Akihiko Kondo

Akihiko Kondo was born on May 31, 1983, in Tokyo.

Kondo was first romantically interested in a fictional character when he was in fifth grade.

In high school, he became interested in anime and joined a manga club.

As a teenager, Kondo was attracted to real women, but he was rejected and criticized by them, and was bullied for being an otaku.

According to The Mainichi, Kondo "confessed his love seven times" but was rejected every time.

In the third year of high school, Kondo had more romantic attraction to fictional characters than humans, and decided he would not marry a real woman.

After graduating from high school, Kondo started working at a junior high school as a clerical staffer.

There, he experienced bullying by two women, one close to his age and another much older than him.

Kondo said the women would ignore, offend and humiliate him.

He ended up experiencing a nervous breakdown.

He saw a psychiatrist and took sick leave due to depression; he was also diagnosed with adjustment disorder.

He described himself as a hikikomori during that period.

Kondo could not eat or sleep properly for around six months, and, at one point, searched for "suicide" on the internet.

During his leave, in 2007, Kondo discovered Hatsune Miku; this helped Kondo to return to the workplace.

During the leave, in 2007, he discovered Hatsune Miku for the first time after listening to the song "Miracle Paint", composed by OSTER project, through YouTube and Niconico.

Hatsune Miku is a world-famous Vocaloid, created by voice-synthesizing software, developed by Crypton Future Media.

Its persona is a fictional 16-year-old pop singer with large eyes and long, turquoise hair with pigtails.

After finding out about Hatsune Miku, Kondo began composing songs using the software and later purchased a stuffed toy of the character.

During the two years he was out of work, he listened to Hatsune Miku's songs constantly.

In an interview with CNN, Kondo said: "[Miku] lifted me up when I needed it the most. She kept me company and made me feel like I could regain control over my life".

The character helped Kondo to get back to work and reconnect with society; Kondo said Hatsune Miku saved and healed him.

After these events, Kondo started being devoted to Hatsune Miku.

In 2015, he went to her Magical Mirai 2015 event at Nippon Budokan, and cried when seeing the character on stage.

The next year, he bought a PlayStation VR to play Hatsune Miku VR Future Live.

In 2017, he purchased a Gatebox device that allowed people to interact with holograms, including Hatsune Miku.

This device further helped Kondo's decision to hold a wedding with the character.

The marriage, which was unofficial, elicited mixed reactions from people.

Since then, Kondo has given lectures about his relationship, including at the Kyoto University.

He has since identified as a fictosexual — people that have romantic attraction to fictional characters.

In 2023, Kondo founded the General Incorporated Association of Fictosexuality to help the public's understanding of the subject.

Sources have identified Kondo as a fighter for the rights and acceptance of fictosexuals; a professor described him as "a pioneer for the fictosexual movement".

As of October 2023, Kondo is a public school administrator and lives in Tokyo.

In 2017, Japanese startup Vinclu announced Gatebox, a device that allowed people to interact with fictional characters in the form of a small hologram; Hatsune Miku was one of the characters.

The device had a simple artificial intelligence that could react to basic greetings, though it had limitations regarding longer conversations.

As part of Gatebox's promotional campaign, users could sign up for unofficial marriage registrations with fictional characters.

3,708 people signed up for it, including Kondo.

Akihiko Kondo (近藤顕彦) is a Japanese man who is known for symbolically marrying the fictional Vocaloid character Hatsune Miku in 2018 during a formal wedding ceremony.

In high school, Kondo had an interest in real women, but he was rejected by them; soon after, he decided he would not marry one.

Later, Kondo was bullied at work and he took sick leave due to depression.

He obtained the device in March 2018.