In December 2023, the Japanese media went briefly crazy about a real-life harem manga scenario where a man claimed to have four wives. Though only married to one of his partners legally, Ryuta Watanabe was living comfortably as a househusband in Sapporo while the women worked to support the household. With his common-law and legal spouses all in their twenties and together under one roof (except for the fourth "wife," who lived separately), 35-year-old Watanabe had three young children. So what happened to Watanabe after all that media attention? Fortunately, Weekly Friday has chased the ...

For all the constant media brouhaha about people not dating or having sex in Japan, it seems that at least one guy is determined to boost the national average. And challenge the laws about polygamy at the same time. It's a case that's surely not typical and shouldn't be used as a brush to paint all Japanese guys, but what a story it is. As featured in late December on Abema TV (sorry, folks, we missed it at the time), Ryuta Watanabe in Sapporo has four "wives" and three kids, and seems to live happily with them. In fact, 35-year-old Watanabe doesn't even work but is a househusband taking ...