lifestyle

Crazy in love? The Japanese man 'married' to a hologram

74 Comments
By Miwa Suzuki

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74 Comments
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Nothing surprises me here anymore.

I have grown immune to this kind of nuttiness.

The guy is happy. At least he ain’t causing anybody any harm.

17 ( +18 / -1 )

As Mr.Kondo said:

Benefits:

No nagging.

Won't spend your money.

Low maintenance.

Won't cheat on you.

Won't get fat.

The list goes on...

Negatives:

No 'physical' aspect.

13 ( +13 / -0 )

Anybody who denies there is a problem with mental health in Japan has no idea what they are talking about.

12 ( +15 / -3 )

A wife you can switch off when she is annoying you?

There’s probably a downside I don’t see!

9 ( +9 / -0 )

That made me chuckle.

At least he will not get children, getting out of the gene pool.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

They guy looks happy. Just let him be. A lot of people are stuck in dead-end and hopeless marriages and just outright making snarky remarks. Let him enjoy his found happiness.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Not as nutty as that woman who married a bridge.

Here's a woman who married the Eiffel Tower!

Erika La Tour Eiffel, 37, a former soldier who lives in San Francisco, has been in love with objects before. Her first infatuation was with Lance, a bow that helped her to become a world-class archer, she is fond of the Berlin Wall and she claims to have a physical relationship with a piece of fence she keeps in her bedroom.

But it is the Eiffel Tower she has pledged to love, honour and obey in an intimate ceremony attended by a handful of friends.

She has changed her name legally to reflect the bond.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2074301/Woman-with-objects-fetish-marries-Eiffel-Tower.html

Another married a tree..

According to news.com.au, Emma McCabe, 31, told Closer magazine she has found the most satisfying sexual relationship she's ever had in a tall poplar tree she has named Tim.

McCabe intends to marry the tree because all of her relationships with humans have failed miserably.

https://www.elitedaily.com/news/world/woman-marrying-tree-best-sex/977768

Suddenly this man doesn't seem so strange anymore..

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Not as nutty as that woman who married a bridge.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Heck; to each their own. A whole lot of people in the world do a whole lot worse things than this (which albeit strange is not bad). If it keeps him happy and keeps him from doing wrong to others then more power to him.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Let's not celebrate mental illnesses by posting articles like these.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

This is so creepy

3 ( +7 / -4 )

Well with grown men buying dolls and being obsessed with high school girls I guess this is the new norm:-/

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Of course you haven't you IDIOT! she's a hologram!!

I don't think that could actually stop someone from cheating... it can stop other things though.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Disturbing on all levels. "I have never cheated on her" - well obviously. If you had the ability to date actual women, you wouldn't have married a hologram in the first place

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Have a little sympathy. He is probably shy and easily bullied like the article says. He found a way to have a relationship that he is comfortable with. He should be congratulated. The men that have love dolls have had bad experiences with women and found a way to make themselves feel wanted. It is cruel to ridicule them. In a way they are disabled.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

Miku later filed for divorce as she was expecting a hard drive, but only got a 3 1/4 inch floppy disk..

(Sorry too many bad puns can be made)

3 ( +4 / -1 )

I bet they have a wonderful physical relationship

Probably about the same as most married couples in Japan?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Crazy!

2 ( +6 / -4 )

pathetic....

2 ( +7 / -5 )

Feel sorry for his mother - very embarrassing for her. The neighbours will all be mocking.

Some of my mother-in-law's circle were never quite the same after her daughter married a foreigner, but at least I'm not a virtual being.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

LOL

I bet he has a firm handshake.

To each his own. And he’s proud of it too which is great for self confidence. Giv’em a break. He’s not doing anything disgusting......

2 ( +7 / -5 )

Insane Wayne - It’s not crazy and neither is he. Marriage has already been made a mockery of and this is no surprise. I hope that he gets s happy with his new bride.

Oh, so when are you planning to wed your toaster?

2 ( +7 / -5 )

Incorrect nomenclature. His Miku app doesn’t “crash”, it “goes down”.

If think if she could actually do that, then would be even more of these we would read about..

2 ( +2 / -0 )

With A.I getting stronger people will start to get into relationships with virtual entities, its only a matter of time, but i think its not quite there yet.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

On the bureacratic side, did he report the marriage? Were those city officials pleasant and did he get a marriage license? If not, he ain’t married?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Ohhhh my god of course he said its just like being gay

Of course the difference is that gay and lesbian people generally want to marry people that actually exist so it's not the same thing at all holy crap Japan

2 ( +2 / -0 )

As Mr.Kondo said:

Benefits:

No nagging.

Won't spend your money.

Low maintenance.

Won't cheat on you.

Won't get fat.

The list goes on...

Negatives:

No 'physical' aspect.

Benefits:

Won't leave you, unless you break it.

No in-laws to worry about.

You can save a lot of money on travel.

No grocery shopping.

Can take it to the grave with you.

Won't make noise.

Don't have to buy clothes.

Negatives:

The power can wear out.

Needs electricity.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Oh, dumb me to miss that this is just a promotion piece for Miku. People have suggested that this is a mental illness and I agree. It is the serious mental illness called 'marketing' engaged in almost exclusively by psychopathic minds trained to build 'traps' for other more naive minds to lose their money and/or time in. And, according to the article, Miku is a serial fantasy adulterer and 3,700 times polyandrus. And probably LGBTQ all at the same time as well. Poor Akihiko. And she's maybe even smarter than him which would be the only other thing here resembling the normal state of Human affairs between men and women in couples. Well, many people insist true love is more head than 'head' and can Mr. Kondo be any more insane than, say, Abe, and his push for an aggressive Nihon? Omedatou, Kondo-san. But try not to injure yourself on your honeymoon.

Hmmm, and a question: Could a screen (Samsung flexible?) be implanted in a 'love doll's' head which would give Miku's face to the doll? I want to read THAT story.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

A man who is scared of women. He has issues.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

You can marry a pillow and a hologram, but not a human being of the same gender?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Japanese women are notorious, among Japanese men and women, for being incredible bullies and quite "scary"

You can find men claiming that about the women in most societies. This is hardly a Japanese thing. And if you want to avoid women altogether because you are scared of them, that's everyone's right, but it's cutting out a pretty awesome part of life out of fear.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Japan is full of such stupid people, check under their beds you will find a plastic dolls, living in fake manga world.

You write as if this is something that only happens in Japan, rather than everywhere in the world.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Ha! What a loser. All that money and career success. Yet, he couldn't possibly talk to a woman. I wonder what would happen if "his" Miku app crashed.

1 ( +7 / -6 )

Mental illness combined with social media. Thats the only reason this is news.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

this creep is a school administrator? glad my kids don't go to his school

1 ( +9 / -8 )

"wed beyond dimensions" wasn't that an episode from the old twilight zone TV series?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I never cheated on her, I've always been in love with Miku-san," he said, using a honorific that is commonly employed in Japan, even by friends.

Of course you haven't you IDIOT! she's a hologram!!

1 ( +5 / -4 )

I don't think that could actually stop someone from cheating... it can stop other things though.

Yeah. I actually wonder if he would consider a "date" with Rosie Palm and her five fingered sisters cheating...

1 ( +4 / -3 )

His mother must blame herself. I hope she is going to be OK.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Art imitating life?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfVCTGrOVXE

1 ( +1 / -0 )

That is really freaky, and I thought I've seen it all, but I guess not. What's even freakier is that he was given a marriage certificate for this by the company. I'm glad that his family didn't support this.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I can relate to @maybeperhapsyes, in fact my first reaction was "but why, Miku belongs to everybody" --it would be like someone claiming to have married Mickey Mouse, but then I read this

And Gatebox, the company that produces the hologram device featuring Miku, has issued a "marriage certificate", which certifies that a human and a virtual character have wed "beyond dimensions". Kondo's not alone either: he says Gatebox has issued more than 3,700 certificates for "cross-dimension" marriages

So I guess it's a thing and the fans aren't outraged in enough numbers to persuade the company not to issue certificates. I wonder how much such "marriage certificates" cost, if it's like a platinum membership into a fan club.

The only harm to others I can think of is the emotional turmoil of family and friends who had different expectations trying to hold onto hope it's "just a phase"

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Time to add another letter to the ever expanding LGBTIQ... acronym.

And don't be disparaging of him, you should be more tolerant and inclusive.

Your appeal to tolerance is slightly damaged by your mocking opening sentence.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

a japanese man married to an AI. pass the beer nuts.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

That's your feel-good(/weird) story of the day! Sounds like a real life Mr Bean.

But he wants to be recognized as a "sexual minority" who can't imagine dating a flesh-and-blood woman. "It's simply not right, it's as if you were trying to talk a gay man into dating a woman, or a lesbian into a relationship with a man. Diversity in society has been long called for," he said. "It won't necessarily make you happy to be bound to the 'template' of happiness in which a man and woman marry and bear children. I believe we must consider all kinds of love and all kinds of happiness."

Now you're pushing it, mate.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Good for him. He is happy and not hurting anybody.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Plenty of comments here about how stupid this guy is for marrying this hologram, but what about these Western women that marry their pets or themselves. The people who made the negative comments also forgot that Japanese women can be very robotic in nature so why not if it makes this guy.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

He’s mentally ill, and the 40 people who attended the ‘ceremony’ should be trying to get him help rather than reinforcing that this is normal, acceptable behaviour.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Like the song "If it's meant to be, let it be. Baby let it be."

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Especially as a school employee, probably should've aged miku up to 18, rather than 16, before marriage. That magical number is the difference between a consenting vs non-consenting hologram.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I bet they have a wonderful physical relationship.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Back on topic please.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It's tough to be an incel. Hmmm, imagine when those female love dolls can actually walk and talk and crawl on their belly like a reptile...oops, sorry...this will seem prosaic to the stories we'll be hearing then.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

May they live happily ever after....!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Uh. Wha' to comment. If any parts are made in China, that means he has an international marriage. He married a ha-fu. Or something. I think I'll identify as a Chinese woman timorrow. Ni hau.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"Since March, Kondo has been living with a moving, talking hologram of Miku that floats in a 300,000-yen desktop device."

He needs a holodeck.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It's just a beginning of our future. There will be legal marriages between human and robots. There will be even babies and children from them. Be prepared.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Saiaku:

"Mental illnesses" is broad and entail many different lifestyles that are acceptable now. If were gonna allow one, allow the others.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

ILoveCoffee:

"You can marry a pillow and a hologram, but not a human being of the same gender."

Now that would just be weird.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"I've never cheated on her, except for those times when I snuck off to Las Vegas with my vacuum cleaner"

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Harmless fun, as long as he's happy who are we to criticize?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Am I hallucinating here? I don't think I'm stoned.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It’s not crazy and neither is he. Marriage has already been made a mockery of and this is no surprise. I hope that he gets s happy with his new bride.

-1 ( +6 / -7 )

I want to smack his hologram head.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Also he mentions being bullied by Japanese women....

Japanese women are notorious, among Japanese men and women, for being incredible bullies and quite "scary" I have heard uncountable stories about the wrath and coldness of Japanese women. It is no wonder that some men are smart enough not to dive into that pool.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

It's hard to keep up with 'technology'! I wondered above whether Miku could be combined with a sex doll. The very next day...

https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p06f6xn2/this-company-specialises-in-talking-ai-powered-sex-dolls

Maybe overpopulation won't be a problem for Humans in the future after all. A.I. and holography are fine and good but ovaries and uteri are quite another issue. And when do we confront the obvious sexism in the sex doll industry which sees fully formed 'partners' for men but only anatomical fragments kept in the bedside cabinet for women? I guess men need more from women than women need from men. Any day now we should see A.I. powered dildoes with little legs and an 'autoseek' function. Can't wait...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Some one need to help him to recover from mental problem.

Head of the School should be careful about him, who know he will do something wrong.

He can't be consider a normal man.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Japan is full of such stupid people, check under their beds you will find a plastic dolls, living in fake manga world.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

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