Here from the future; they took it back.

I would also like to ask some pointed questions.

They’re working their way towards legalization.

https://apnews.com/article/japan-lgbtq-samesex-marriage-ruling-unconstitutional-3b3052a7ef21740a51a4215238d9c338

True, bit its a step in the right direction. And a surprising one considering the apparent urgency of their falling birthrate.

It’s that in most parts of the West as well. In the end this is just a legal line that has to be drawn somewhere. Ultimately it depends on the maturity of a person, which you cannot really measure or define in a way. 18 or even 21 might be pretty old for some people. 14 or especially 12 on the other hand is too young for probably most teens.

16 is the average for most US states, and IIRC, most European countries. Also, the practical AOC in Japan was generally higher because it was mostly dictated by like city/region laws instead of “federal” (national?) law.

That’s the age of consent in the UK

Tell that to half of Europe.

Basically they raised it to the lowest allowed by almost all prefectures. If I remember correctly, only one went below 13. But that might have been an uninhabited island. It’s a step in the right direction, and now weirdos won’t have something to point to.

Tbh this was my thought as well, and I don’t care if it’s like that in other parts of the world. Imo lower ages of consent simply enable predators.

13 makes that really obvious, 16 may make it more ambiguous to some, but try to remember when you were 16, maybe you were just getting a summer job or something adult-like, yet you were probably still foolish and naive about many things. You may have thought you wanted to get right out there into adulthood, even more than at 13, and that’s exactly what some assholes are interested in taking advantage of.