch with damped bolt return

A door latch mechanism includes a bolt 38, a spring 43 attached to the bolt for urging the same in a direction toward a lock state, a lock release operation piece 48 linked to the bolt for moving it in a direction toward a lock release state against a force of the spring when a lock release operation is performed, and a damping device 20 for applying a damping force to the bolt 38 when the lock release operation is canceled. The damping device 20 returns the bolt 38 to the lock state when the lock release operation is canceled. The lock release operation piece 48 is not moved by the bolt 38 when an external force is applied to the bolt in the lock state.