The Diet on Wednesday passed a package of amendments that — for the first time in 140 years — includes a measure lowering the definition of adulthood to 18 years old from the current age of 20 but keeps the legal age for drinking, smoking and gambling unchanged at 20.
In addition, the package includes a revision to the Nationality Act, which currently obliges those with multiple citizenship to choose one by the age of 22. The revision moves the deadline to 20.
It also changes the age when a foreign adult qualifies to be naturalized in Japan to 18 from 20.