Had a call with recruiter from Japan

Asks my age.
I replied why?

His response was, i need to know to identify you there are lot of people with same name.

I am blank

Replied : is there any age restrictions from Big Companies in Japan.

Says, oh no its only for internal purpose.

Fuck it, gonna decline my application.

Have worked in India, China and Singapore so far havent got anyone asked about the age.

What the fuck? Is that such a touchy subject to you? Here in europe you have to confirm your identity anyway with official documents, and they need that information for taxation and retirement fund purposes. For me this would be a reasonable question in any interview anyway, the employer should know at what stage of my life I am.

@EdoPhoenix

He is probably 12

This question should only be asked after receiving an offer, it's actually illegal to ask in some parts of the world to avoid age discrimination. In the UK I've never been asked my age, and only ever needed to provide identity docs after receiving an offer. In reality of course you can guess my age when you see I graduated in 1993 though.

To answer your “why”, japan is a society where age matters a lot. Politeness and the way you’re addressed directly derives from your age. It’s very common in Japan to ask as an opener how old is the person.

Also as for any western company it could have just been used to figure out how close you are to retiring, or just like others said what stage of your life are you in? E.g are you young, potentially moving a lot, or maybe older and settled.

Was the job on Craigslist tv film video listings?

If not, you should not worry too much

The recruiter probably wants to let you join their bukkake sessions and wants to know if you're of legal age.

@nibor old fucker. I graduated HS in 93.

I can't see why this would matter at all. Simple question, as per what @Earu said, in Japan, their society takes note of a person's age so they can know how to interact with you. My friends in both Japan and South Korea did this with me. Work locations do it as well.

FFs the dude was probably trying to show some respect man, not identity tag you in some strange scheme.

Well done, you showed that you know your rights and how to handle your business.

Here recruiters do ask it if you are a foreigner due to high still visa. If you have a certain age and apply for a position that is not paid enough you won't get a visa.
Other than these kind of things age should not matter upfront.