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Lower Legal Age Presents Quandary Over When To Fete Start Of Adulthood

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TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Many local governments remain undecided on whether coming-of-age ceremonies should continue to be held for people aged 20 after the legal adult age is lowered to 18 in April 2022 following a revision to the Civil Code.

Many municipal governments hold coming-of-age ceremonies, mainly on the second Monday of January, which is designated as the public holiday Coming-of-Age Day.

According to a Justice Ministry survey of 1,037 municipalities last year, only 6.5% said they have decided on the age for qualifying to take part in coming-of-age ceremonies after the lowering of the adult age.

Most, including the city of Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, said the ceremonies will continue to be held for 20-year-olds.

“Many people aged 18 are third-year students at high school, and January, when the ceremony is held, is a crucial period in which they are in the homestretch in their study for university entrance exams or in job-hunting activities, preparing the way for their future paths,” an official in charge of the ceremony at the Warabi municipal government said.

“Not all of the rights granted to adults would be given to people as soon as they turn 18 after the adult age under the Civil Code is lowered, and the age of 20 will therefore remain an important milestone,” the official said. Warabi is believed to be the first municipality that held a coming-of-age ceremony.

Meanwhile, Sakae Okamoto, mayor of Iga, Mie Prefecture, said at a municipal assembly meeting last month that his city’s coming-of-age ceremony will be held for people aged 18.

An official of the Iga government said the ceremony is an opportunity to confirm that people reaching the adult age will start to be treated as adults in society. “Our fiscal 2022 coming-of-age ceremony will probably be held jointly for people aged 18-20,” the official added.

Haruhiko Tanaka, a former professor at Sophia University’s Faculty of Human Sciences, suggested that municipalities do not necessarily have to stick to the age of 20, saying that it “will no longer be a milestone in life once the legal basis is lost” after the provision lowering the adult age takes effect.

Holding coming-of-age ceremonies for people aged 19 could be one idea, Tanaka said, pointing out that the number of 19-year-olds who need to take university entrance exams would be relatively small.

He also pointed out that many participants would be dressed in school uniforms if the ceremonies were held for 18-year-olds, a situation that would frustrate businesses related to kimono, which are currently favored by many coming-of-age ceremony participants.

On social media, opinions suggesting support for the status quo to be maintained have been posted, mainly by young people and parents. One said, “It’s not good that coming-of-age ceremonies would take place during the [university] entrance exam season,” and another said, “The age of 20 is a good milestone.”

Meanwhile, one opinion in favor of the events being held for 18-year-olds noted, “There will no longer be cases in which coming-of-age ceremonies are ruined by drunken participants.”

Even after the lowering of the defined adult age to 18, the legal age for drinking, as well as for smoking and publicly managed gambling such as horse and bicycle racing, will be kept at 20, due to concerns over possible addiction and health problems.
 

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