Akihiko Kondo, a 35-year-old Japanese man spent tied ¥2 million on his wedding at a Tokyo Hall. The amount spent might not be a shocker but what grabbed the global attention was his bride. Kondo, who works as a school administrator, tied knots with a hologram doll, a virtual reality singer named Hatsune Miku.
Being a shy person, he found the hologram to be friendly than the workplace bullies that gave him a nervous breakdown. Her saucer-shaped eyes and aquamarine pigtails smote Kondo.
However, his relatives and mother opposed the marriage. Akihiko Kondo’s mother refused an invitation to her only son’s wedding. “For Mother, it wasn’t something to celebrate,” said the soft-spoken 35-year-old.
But nothing stopped Kondo. Around 40 guests watched as he tied the knot with Miku, present in the form of a cat-sized stuffed doll.
They included relatives, friends and Japanese Parliament member Taro Yamada and Assemblyman Ogino Otaku, who each shared snapshots of the event through tweets on the same day.
Sadly, the marriage does not have a legal standing, but Kondo, a school administrator doesn’t mind that. He considers himself an ordinary married man — his holographic wife wakes him up each morning and sends him off to his job as an administrator at a school.
In a country that has remained obsessed with anime and cartoons, Kondo’s wedding has come as a shock to many. But he insists that he could be recognised as a “sexual minority” who can’t imagine dating a flesh-and-blood woman.