The age change means 18-year-olds will be able to marry and apply for loans, but will still have to wait until 20 to drink or gamble

Japan has lowered the age of adulthood from 20 to 18, but young people who reach the milestone when the change goes into effect in 2022 won’t be able to celebrate with a few glasses of sake. At least not legally.



The revision to the civil code, the first of its kind for more than 140 years, will allow all 18-year-olds to marry without their parents’ consent. Currently, men aged 18 and women aged 16 can marry, but only with the permission of both sets of parents.

They will also be able to apply for credit cards and loans, and obtain a passport valid for 10 years. Transgender men and women over 18 will be able to apply to courts to have their gender officially recognised.

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But the newly recognised adults will indulge in some rites of passage at their own risk: they will still have to wait until they are 20 to drink, smoke and bet on Japan’s four legalised forms of gambling: horse, bicycle, motorcycle and motorboat races.

The change has created confusion over the annual Coming of age day, when men and women who have turned 20 during the previous 12 months put on their finest kimono, attend ceremonies and celebrate with their first legal drink.



Local media reported on concerns over the effect the new law could have on Japan’s already ailing kimono industry if ceremonies are held for those who have turned 18 rather than 20.

The coming of age celebration, held on the second Monday of January, falls around the time that many 18-year-olds are cramming for university entrance exams.

Hidemitsu Miyamoto, the president of a kimono shop, was among those who feared teenagers would be too preoccupied with their academic futures to attend the ceremony, meaning they won’t need to rent or buy one of the expensive garments.

“The coming of age ceremony has been something of a final stronghold for our industry’s survival at a time when fewer and fewer people wear kimono, presenting what is perhaps the only opportunity for young people, especially women, to wear the attire,” Miyamoto told the Japan Times.

The change in the law, first suggested by the justice ministry in 2009, is intended to encourage young people’s participation in society and the economy, especially in light of the growing number of people aged 65 and over.

Japan lowered the voting age from 20 to 18 in 2015, giving 2.4 million teenagers the right to vote in upper house elections the following year.</s>The Japanese government enacted a bill Wednesday lowering the age of adulthood from 20 to 18, but teenagers beware: the legal age of drinking will stay fixed at 20.

The change, the first of its kind in 142 years, will allow 18-year-olds to take out credit cards and loans, apply for a passport that's valid for 10 years as opposed to five, and marry without parental consent.

Currently, men aged 18 and women aged 16 are able to marry, but must first seek parental consent.

The revision to the civil code, which is due to take effect from April 1, 2022, won't alter the legal age of drinking, smoking or gambling, however, owing to health concerns.

A combination of falling birth rates and improving life expectancy across Japan has resulted in a progressively shrinking, and aging population.

By 2060, the country's population is expected to plummet to 86.74 million from its current total of 126.26 million, according to a projection by the Japanese Health Ministry.

But fewer workers paying taxes, means less money to support a growing aging population in need of pensions and healthcare services.

"Given Japan's aging society and the growing budget deficit, there's a need for the young to increase tax payments," said Jeff Kingston, Asian Studies director at Japan's Temple University.

"Lowering the age of adulthood could be a way to convince them that they have a stake and voice in society," he added.

In 2015, the government changed the voting age from 20 to 18. That move, coupled with Wednesday's revisions, indicate an increased attempt within the government to make young people more aware of their responsibilities.

"Voting rates aren't that high in Japan so this could be a PR move by the government and a way for them to woo young people to think about their role in the political conversation," said Kingston.

But observers also suggested that the move to lower the age of adulthood could have an additional political dimension.

"Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to revise the peace constitution, but to do that he needs a majority 'yes' in a referendum," Keiko Yonaha, a researcher at Meio University in Okinawa, Japan, told CNN.

Japan's hawkish prime minister, has long advocated a revision to Japan's pacifist constitution, which currently states that Japan renounces war and will not maintain air, land or sea forces for non-defensive purposes.

Yonaha feared that younger adults in Japan were not mature enough to consider the political implications of their votes, and could be easily swayed by the government agenda.

On Twitter, however, users appeared more worried by the effect the revision would have on Japan's Coming of Age Day, a holiday held in January where 20-year-olds dress up in traditional kimonos to celebrate adulthood.

"Everything is so expensive when you're 18, it would be impossible to have a kimono then," one Twitter user lamented.</s>Japan is set to change its coming of age from 20 to 18 as part of measures aimed at revitalising the country's ageing population.

The new law, which is set to take effect in 2022, will see millions of Japanese youths declared adults by statute two years earlier than their elders.

But unfortunately for the new wave of grown-ups - the change still won't leave them eligible to drink or buy cigarettes.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party said the move is intended to spark a population boom amid fears of an age crisis on the island nation.

The law aims to combat this by allowing Japanese to get married from the age of 18 without parental consent.

Under the new rules, they'll also be able to apply for credit cards and make loans without parental approval and, if they want, they can obtain a passport valid for 10 years - all moves aimed at making youngsters more independent.

Commentators have claimed Japan is sitting on a 'demographic time bomb' as fewer and fewer marriages and births are recorded every year.

Mary Brinton, a Harvard sociologist, told Business Insider that the nation is facing 'the death of the family'.

'An aging population will mean higher costs for the government, a shortage of pension and social security-type funds, a shortage of people to care for the very aged, slow economic growth, and a shortage of young workers,' Brinton said.

Forecasters have predicted that nation's population is predicted to tumble from just over 127 million in 2015 to 88 million in 2065 at the current rate.

Worrying figures have sparked a frenzy of activity among the Japanese political class as the government, under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, tries to fight back the tide of the declining populace.

Currently, males over the age of 18 and females 16 and over can marry - but only with the say-so of their parents. Otherwise you need to be 20.

As part of the lowering of the adulthood age, revisions have been made to more than 20 laws, including those on nationality and certain professional qualifications such as being a chartered accountant.

According to politicians, the change represents first time the age of adulthood has been altered since it was set in 1876.</s>The Diet on Wednesday enacted a law to revise the Civil Code and lower the age of adulthood to 18 from 20, with the aim of spurring social participation by youth in rapidly aging Japan.

The revised Civil Code, which will take effect in April 2022, will change the definition of an adult, enabling 18- and 19-year-olds to marry without parental consent.

Males aged 18 and older and females aged 16 and older in Japan can currently marry, but parental consent is required for people under 20. The revision will also lift the legal age of marriage for women to 18.

In line with the lowering of the adulthood age, revisions will be made to 22 related laws including those on nationality and passports, but people under 20 will still be prohibited from drinking alcohol, smoking and gambling.

A Civil Code clause that allows the cancellation of contracts concluded by minors without the consent of parents or legal representatives no longer applies to 18- and 19-year-olds. The Diet enacted on Friday a revised consumer contract law to protect young consumers deemed more vulnerable to fraud.

The revision allows a contract cancellation if a seller exerts undue pressure or influence on a consumer to enter into a transaction.

Opposition lawmakers had opposed the Civil Code revision, citing a lack of discussions and insufficient measures to protect consumers.</s>Japan’s upper house of parliament on Wednesday enacted a law to revise the current Civil Code and lower the legal age of adulthood from 20 to 18.

The move comes as the Japanese government continues to grapple with the nation’s demographic crisis as the population here continues to rapidly age and simultaneously shrink.

The government believes that the demographic crisis can be partly mitigated if more younger members can become active contributors to society.

One of the major changes that has been brought about with the enacted changes to the Civil Code and laws, which will be actualised in April 2022 as the government plans, is that those aged 18 and 19 years old will legally be able to marry without parental consent.

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Prior to the law’s enactment, males aged 18 years old and over and females aged 16 years and older could marry in Japan, but parental consent was required by law for all persons marrying under the age of 20.

Under the new adulthood changes, the legal age for women marrying has also been raised to 18.

More than 20 related laws have been passed with the lowering of the adulthood age, but the current laws pertaining to the prohibition of drinking alcohol, smoking and gambling by people aged under 20 years old, have been kept in place.</s>The Japanese Parliament Wednesday approved a bill to lower the age of adulthood from 20 to 18 years, a measure aimed at encouraging the participation of young people in society in the face of a rapidly ageing population.

The measure, set to come into effect in April 2022, would allow young people over the age of 18 to marry without parental consent, although the legal age for drinking alcohol, smoking or gambling would continue to be 20.</s>The Japanese Parliament on Wednesday approved a bill to lower the age of adulthood from 20 to 18 years, a measure aimed at encouraging the participation of young people in the society in the face of a rapidly ageing population.The measure, set to come into effect in April 2022, would allow young people over the age of 18 to marry without parental consent, although the legal age for drinking alcohol, smoking or gambling would continue to be 20, Efe news reported.Men above 18 and women over the age of 16 were already allowed to get married in Japan with parental consent, but the new measure eliminates this clause and also raises the legal marriageable age for women to 18.The new law is in line with the one already approved by the Parliament, or Diet , in June 2015, which reduced the minimum voting age from 20 to 18, the largest electoral reform in the country since 1945, putting it at par with most other democratic countries.Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa, following her vote in the Diet's Upper House, highlighted the significance of the new law that will empower those above 18 years of age to make their own life choices.There will also be reviews of 22 other laws related to nationality and the issuance of passports.The Diet last week also approved an amendment in the consumer contract law to protect vulnerable young consumers from economic fraud, so that transactions in which the seller exerts some kind of pressure on the consumer even if they are above 18, could be cancelled.
Japan lowers the age of adulthood from 20 to 18, with the changes coming into effect in 2022. The revision to Japan's civil code means that 18-year-olds will be able to marry without their parents' consent, apply for credit cards and loans, and transgender people will be able to have their new gender officially recognised. The change causes confusion and concern regarding the kimono industry and Coming of Age Day.