On Friday, Japan’s age of consent was raised from 13, one of the world’s lowest, to 16 years old as parliament ratified crucial sex crime legislation revisions.
The revisions, which also clarify rape prosecution standards and criminalize voyeurism, were approved unanimously by parliament’s upper house.
Campaigners welcomed the reforms, with the Tokyo-based group Human Rights Now calling them “a big step forward”.
The lifting of the age of consent in particular will “send a message to society that sexual violence by adults against children is unacceptable”, the group said in a statement.
The age of consent — below which sexual activity is considered statutory rape — is 16 in Britain, 15 in France, and 14 in Germany and China.
Japan’s had been unchanged since 1907, with children aged 13 and above deemed capable of consent.
In practice, however, across many parts of the country regional ordinances banning “lewd” acts with minors were sometimes seen as effectively raising the age of consent to 18.
Under the new law, teen couples no more than five years apart in age will be exempt from prosecution if both partners are over 13.
Japan last revised its criminal code on sexual offenses in 2017, for the first time in more than a century, but campaigners said the reforms were insufficient.
And in 2019, a string of acquittals in rape cases triggered nationwide rallies.
Under the previous law, prosecutors had to prove victims were incapacitated due to violence and intimidation.
Critics argued that requirement effectively blamed victims for not resisting enough.