Akihiko Kondo is not the only person who is in a relationship with a fictional character. A Japanese man who married a hologram singer back in 2018 now hopes to raise awareness for “fictosexuals ...

Noriko Hayashi for The New York Times Mr. Kondo is one of thousands of people in Japan who have entered into unofficial marriages with fictional characters in recent decades, served by a vast ...

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 ...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. In the past we here at Kotaku East have talked a lot about Hatsune Miku and some of Japan's other virtual idols. But the one thing we haven't ...

But what about Japan’s love affair with cute, fictional characters? How is it that lingerie based on Sailor Moon sells out in a day? Or that a salaryman can pull out his cell phone with a strap ...

Despite Japan still lagging behind on LGBT+ rights (same-sex weddings are still illegal) the country has become a laboratory for new types of relationships – digital, solitary or even devoid of sex.

Japanese wouldn't be so hard if the characters made more sense. Yes, I mean 漢字 (kanji) and yes, I also mean 人物 (jinbutsu), the word used for characters in works of fiction. Once you've ...

In almost every way, Akihiko Kondo is an ordinary Japanese man. He’s pleasant ... There’s just one exception: Kondo is married to a fictional character. His beloved, Hatsune Miku, is a ...

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 ...