hi! i'm sorry, i was recently made aware of your statement here, and while i'm not comfortable being non-anon, i wanted to make sure you guys know japan's actual status, because this ruling makes me personally uncomfortable.
japan's age of consent at 13 is a minimum as defined in its national criminal code. this is a well known fact, mostly because it sounds ridiculous. however, two things need to be appreciated here: 1) this isn't actually the JP age of consent, and 2) prefectures typically raise this to 16-18 using "obscenity statutes"/"corruption of minors" laws.
essentially, compare this to US minimum wage. there is a minimum as defined by national law; state law cannot make minimum wage lower than national law, but it can raise it above national law.
tokyo, for reference, has an age of consent of 17 years old, as defined by its Youth Protection Law, according to this super old article.
however, in 1947, the Child Welfare Act was passed. here's the translation, and it basically defines "children" as persons under the age of 18, and then goes on to say in Article 34: "No person shall commit an act listed in any of the following items: [...] (vi)　Cause a child to commit an obscene act;".
there's nuance in the laws and the history of them, but the short version is that no average citizen in japan would say that the age of 13 is the real age of consent. it's much closer to 16-18 like most of the rest of the world, at least based on the research i've done.
i would appreciate if you could respond with an update, as this personally concerns me.
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japan's age of consent at 13 is a minimum as defined in its national criminal code. this is a well known fact, mostly because it sounds ridiculous. however, two things need to be appreciated here: 1) this isn't actually the JP age of consent, and 2) prefectures typically raise this to 16-18 using "obscenity statutes"/"corruption of minors" laws.
essentially, compare this to US minimum wage. there is a minimum as defined by national law; state law cannot make minimum wage lower than national law, but it can raise it above national law.
tokyo, for reference, has an age of consent of 17 years old, as defined by its Youth Protection Law, according to this super old article.
however, in 1947, the Child Welfare Act was passed. here's the translation, and it basically defines "children" as persons under the age of 18, and then goes on to say in Article 34: "No person shall commit an act listed in any of the following items: [...] (vi)　Cause a child to commit an obscene act;".
there's nuance in the laws and the history of them, but the short version is that no average citizen in japan would say that the age of 13 is the real age of consent. it's much closer to 16-18 like most of the rest of the world, at least based on the research i've done.
i would appreciate if you could respond with an update, as this personally concerns me.
thank you