At 06:27 PM 7/6/2004, Nuki Mouse wrote:

 > "Hiroko-chan turns twelve years old the end
 > of May." Midori grimaced. "Just old enough
 > to be legally married, Ranma."

According to the US Embassy in Japan's web
site, the minimum age for a female is 16, by
country-wide law:
http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-7114a.html
Not sure where you got 12 (Mississippi forty
years ago? Pakistan?). You might consider
making Hiroko hate Daichi, or possibly be
mentally retarded, as alternatives.

You can't realy fault Mark Shurtleff for making that mistake, It was only
recently that the 16 year-old minimum age went into effect.  It was 12 in
many areas of Japan, and abuse of this situation was rampant. Passing local
laws upping the age of marriage was stymied in many areas, so a national law
passed only a couple of years ago.

BTW, a 12 year old can still get married in Mississippi, as along as their
parents consent to it.

Just to reiterate, the legal marriage age in Japan was 12 for both sexes 
until the 1994 fall legislative session, right around the beginning of 
November.

Current legal marriage age in Japan is 18 for males, 16 for females, and 
parental permission required for any party under the legal age of 20. This 
is effective from November 1994 onwards and was done to comply with UN 
resolutions.

RelAbs is currently taking place in March 1994 - before the change went 
into effect.

============================================================
Mark Shurtleff
   email: gaijin@sfcmd.com
   irc alias: Gaijin -or- togashi_gaijin
   fanfiction homepage: http://www.sfcmd.com/fanfic
============================================================ 


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