These are shocking laws that are okay in Japan but illegal around the world. So I've made videos before on things that you can't do in Japan because of Japanese law. Or unknown laws here in Japan that could get you arrested. But this time I wanted to switch things up and show you guys some laws here in Japan that are actually illegal but are illegal in the rest of the world. Many think that Japan is a very strict country and rightfully so. But when here are some of these Japanese laws you may be scratching your head. And to be clear from the start I don't recommend doing any of these things.
I'm not providing legal advice and this is for entertainment only. But like always before I start if you want to see what I'm doing on the daily check out my Instagram account if you guys want to help support the channel then check out my Japan merch. And if you have any questions about Japan or your Japan travels check out my discord community. Oh and let me know in the comments how these laws compare to your country and if you agree or disagree with any of them. Alright let's do this.
Number one age of consent. This one is a much debated topic in Japan today. But the legal age of consent is 13 years old in Japan. And one of the lowest in the world. Age of consent referring to the minimum age at which a person is considered to be capable of giving consent to sexual acts. In fact this has been part of the Japan Penal Code since 1907. More than 100 years without change. Interestingly most prefectures in Japan have statues and local ordinances that raise effective age to between 16 and 18 years old. While at the same time leaving some grey area for specific cases. At the end of the day though the national age of consent in Japan is 13 years old.
Number two marrying cousins. On somewhat of a lighter note it's legal in Japan to marry your first cousin. Like many of these laws in the video it may be legal in some countries or if you're from the US and your state. But the truth is in other parts of the world that marrying your first cousin is still against the law. So I thought this one was worth mentioning. This law dates all the way back to Japan's Meiji period when it was passed in 1898. It's common enough in Japan that there's a word for it. Itako kon. In fact there have been many famous and well known people in Japan who have married their first cousin. For example Japan's 56th Prime Minister who's a grandfather of Japan's more recent Prime Minister Abe was married to his first cousin. There were even two prime ministers after him who were also married to their first cousin. One of the reasons for this law was to allow families to keep their wealth within their family. Fortunately for those living in Japan today who also want to legally spend the rest of their life with their first cousin Japan is all for it.
Number three defamation. So this is an interesting one. In Japan you can sue someone for defamation if they damage your honor a.k.a. public image even if the statements are true. This one kind of blew my mind since I'm from the US and we understand defamation to be the oral or written communication of a false statement about another that unjustly harms their reputation and usually constitutes a tort or crime. But in Japan hurting someone's honor or even hurting a company's honor is protected by law. Despite the statements being true I should note though that many laws in Japan leave a lot of gray area but the main three criteria for defamation in Japan is one the statement is shared with the general public. Two it reveals specific facts whether true or not and three damages one's honor either socially their value or how they value themselves. So for example telling your co-workers or the public that your married boss is having a fair with someone even though it's completely true is considered defamation in Japan. Even online statements if the three previously mentioned criteria are met can be considered defamation.
There are exceptions though such that you're stating facts about public interest or you're a whistleblower to expose company fraud but at the end of the day the Japanese law is to protect individuals and companies from malicious actors that intend to do their honor or image harm. Here are two examples that actually happened in Japan case one in 2018 a person was having a fair and it was posted on social media by a third party although the fair was happening the person sued the third party for defamation. The Tokyo district court judged for the plaintiff and was awarded a hundred thousand yen about eight hundred and twenty u.s. dollars today and case two a quasi rape incident occurred in an event circle. Quasi rape by Japanese definition is a crime of committing sexual intercourse anal intercourse oral sex with another who's passed out under the influence of such as alcohol and lost consciousness to resist or was not able to resist.
A magazine published an anonymous report about the incident without giving the subject's real name. In this case although the incident happened and the subject was anonymous in the report the court still awarded for the subject as it was judged that the subject could be identified by judging the totality of the circumstances and received a total of 4.4 million yen for defamation damages about 36,000 US dollars. Maybe not necessarily legal around the world but I thought this one was worth mentioning. So yeah if you're in Japan and someone's talking that chis you may be able to do something about it.
Before I continue on I want to give a quick shout out to my regular sponsor BookSoup. If you all don't already know BookSoup write a gourmet experience of Japanese snacks and tea pairings delivered to your front door. They work with traditional Japanese factories some over a hundred years old to provide you with authentic Japanese flavors and each multi box has its own unique theme so you get new snacks each and every time. First time users will get a season of Japan box and after that you'll get a theme box like this one. These boxes are so awesome you get this nice booklet that takes you through each snack as well as extra information about Japan and Japanese culture.
You get 10 to 25 snacks in your box depending on the package you choose and they're all handpicked from all over Japan to deliver you unique and local Japanese flavors. So get $15 off your own authentic Japanese subscription snack box from BookSoup by using my code PALA15 and link in the description. Number 4 food. Now this one is quite a sensitive topic for many people so I'm going to try to tread lightly. In Japan hunting whale and dolphins as well as eating seal and sea lion is completely legal although it's part of the diet for some Japanese it's probably safe to say that most don't eat it regularly yet it's still easily found in shops and some restaurants.
Even a quick search on Amazon will yield results for some of these animals. On the other hand shark fin also legal to eat in Japan probably more commonly eaten and I think it's fair to say that many Japanese consider it a delicious food as it's easily found on menus probably most commonly found in Chinese restaurants throughout Japan but since it's such an expensive delicacy here Japanese probably won't be eating it regularly. In regards to whaling specifically Joji Morista who negotiated Japan's withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission said in Japan the whale eating issue is a symbol of respect for different cultures and many people in Japan think it's not right for people from outside to impose food culture on other places whether you agree with any of this or not the simple fact is at this time it's legal to eat these foods here in Japan and number five cigarettes.
So these days we all pretty much know that cigarettes are not that good for you. Many places around the world have lost protecting citizens including children from cigarettes and secondhand smoke but Japan although not there yet is slowly catching up there are still things that you can do legally here in Japan when it comes to cigarettes that aren't necessarily legal in other parts of the world. In Japan you can still buy cigarettes from vending machines granted you have a TASPO photo ID card and Europe age. Also although most indoor smoking as of 2020 has been prohibited you can still smoke in hotel rooms cigar bars and even some small size restaurants and bars that were opened before April 2020. I don't know though I feel like there's still a lot of restaurants and bars all throughout Japan that were opened before 2020. Either way Japan has come a long way from where it was just a few years ago when wherever you went indoors you can pretty much smoke inside.
Anyways those are things that you can legally do in Japan that may be illegal in other parts of the world.
无论如何,在日本你可以合法做的事情可能在世界其他地方是非法的。
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