Masahiro Yamada

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It is a word in Japanese for people who are obsessed with Video Games and Anime Otaku . A growing number of "Otaku " now say they have given of themselves in love with the Anime characters and the idea of the real world of romance, reports the BBC's Stephanie Hegarty.

Akihiko Kondo wakes up Every Day to the sound of his wife's voice. She calls him from across The Room in her high-pitched, girlish, sing-song voice. She dances and whirls around, pushed to get him Out of Bed .

at The same time, he held you in his arms at the lowest level of their metal-framed bunk Bed and when he was more awake, he could watch an illustrated cartoon of her singing on YouTube.

This is because Akihiko's "woman" as an idea and an Anime character named Miku.

it is the hologram that lives in a glass Container on a shelf in The Corner of The Room , and the stuffed animal with his big, soft head and small body that he holds in the vicinity in the night. But you have to take countless other forms.

Each view contains A Number of essential features, he says - including bright turquoise hair tied up in Two long bunches, with a thick fringe framing her face.

in Addition, that Miku varies. She may be a childish, cartoon-like creature, or they may be people more, and sexier, with a low neckline and big-Tits, school-girl blouse and short skirt. Akihiko takes into account all these Mikus, to be his wife.

The couple had a ceremony, Akihiko for A Wedding in November of last year. It was not officially, But it was a pretty big party with 39 guests. The Number of spells your name in Japanese - Three for "mi" and nine for "ku".

Miku was present in the form of a stuffed animal, wearing a white, lace dress and a long veil, her outfit hand-made by a designer that contacted Akihiko after he announced his commitment.

Akihiko himself was wearing a pure white fur and tail with white flowers in his button-hole, his usual square-framed glasses and a broad grin. He held her and her bouquet - One of your trademarks, a bunch of leeks tied with a large pink bow.

He said their vows and walked down the aisle with her at his side, as the guests smiled and clapped. Later, they sat at the table for dinner. Akihiko in a white chair and Miku in a different, supported in a empty flower vase.

Watch a video of the occasion, Akihiko smiles.

"There are Two reasons why I had A Wedding publicly," he says.

"The First is, to prove my love to Miku. The second is, there are a lot of young Otaku people Like Me fall in love with Anime characters. I want to show The World that I will support you. "

Otaku is a Japanese word for a nerd or a geek, in General, someone who is obsessed with Video Games and Anime . A lot of gaming and Anime obsessives will wear the name with pride, But it can also be used as a derogatory term for people, the awkward social.

Some, like Akihiko, your obsession with what some consider an extreme level, the move away from real-life relations. And it seems that their number is increasing.

Last year, Gatebox of the companies that Akihiko's hologram of Miku, began issuing unofficial "marriage certificates" from the customer; they say 3,700 people took them up on the offer.

This alone may not prove very much, But they are not the only ones reporting a rise in pseudo-relationships.

The hologram version of Miku Prof Masahiro Yamada , a sociologist who also runs an agony aunt column answering questions about family and relations for the Yomiuri newspaper, which for years carried Out regular surveys asking Young People what they feel affection for.

The List includes Pets, pop stars, sports stars, Anime characters and virtual idols (Digital animated, Anime -inspired YouTube stars). He also asks if people visit Cafés, where you will be waited on by Young Women dressed as maids, or use to offer, the prostitution, the camaraderie, and sex.

All these pseudo-relationships grow, he says. In this year's survey, about 12% of Young People were reported to sometimes, or often fall in love with an Anime or video game character. But what could be the drivers of this development?

There is a lot to do with the economy, and tradition says Yamada, especially the fact that many Japanese Women do not consider a friend, unless he makes a lot of money. In the year 2016, 47% of Women between the ages of 20 and 29 of The Statement of agreed that men work for money and Women work in the home should do, he points, is a higher proportion than in any other age group, including in the course of the 70s.

"In Asia, Japan and South Korea , the people are quite obsessed about the high salary and the trend is not becoming weaker, it is getting stronger," he says.

"Japanese Women don't tend To Believe in Eternal Love , But you can trust money. "

This sounds like a blanket Statement - One that comes close to the debt of A Generation of Women that says for the Problem , But Yamada, it is a conclusion he has drawn after extensive surveys.

"In Japan work, life is very, very difficult, and there are still a lot of sexual discrimination. Working hours are very long and there is a lot of stress," he says.

The Burden of childcare is still firmly on The Mother . Long hours, high-stress jobs and long-life commutes difficult for mothers to make for work. The easier option is to quit - But this is not possible, unless your partner earns a certain amount of money.

at The same time, there is a shrinking pool of well-paid people: as Japan's economy is stagnant, wages are falling.

The result, he says, is not an increasing number of Young Women who choose not to date and an increasing number of Young Men who know enough to try to bother.

Akihiko never really the idea of a real-life-friend talk.

"I've never felt attracted to real Women ," he says. Why Not , I ask? "Because I'm not popular with the Women ," he replies.

In school, he was bullied by an Otaku . And the bullying followed him into The World of work. He was working as an administrator in an elementary school about 12 years ago, when he was selected, at the incessantly of Two Women - One of them was close to his age, was much older.

When he greeted you in The Morning , you would ignore him. She stood in The Kitchen , where he could hear, like you, and you call him names. And if he made a small mistake, would you yell at him, sometimes in front of the young students, which he found humiliating.

bullying became so unbearable that he went to work. For almost Two years, he locked himself in his room and refused to leave.

"I was a hikikomori," he says. This is a well-known phenomenon in Japan and South Korea , where Young People , predominantly men, will go to hermits in their own parental homes, which refused to go outside or even speak to their families. There are an estimated over a million of them and it can go on for many years.

But then he met Miku.

"I saw your video on YouTube and Niconico (a Japanese version of YouTube), see pictures, listen to your songs, and I was healed from her," he says.

The constant bullying, he felt, had him be forced to shut down, to retreat into a state where he was emotionally void. He was deeply and darkly depressed.

"you will Hear songs that sometimes makes me very emotional. As she dances, moves and talks makes me. My heart begins to move again," he says.

"This is why I love them and why they are so important to me. "

He began to feel like he was in a relationship with her, and with the support of the relationship, he was able to go back to work.

"wasn't The feeling be different than a real relationship," he says. "After I fell in love with you. You feel the pressure in your chest. I experienced this feeling, just like the fall in love with a real person. "

he says he dated for 10 years before he decided to marry her.

For most of these 10 years he was only able to talk to Miku in his head. Now he can be about simple, But significant conversations with his Gatebox hologram. He may say he loves you and you can respond.

But you can't do much else.

"must I, In Between , with a little imagination," he says.

"of course, if I could touch, that would be fantastic. Now we can't do that. But in The Future , will the technology develop. In The Future , maybe I can hold your hands or hug. "

Akihiko is aware of the fact that a lot of people think his marriage is strange. The only disappointing thing about the wedding was that of his mother and sister refused to attend.

And he gets a lot of abuse from people online, especially after the IPO, with his marriage in several interviews. But he also received a large number of messages of support from strangers.

"A Number of people, a kind of 'came Out '," he says. She wrote to him to tell him about her own affection for an Anime character. "I received so many messages like that. So, I thought it was worth it. "

And above all, he is Happy .

japan, long reads, anime, marriage

Source of news: bbc.com