Conditions for marriage in Japan, in relation to Ranma 1/2

[Crescent Pulsar R]

Checking over at the US embassy website, it says that a male must be eighteen and the female sixteen years of age. Now, if Genma and Soun (and perhaps Nodoka) bothered with a ceremony, one might assume that both Ranma and Akane were old enough to marry. However, the site says that performing wedding ceremonies does not accomplish the recognition of a lawful marriage.

That's applies to the present. What I'm wondering is whether or not those conditions were different back when the Ranma 1/2 manga series was completed, as well as when it began. It's not for the sake of making sense of it as it is shown in the manga, but so it can be used in a plot device if the characters' ages, and thus the time that they can marry, play an important role in how events play out in fan-fiction.

[Wyrd]

That explains a few comments I have seen in other fics about only Ranma needing to be eighteen for them to wed. Another question, one brought up in many fics, is how does this age requirement change with parental consent? In Georgia, you can't get married without parental consent under 16, but can be married at 15 with parental consent(I think).

Secondly, at least in the US, there is a distinct separation between the legal and religious aspects of marriage. Legally, you are not married until you sign and submit the marriage certificate. Conversely, you are married the moment that certificate is submitted, even if you never have a ceremony at all.

Culturally speaking, from what I have seen of the characters involved, even though it would not be legally binding if their parents somehow tricked them into a marriage ceremony, they would likely feel obligated by honour to finish the process, especially if they wake up nude together(regardless of whether anything actually happened, they would be inclined to believe it did*).

*And Akane would be certain it was all Ranma's fault, of course.

[Drawde2]

Back when the series started the ages, with consent, were sixteen for males and fourteen for females. That changed sometime before the series was finished.

As I understand it Japan doesn't recognize marriages at all, including foreign ones, unless it's submitted legally in Japan. So no, a ceremony is meaningless in the eyes of the law, though still important culturally.

[Crescent Pulsar R]

So, while it's possible that the their ages would be acceptable for a legal marriage (probably dependent on when an author sets their story), it would come down to whether a finished ceremony would make them feel obligated to gift wrap it?

[Konsaki]

I think it more the fact that a legal piece of paper saying "You're married" doesn't have the baby making feeling that a full on ceremony has. Even if a kid doesn't pop out, the act of trying would further cement their feelings; at least that's the perceived plan.

IIRC, back then, the under-aged kids didn't even need to voice their permissions as the parents could just check off on the legal papers. I could be wrong though, it's been known to happen...

[Drawde2]

I don't know when this changed but currently it is TECHNICALLY illegal to force your child to marry in Japan. In practice though it only means the parents can't be too blatant about it. Someone who really doesn't want to get married but is still a minor is usually out of luck if they defy their parents, due to social pressures.

[Spokavriel]

Oh no force at all you have your choice. Family honor or become a Ronin. No force at all. Its not like the alternative is still Sepuku see no force what so ever.

[Drawde2]

Oh no force at all you have your choice. Family honor or become a Ronin. No force at all. Its not like the alternative is still Sepuku see no force what so ever.

Exactly, though I don't believe ronin status still exists as such.

[Spokavriel]

Just like Burakumin shouldn't effect your ability to get a job any more.

[Wyrd]

Exactly, though I don't believe ronin status still exists as such.

Officially? No. However, you can't just create a family name unless you are married(two people without family names getting married can list themselves under a new family name), and there are a lot of places that won't hire you if you can't lay claim to a family name; even if it is a name that is less than honorable, it beats the shame of being without family. There are people who renounce their families anyways, and families that cast out their members for reasons of their own, but the social stigmata is still very much there, even if the official status no longer exists.

This is from what I have read in various sources about Japan(non-fiction ones), but I do not know how up-to-date that information is. Societies do change, after all.