Raw Japan
Slices of Japanese business, politics and life
I now pronounce you man and game
Japan has given birth to some of the world’s most memorable video game characters, from Mario to Sonic the hedgehog.
So it was only a matter of time before something like the wedding between Nene Anegasaki and a college student who refers to himself as SAL9000 took place.
What makes this wedding special is that Nene happens to be all digital, a character from SAL9000′s favorite video game.
“In the Japanese otaku or nerd culture, there’s a tradition of calling characters ‘my wife’, and I sort of thought of Nene as ‘my wife’. Since I was calling her that, I thought we’d just have to get married then,” he explained to Reuters.
While video games and especially dating simulation games such as “Love Plus”, the game from which Nene is from, are seen as something to do alone, SAL9000 said he didn’t see it that way.
Instead, he sees games as a communication tool, and cited his wedding that drew over 3,000 viewers when broadcast live online as one example.
Matchmaking gets divine touch
I admit there was some personal interest when I volunteered to cover the praying/speed-dating event at a shrine in Tokyo recently. I wanted to see what a matchmaking event at a shrine involves and who would attend.
I did not expect, though, that I would actually get involved.
A group of 14 women and 14 men gathered at Imado shrine in Tokyo, which honours Japan’s indigenous Shinto gods of marriage. The participants varied in age and occupation, but had one common goal — finding a good marriage partner.
“We said it’s up to the gods now. If we go on as we have, we probably won’t ever meet anyone,” Rie Suzuki, a 40-year-old attending with her friend told me.
The event, which combines praying with speed-dating, is aimed at marriage and the economic stability it could provide, as singles actively seek a partner through “konkatsu,” or spouse-hunting.
Such activities range from dating websites to participating in events like “grass-mowing for singles”. Imado Shrine’s two-hour, $65 event, is also on the list of some marriage-hunters.
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