For some reason, social media in Japan started talking about the scene where Misato Katsuragi kiss a shinji ikari in the history of Neon Genesis Evangelion. It all came up when a fan commented on it: «Now that I’m the same age as Misato Katsuragi, I realized that a 29-year-old woman kissing a high school boy like Shinji Ikari and making sexual advances on him is fucking crazy.».
And on this, the Livedoor News medium decided to investigate about it. If such a situation happened in real life, how would it be handled legally in Japan? The outlet interviewed lawyer Kariya Ryuta about this situation:
- Is it legal for an adult and a high school student to have a relationship?
- Although the term “dating” can refer to various types of relationship, at least the prefectural youth protection and education ordinances do not prohibit adults from meeting alone with high school students. This would mean that if they are in a serious relationship, the relationship itself is legally recognized. It means that the right of self-determination to choose a partner for a serious relationship is respected, even for high school students.
- However, as minors, high school students are eligible to receive custody and education from persons with parental authority, and persons with parental authority have a duty to strive for the good upbringing of their children. Therefore, the law adopts the attitude of respecting the right of minors to self-determination, while establishing certain limits to their behavior for their healthy development. This is based on the idea of protecting minors by restricting them by law, since they are not mentally or physically mature.
- However, the law also does not limit the minor’s right to make decisions about it to the point that there is no right answer about who they can like and who they can associate with. On the other hand, the prefectural youth protection and education ordinances impose penalties for allowing a person under the age of 18 (youth) to go out late at night (11:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m.) without reason. justified. Thus, dating that involves going out is considered detrimental to the healthy development of young people.
- Is sexual activity between an adult and a high school student legally allowed?
- The legal assessment of sexual activity with high school students depends on their actual age and the nature of the sexual activity. (1) If the minor is under 13 years of age, even if consent has been given, there is a very high possibility that indecent acts such as kissing or intentional touching will be criminalized as indecent assault, while sexual intercourse, anal intercourse or oral intercourse are classified as a crime of forced sexual relations. This would include 12-year-old boys and girls who have just started secondary school.
- (2) If the minor is between the ages of 13 and 18, the prefectural youth protection and education ordinances impose penalties on persons who engage in “indecent sexual relations or acts similar to sexual relations” with a minor (youth) under 18 years of age.
- The term “lascivious” is defined here as “sexual intercourse or acts similar to sexual intercourse performed by unfair means that take advantage of a youth’s physical or mental immaturity, such as seducing, intimidating, conning, or misleading, or in a manner that can only be considered as treating the youth as a mere object to satisfy one’s own sexual desires“. This means that not all sexual acts against youth are prohibited.
- In practice, various circumstances are taken into account, such as the age of each party and the circumstances leading up to the sexual relationship, to determine whether it can be said to be detrimental to the healthy development of the young person. For example, if the young person’s parents are properly greeted and explained and the relationship is sincere and based on the premise of marriage, sexual acts that take place in the context of the relationship may not be detrimental to the healthy development of the young person. and may be allowed.
- However, since article 731 of the Civil Code stipulates that the legal age of marriage is 16 years or older for girls and 18 years or older for boys, cases where sexual acts with high school students are considered to be very rare (usually 12-15 years old) they were carried out in the context of a sincere relationship and can be considered as not impairing their healthy development. As adults, both men and women, it is extremely important to be aware that we are in a position to respect the personality of minors for their healthy development, and act accordingly.
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