'Fictosexual' Japanese man celebrates 6th wedding anniversary with cartoon wife
Akihiko Kondo, a Japanese man, celebrates his sixth anniversary with Hatsune Miku, a vocaloid character he married in 2018.
A Japanese man, who married a fictional character in 2018, is celebrating his sixth wedding anniversary with her this year.
41-year-old Akihiko Kondo married Hatsune Miku, a vocaloid which is a type of singing voice synthesizer software on November 4, six years ago. The vocaloid is represented as cartoon character of a 16-year-old pop singer with giant blue ponytails.
Taking to Instagram, Kondo shared a picture of a cake he bought for their anniversary with the message, “I like Miku very much. Happy six-year anniversary” written on it.
Kondo told Japanese media that he was previously interested in women but was rejected seven times after confessing his love. He revealed he was bullied and laughed at for being obsessed with anime and manga.
Bullied for his love
In 2007, Miku's character was released as a vocaloid and Kondo fell in love. After being bullied at work, he was diagnosed with adjustment disorder -- strong emotional and behavioral symptoms that happen after a stressful event.
Kondo said he found Miku’s healing voice helped him reconnect with society and he saved his life. So in 2018, he held a wedding ceremony at a Tokyo chapel for 2 million yen ($13,000) and married her.
He said he proposed to her through a hologram device that allowed users to interact with the character and she accepted his marriage proposal.
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What is fictosexuality?
He discovered the term fictosexual, which describes people who are sexually attracted to fictional characters, soon after and began identifying as one.
A survey by Japanese Association for Sex Education shows that more than 10 % of the students in schools and university said they have experienced romantic feelings for fictional characters.
To get acceptance from society towards his sexual orientation, he founded an association for fictosexuality with his peers last year to help other people like him.
To have Miku in his life physically, he had a life-size doll of her made and often dresses it up and has meals and tea while chatting with her.
However, Kondo does not think that his relationship with Miku will last forever.