Fake marriages between Japanese and Chinese under spotlight
Staff Reporter 2013-07-05 13:22
A traditional Japanese wedding. (Photo/CFP)
A fake marriage between a 53-year-old member of Japan's Self-Defense Central Support Team and a 31-year-old Chinese woman recently reported by a Japanese newspaper has drawn public attention to marriages between people from the two countries, reports China's state-run China News Service.
Of marriages involving a Japanese national and a foreign national, marriages between a Japanese national and a Chinese national have accounted for the largest number over the past 13 years. In 2009, there were 12,700 marriages registered between Japanese and Chinese nationals. Among them, 90% were a Japanese man marrying a Chinese woman. But many of these marriages were actually fraudulent.
It is reported that a Japanese man must pay 1.48 million yen (US$15,000) to successfully register a marriage with a Chinese woman introduced to him by an agent. Even though the fee includes flight tickets to visit a prospective bride in China, this is still far higher than the fees of 400,000 yen (US$4,000) charged to introduce a woman from Japan. That it is known that some of the marriages are frauds is said to be the cause of the high price.
A Chinese woman reportedly must pay an agent 2 million yen (US$20,000) to marry a Japanese man for a fake marriage which will enable her to obtain residency in Japan. Half of the fee is used to pay the man and the rest will go to the agent. However, agents try to make money also from the Japanese man as the Chinese women are less able to afford the fee but at the same time may have more opportunities to find a marriage partner if the they are featured in a marriage agent's "catalog."
