Man with four wives and two girlfriends looking for another partner

Compiled by MAHADHIR MONIHULDIN and ALLISON LAI

THE story of a house-husband living with his four wives and three children in Japan became a hot topic online, according to China Press.

Ryuta Watanabe, 35, from Sapporo, Hokkaido, also has two girlfriends. His family’s daily life was featured in Japan’s AbemaTV news programme Abema Prime.

The polygamist has not been employed for over 10 years. His four wives and two girlfriends support him financially by paying for the family’s monthly expenses of about 850,000 yen (RM27,600) for rent, food and others.

Watanabe, on the other hand, takes care of the chores at home, including cooking and caring for their young children.

Three of the wives have their own rooms and he takes turns going to each of them every night.

Everyone does their part in house chores and childcare, with the remaining wife and girlfriends living separately.

Watanabe said he just “likes women” and thought that if he could love them equally then “there is no problem”.

He also wants to outdo a shogun from the Edo period, Tokugawa Ienari, who had 53 children.“I will break the record by having 54 children,” he said, adding that he is on the lookout for a new wife.

His wives seemed not to mind his polygamous ways.

For the record, polygamy is illegal in Japan. However, common law relationship, or cohabitation, is permitted.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.