Japan to lower legal adult age to 18 in 2022 at earliest

December 29, 2017

Tokyo- The Japanese government has decided to introduce legislation to revise the Civil Code and lower Japan's legal adult age from 20 to 18 to next year's ordinary parliamentary session set to start in January.

The government is slated to remove an Imperial House Law clause setting the age of majority for the Emperor at 18. It also plans to submit 24 bills related to the Civil Code, informed sources said.

The Imperial House Law stipulates that the age of adulthood for the Emperor and Crown Prince is 18.

Once the majority age for the Emperor and Crown Prince matches the adult age set by the Civil Code, there would be no need for specifying the adult age in the law for the Imperial Family, people familiar with the matter said.

If those bills are enacted during the upcoming ordinary session, they are expected to take effect as early as 2022.

After the adult age is lowered to 18, those aged 18 and 19 who are financially independent will be able to conclude lease contracts and purchase cars without consent from their parents. Jiji Press