Japan Age of Adulthood Lowered to 18 Beginning in 2022

Japan's age of adulthood will be lowered from 20 to 18 beginning in 2022, according to a bill passed by the government on Tuesday.

The move would allow both men and women to get married and to sign other contracts without parental consent at age 18, the BBC reported. It is the first time since 1876 that the laws about adulthood would be changed in Japan.

Under the existing law, men could get married with their parents' consent at age 18 and women at age 16. Lawmakers decided to make the age 18 for all because they didn't find any justifiable reason for the different ages, Kyodo News reported.

In addition, the number of 16- and 17-year-old girls getting married has dropped, Kyodo News reported. Adults under 20 would still not be allowed to drink, smoke or gamble, the law said.

To prevent young people from being taken advantage of, the bill added provisions to allow cancellations of contracts if the person believes they were pressured or manipulated into signing, the BBC reported.

The Education and Justice Ministries also plan to educate teens about the law changes and their new responsibilities, the BBC reported.

Twitter users thought the rule changes made sense for the most part.

Adulthood to start at 18 in Japan but, legal age for drinking, smoking & gambling to be 20. This is a good way of protecting vulnerable youth, maybe, other countries could learn.

— Ja Ne Nicholas (@islandjenx) March 13, 2018

Very nearly the same as the US then.

— Twearthling™ (@anla500) March 13, 2018

Adulthood isn't an age. There are 10 yo people that are MORE adult than some who are 70 or 80+ .

— Steve Gehrman (@riffles50) March 13, 2018

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