JAPAN has decided to lower its age of adulthood from 20 to 18 years as it tries encourage more active social participation by youths.
The government is expected to revise its Civil Code in April by changing the legal definition of an adult and it marks the first time it will do so in over 140 years.
Kyodo News reports that this will open up new freedoms and responsibilities for 18 and 19 year olds, although there are concerns that they may fall victims to scams due to their inexperience.
This is because as adults, they are allowed to enter into consumer contracts without parental consent.
This has raised some concerns as the revision strips the protection that allows a minor's contracts to be canceled by their guardians.
However, the government has reassured that measures will be in place to allow adults to nullify unscrupulous contracts as part of a revised law.
There will also be amendments to Japan's Juvenile Law as it will impose stricter punishments for 18 and 19-year-old criminal offenders.
The revision will see an expansion on the range of crimes where they can be referred to prosecutors from family courts and tried as adults.
At present, only murder is considered a criminal charge for minors but the amendments will see some crimes punishable with a minimum of one year in jail, such as robbery or rape.
The revision will also allow media to reveal the full names and faces of 18 and 19-year-old offenders.
To keep up with the amendment in the age, numerous laws including those on passports, national licenses and jury duty will also be revised.
However despite the age change, those under 20 years will still be prohibited from drinking alcohol, smoking and gambling.
The Kyodo report said that the revision will also raise the legal age of marriage for women to 18.
Currently, males aged 18 and older and females aged 16 and older can marry, but parental consent is needed for those under 20 years.
The age of adulthood was set at 20 by the Japanese imperial government in 1876, and was later included in the 1896 Civil Code.
In May 2007, a national referendum law was enacted to establish procedures for amending the Constitution.
It set the minimum eligible age for voting at 18 and included a supplementary provision to review the age of adulthood.
The voting age for elections was lowered to 18 in an amendment to the public election law in June 2016.