A Japanese man who married an actual hologram says he can no longer communicate with his virtual partner.
In 2018, Japanese school administrator Akihiko Kondo, who identifies as a “fictosexual,” shocked the world when he betrothed himself to a hologram named Hatsune Miku, which AFP described as “an animated 16-year-old with saucer eyes and lengthy aquamarine pigtails.”
Despite his family’s disapproval, Kondo shelled out two million yen ($17,600) on a formal ceremony at a Tokyo hall where 40 guests were in attendance while Miku was presented in the form of a stuffed doll.
When at home, Kondo interacted with Miku via a $2,800 cylindrical desktop device. Despite having been “married” to Miku for four years, Kondo said that he and his beloved have reached an impasse now that the company which provided it with artificial intelligence and communication skills will cease all services.
File/A ‘Hatsune Miku’ at the house of Akihiko Kondo on September 11, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan. Akihiko Kondo, a 35 year-old school clerk living in Tokyo, has recently announced on twitter his plans to marry ‘Hatsune Miku’, the two dimensional virtual idol, on 4th of November, 2018, after having been in love with her for 10 years. (Taro Karibe/Getty Images)
“What has changed for Kondo since his wedding ceremony is that he can no longer enjoy conversations with the character, as the company that developed the service terminated it in March 2020, saying the limited production model had run its course,” noted The Mainichi, a Japanese newspaper.
Despite this setback, Kondo asserts his love for Miku hasn’t changed.”
“I held the wedding ceremony because I thought I could be with her forever,” he told the outlet.
“It’s not that people can’t live in society because they’re engrossed in a two-dimensional world, but rather, there are cases where people become captivated as they search for a place for themselves in video games and anime, because reality is too painful for them. I was one of those people,” Kondo told Newshub.
File/In this photograph taken on November 10, 2018 Japanese Akihiko Kondo poses with a doll of Japanese virtual reality singer Hatsune Miku, as he shows their marriage certificate, at his apartment in Tokyo, a week after marrying her. (BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP via Getty Images)
The term “fictosexual” is defined as who is “sexually attracted to fictional characters,” according to Fox.
The Hatsune Miku program was commonly used in Japan and Kondo’s “wife” was not one of a kind creation. Gatebox, the company that created Miku, even went as far as to issue Kondo a mock “marriage certificate,” which declared that he and his virtual counterpart have married “beyond dimensions.” At the time, the company actually issued more than 3,700 so-called “marriage certificates” for such unions.
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