Japanese man, 35, has four wives and two girlfriends, hasn't worked in 10 years as he lives off them
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BY
AINSLYN LIM
Published January 14, 2024Updated January 15, 2024
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People, mostly men, generally get offended when they are accused of living off their spouses. That’s not the case for 35-year-old Watanabe Ryuta, a self-professed expert when it comes to mooching off his four wives and two girlfriends.
Ryuta lives in Sapporo with three of his wives, and three children. He said he hasn’t had to work for the past 10 years, and completely lives off the paychecks of wives and girlfriends.
He was recently featured on Japanese infotainment programme, Abema Prime, where more was revealed about his unique family arrangement.
Ryuta basically plays the role of a househusband. He is in charge of preparing everyone's meals, doing household chores, and looking after his kids.
The household expenses, which come up to almost S$8K per month, are split between his wives and girlfriends. Yes, even those who don't live with him.
He has two children with his first wife, who is 22. His second wife chose to keep her age private, while his 27-year-old third wife just gave birth to their child five months ago.
His fourth wife is 24, and doesn't live with the family.
On the show, Ryuta said he “simply likes women”.
“When I realised that, we were already living in such an arrangement. As long as we all love each other equally, there wouldn't be an issue,” he said.
The wives who live with him have their own rooms, and he takes turns to sleep with a different wife every night. His goal is to break the record for having the most kids in Japan.
Japanese Shogun Tokugawa Ienari, who lived in the late 1700s to early 1800s, is the record to beat. He is said to have a 53 children.
Ryuta said: “I want to overtake him. As such, I want to have 54 children, so my name can go down in history. I am still searching for a new wife.”
Ryuta’s wives do not seem to have an issue with the arrangement as well.
According to his first wife, Ryuta has “a sort of charm” that she can’t find in other men. She was aware that he had other girlfriends when they first started dating, and is on board with “living as a whole unit”.
His second wife, on the other hand, initially wanted to break up with him upon finding out about what their marriage would be like. However, she has come to accept her lifestyle, saying that Ryuta is “very fair”, and that she “lives a very comfortable life”.
Despite Ryuta’s plans for a massive family, there are legal limitations he has to deal with. Japan’s marriage laws do not allow for polygamy, and Ryuta cannot be legally married to more than one woman at a time.
He marries whomever is next in line to become his wife, then divorces her so he is legally able to wed the next woman again. Ryuta, his wife, and his “ex-wives” then live together, following the rules of “an actual marriage”.
Aside from his four wives, Ryuta also has two girlfriends.
Last week, he announced on Twitter that he has already picked out “Wife Number Five”, and they would have spent Christmas Eve together.
You can watch Ryuta and his wives on Abema Prime below. (Note that the clip only available in Japanese.)
