I lived in Japan when I was 19, and I never once was asked for ID when buying alcohol, neither at a store nor a bar. It seemed to be largely the honor system, s

I lived in Japan when I was 19, and I never once was asked for ID when buying alcohol, neither at a store nor a bar. It seemed to be largely the honor system, since you could buy alcohol from vending machines. Although when one bartender found out my age, he said it wasn't a problem since I wasn't Japanese. Go figure. A big club in Tokyo was the only place I was ever asked, and even there I was waved right through. Apparently, they were just checking for "gang affiliation".