The Japanese government enacted a bill lowering the age of adulthood from 20 to 18, but the legal age of drinking will stay fixed at 20. This measure is aimed at encouraging the participation of young people in the society in the face of a rapidly ageing population in the country.

The new law is in line with the one already approved by the Parliament, or Diet, in June 2015, which reduced the minimum voting age from 20 to 18, the largest electoral reform in the country since 1945. It's the first time the age of adulthood has been changed in Japan since it was set in 1876.

The measure, set to come into effect in April 2022, would allow young people over the age of 18 to marry without parental consent and the law also raises the legal marriageable age for women from 16 to 18.

They'll also be able to apply for credit cards and make loans without parental approval and, if they want, they can obtain a passport valid for 10 years. Currently, minors are only allowed passports valid for five years, and need a parent or guardian's signature.

As part of the lowering of the adulthood age, revisions have been made to more than 20 laws, including those on nationality and certain professional qualifications such as being a chartered accountant.

Those who have been diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder will be able to apply to have their gender legally changed at the age of 18.

This reform puts Japan’s age of adulthood at par with most other democratic countries in the world.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made tackling the problem of Japan’s shrinking population a priority and the change in the age of adulthood is a step to manage that. But experts say averting the looming demographic crisis is virtually impossible.

The population is forecast to fall to about 83 million by 2100 from today’s 127 million, with 35% of Japanese aged over 65, according to the United Nations. Even if the birth rate rose from 1.4 children per woman to Abe’s target of 1.8 and Japan accepted more immigrants, it would be difficult to prevent a fall below 100 million.

An ageing population compounds the difficulties of keeping the country’s economy growing because getting growth from an ageing, shrinking society is hard to do.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 15, 2018 06:06 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).