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Summary of legal ages in Japan
Here is an interesting summary of legal ages, some from the
Interpol version of the May 1999 Law on Punishing Acts
related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and on Protecting Children. That site also contains references to a number of other laws relating to sexual abuse
of children.
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Definition of a child - For
the purpose of this Law, a 'child' means a person under the age of 18 years.
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Age of majority - The
Article 3 of the Japanese Civil Code states that the age of majority is twenty
(20) years old.
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Age of suffrage, i.e. voting - same as age of majority, 20.
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Driving age - 20.
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Age of consent for sexual
activity - The Article 177 of the Penal Code puts the age of consent for sexual activity at thirteen (13) years under Japanese national law. But many prefectures and municipalities have their own laws which often set the age to 16 or 17.
So the age varies from 13 to 17 depending on where you are. (Source) (Source)
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Age of consent for marriage -
Articles 731 and 737 of the Civil Code provides that the age of consent
for marriage is eighteen (18) years for men, and sixteen (16) for women. But
when a minor wants to get married, he or she needs the consent of his or her
parents.
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Age of criminal responsibility - Minimum age at which children are subject to penal law. Age 14, but offenders below age 20 are tried in a family court, rather than in the criminal court
system. (source: Unicef)
Prostitution in Japan
 Japan’s Law No. 118, the 1956 Anti-Prostitution Law (Baishun-bōshi-hō
売春防止法enacted May 24, 1956 in-force April 1, 1958) only prohibits actual sexual intercourse (or sex controlled by organized crime).
The law also defines "sex" as male female intercourse, which means that homosexual prostitution is not strictly illegal.
This also means that the infamous "Deri-Heru" or "Delivery Health" services which regularly place not so discrete advertisements in home mailboxes, as well as Soaplands, Health Massage, etc. are all legal. Why? Because they only advertise
other sexual services, which are not "genital to genital connection". Moving on from this, places that specialize in S&M, or other creative activities like molesting girls in mock schools and office environments (such as the Sexual Harassment
Corporation" whose sign is shown here) are likewise legal. These types of activities are regulated by the Businesses Affecting Public Morals Regulation Law of 1948 (Fūzoku eigyō torishimari hō (風俗営業取締法),
amended in 1985 and 1999.
Tokyo’s “Youth Protection Law” prohibit adults from having
sex only with youths who are under 17 years old. So many .enjo
kyosai (paid dating) clients, typically having sex with high school students 17 and above, cannot be charged with statutory rape. Since the national age of consent is 13, outside Tokyo, sex with children as young as 13 may be legal, unless
there are local laws prohibiting it. Likewise, the "payment" in enjo kyosai is usually very indirect. The man simply claims that giving expensive presents to the young girl he are "dating" is not a payment for the sex they are coincidentally having.
Thus, this activity does not fall under the 1999 national law banning sex with anyone under 18 in exchange for money.
Finally, according to an article in the Mainichi Daily News (Ambiguous
attitudes vex kiddy sex laws), the Anti-Prostitution Law only makes prostitution a crime for the woman selling sex. The male buyer is immune from prosecution.
Other types of sexual services in exchange for money (usually called prostitution anywhere else) which are legal in Japan
Delivery health
Fashion health
Image club
No-pan kissa
Onsen geisha
Pink salon
Soapland
Sumata
Telekura
References
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