What law changed Japan's age of majority from 20 to 18 in 2022 and how does it affect adult industry regulations?

1. How a Civil Code Rewrite Quietly Reset Adulthood — The Law Behind the Change

Japan’s age of majority was lowered to 18 by an amendment to the Civil Code that became effective on April 1, 2022; the revision reversed a century-and-a-half-old provision that had fixed the age at 20 and was part of a legislative package to expand the autonomy of younger citizens in civil matters. The Civil Code change specifically enables 18- and 19-year-olds to enter binding contracts, lease property, and take certain legal actions without parental consent, aligning Japan with other nations that treat 18 as the threshold for most civil capacities ^{[1] [4]}. Lawmakers framed the change as promoting young people’s participation in economic and social life, while retaining separate statutory regimes for behaviors deemed public-health or public-order issues, which remain subject to different age thresholds ^[2].

2. What Remained Intentionally Unchanged — Limits on Drinking, Smoking, and Gambling

Legislators explicitly left the statutory minimum ages for alcohol, tobacco, and gambling at 20, so lowering the age of majority did not create a blanket adult status for all regulated activities. The Civil Code amendment therefore granted contractual and family-law autonomy to 18- and 19-year-olds but did not dissolve protective limits judged necessary for public health and risk mitigation ^{[4] [2]}. This distinction produced a legal patchwork: individuals are adults for civil law purposes but still minors under many regulatory schemes, which has practical consequences for enforcement and for industries that sell age-restricted goods or services. Observers noted the potential for confusion among businesses and consumers about which age applies where, prompting guidance from ministries and industry groups ^[2].

3. How the Adult-Entertainment Sector Faced Ambiguous Boundaries After 2022

The adult-entertainment and pornography industries operate at the intersection of civil capacity, criminal law, and public morality statutes, so the Civil Code revision did not unilaterally liberalize their regulatory landscape. The amendment allowed 18- and 19-year-olds to sign contracts to work in many sectors, but criminal statutes, age-of-consent reforms, and industry self-regulation define who may lawfully participate in sexual acts or appear in adult material; those legal regimes were amended separately and in some cases retained higher age protections ^{[3] [5]}. As a result, promoters and producers needed to continue rigorous age verification and to consult criminal-law changes in 2022–2023 to ensure they were not facilitating illegal acts or exploiting young workers.

4. The Parallel Track: Sex-offense Reform and Age-of-Consent Changes that Complicated the Picture

Alongside the Civil Code change, Japan moved to reform criminal sex-offense laws, raising the statutory protections for minors and clarifying that sexual intercourse with persons under a raised threshold could be prosecuted regardless of consent. These reforms, enacted in stages after 2022, addressed concerns about exploitation by criminalizing sex with persons under 16 in most cases and shifting statute-of-limitations and consent frameworks, creating legal risk for adult-industry actors even when civil contract capacity existed ^{[3] [5]}. The reformers’ goal was to protect vulnerability and harmonize criminal penalties with modern standards, but the separate timelines and differing age thresholds meant the legal picture for 18- and 19-year-olds remained nuanced and required sector-specific legal assessment ^[6].

5. Competing Views: Empowering Youth vs. Protecting Vulnerable Adults

Advocates of the Civil Code revision argued it empowers young people economically and legally, removing parental bottlenecks for education, housing, and employment decisions and aligning Japan with international norms that recognize 18 as adulthood ^{[7] [4]}. Critics warned that lowering the civil age without harmonizing other protections could expose 18- and 19-year-olds to exploitation in industries that profit from youth, pressing for stronger safeguards, clearer enforcement, and industry compliance standards ^{[4] [5]}. Policymakers responded with targeted statutory exceptions and sectoral guidance, but commentators noted the policy trade-off between autonomy and protective regulation remained contested and evolving after 2022 ^[1].

6. Bottom Line — What Businesses and Citizens Need to Know Now

The Civil Code amendment of April 1, 2022, made 18 the default age of civil majority but did not erase distinct age limits in public-health or criminal law; adult-industry participants must therefore navigate a mosaic of statutes, including post-2022 sex-offense reforms and preexisting prohibitions on alcohol, tobacco, and gambling for those under 20 ^{[1] [3] [2]}. Practical compliance requires due diligence: businesses should rely on up-to-date legal counsel, strict age verification, and awareness of sector-specific criminal provisions, while young people should know that being legally an adult for contracts does not automatically grant access to all adult-regulated activities ^{[2] [4]}.