Japan lowered the age of adulthood to 18, and the age of marriage for women was raised to 18.

　　Xinhua News Agency, Tokyo, May 29 (Reporter Wang Kejia, Jiang Qiaomei) On the 29th, the plenary session of the Japanese House of Representatives passed a series of relevant legal amendments, such as the Civil Law, which lowered the legal age of majority to 18. This series of legal amendments will be sent to the Senate for deliberation and voting.

　　The main contents of the above amendments to the Civil Law are to lower the legal age of majority from 20 to 18, and to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 16 to 18. In order to cope with this change, the Japanese government also proposed to amend 22 related laws, such as the Nationality Law and the Passport Law, in the Annex to the Amendment of the Civil Law.

　　A series of revised bills will allow Japanese people over the age of 18 to apply for loans, credit cards and other contracts without the consent of guardians. However, considering health and other related factors, the government will still maintain the minimum age limit of smoking, drinking and participating in horse racing at 20.

　　According to Japanese media reports, under the background of increasing problems such as declining birthrate and aging in Japanese society, the main purpose of the Japanese government to lower the legal age of majority is to encourage young people to actively participate in social activities. However, there are also some opposition party members who oppose the revision of relevant laws, arguing that "the current government’s protection policy for young people is not perfect, and lowering the legal age of adult may have a negative impact" and "there is no need to rush to lower the legal age of adult".

　　According to reports, once the revised bill is passed in the Senate, it is expected to take effect from April 2022.