My friends have a 17 y/o daughter; they are all normal USA citizens.
The parents are already in Japan for some weeks.
The 17 y/o would fly separately and alone to Japan (ie, flying from the states) to meet them.
In fact: can the 17 y/o do that in terms of Japanese entry? (And I guess Timatic?)
I believe USAers can visit Japan visa-free for a short time.
But would they let in a 17 yr old, traveling alone?
Can a USA minor use the visa-free system to visit Japan?
(To meet the parents already there, if it makes any difference.)
Oddly, this information is not available on the web - we couldn't find any mention of child/minor issues in terms of the visa-free arrangement for US citizens visiting Japan. Strange!