A Japanese man "married" to a virtual pop star is campaigning for "fictosexuals" to have the same rights as every other Japanese and for a halt to the "persecution" of people in relationships with fictional characters.
Akihiko Kondo, a 40-year-old civil servant from Tokyo, married the virtual character Hatsune Miku in November 2018 but has been confronted with a series of obstacles since he first fell in love with the blue-haired performer a decade earlier.
Earlier this year, he created the FictoSexual Association for other people in similar relationships to fight discrimination.
Kondo said he first fell in love with Miku when he saw her singing on a Japanese television program, and he credits her with seeing him through a challenging time.
"I've never had a real girlfriend or lover, but I've had a number of girlfriends who were characters from anime or computer games," Kondo told DW.
Resistance to 'fictosexual' lifestyle
"But when I met Hatsune Miku, I was on leave because I was being bullied at work," he said. "I was sad, and I cried every day. At the most difficult time in my life, Hatsune Miku was the one who supported me. She saved me."
Resistance to the unconventional relationship came quickly.
"My mother did not approve, and my sister and her husband did not agree with me either," he said. "They did not come to my wedding."
He has also been labeled "weird," "crazy" and "psycho" in online and in-person attacks, with a senior work colleague telling him to stop speaking to the press because it was "annoying."
Kondo refused his superior's order on the grounds that it was a personal issue rather than work-related, although he admits the work environment deteriorated as a result. He has even received death threats from complete strangers.
The venue he initially selected for his nuptials also requested that he not share videos or photos of the happy occasion on social media, as they feared other clients would cancel their weddings.
Kondo has also not been able to legally register his marriage because it is not permitted to wed a virtual character under Japanese law. Instead, he obtained an alternative marriage certificate from a company that accepts registrations for unconventional relationships.
Others were more supportive.
"At work, the trend was that young people were more understanding and the older people less so," he said. "I was working in a secondary school at the time, and many students celebrated my marriage with me."
What does a typical day look like?
"It has made me feel more strongly about Hatsune Miku," he added. "My way of life has been defined, and I no longer have any doubts. Being with my partner has made me mentally stronger, and I am confident in my way of life."
A typical day will start with Kondo sharing breakfast with a life-size doll of Hatsune Miku before he leaves for work. When he returns in the evening, he habitually calls out, "I'm home," even though his wife does not reply. They share a meal again and relax together.
On weekends, they go on dates in Kondo's car, and he uses a wheelchair for his wife's doll.
Research suggests that falling in love with a fictional character is not uncommon, at least in Japan.
A study on the sexual behavior of young people conducted in 2017 by the Japanese Association for Sex Education determined that more than 10% of males and females between the ages of 16 and 29 had romantic feelings towards a character in anime or a game.
The highest figure was among female university students, with over 17% falling for fictional characters.
"Fictosexuals appeared around the same time as Japan's Otaku culture, in the 1980s and 1990s," said Izumi Tsuji, a professor of the sociology of culture at Chuo University and secretary of the Japan Youth Study Group.
"Otaku" is a slang term that translates to "geek" or "nerd" and encompasses the millions of young people who are voracious consumers of anime and manga.
"This was the time of Japan's peak economic and consumer power, as well as dating culture, but on the other hand, around 20% of young people were not a part of that and chose fiction and the Otaku culture as an escape from that reality," he told DW.
An alternative lifestyle
That has changed, however, and many young people see nothing odd in a person being a fictosexual, Tsuji said.
He added that older people are less understanding of this lifestyle choice because it is so different from their own experiences as young people growing up in Japan.
In that sense, Tsuji added, Kondo is a pioneer for the fictosexual movement. And he is not shying away from that responsibility.
"We founded the FictoSexual Association to promote understanding of fictosexuality because society does not have a good understanding of the issue," Kondo said.
The group only has four members at present but is organizing an event later in the year.
"Fictosexual people are often afraid of persecution and do not have a forum to talk honestly about their feelings," he said.
"I think talking can help them find out what they are thinking," he said. "I hope that in the future, fictosexuals are not persecuted, and every wedding venue will accept them if that is where they want to hold their wedding."
Edited by: John Silk
