Yoshitaka, 40, has been happily married to 65-year-old Aki for over eleven years, although he only learned of the age difference between the two the day before the wedding.

Yoshitaka was only 29 when he met the love of his life. Aki ran a Japanese-style bar and after a little small talk, they realized they had a lot in common. They had both had failed marriages and were raising their children alone. After visiting Aki’s bar a few times, Yoshitaka asked her out. The Japanese man noticed that she was a little older than him, but he never guessed her real age and she didn’t reveal it either, fearing it would scare him off. She was 54 at the time, but she told Yoshitaka she was 44 and he didn’t suspect anything. Aki was always cheerful and her smooth skin didn’t give away her age. Therefore, she was able to keep her secret for seven years, until the day before her wedding.

Photos: yoshitaka_222/Instagram

In early 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was about to ravage the world, Aki and Yoshitaka decided to get married. Realizing that she could become infected herself and that Yoshitaka would need to know her real age so as not to confuse doctors or first responders, Aki decided to tell him that she was 25 years older than him. She didn’t know how he would react, but feared that he would be angry that she had lied to him for so long. She couldn’t have been more wrong.

“I don’t care about your real age, it doesn’t matter,” Yoshitaka told his bride-to-be. “What matters is why you didn’t tell me earlier so you wouldn’t have to worry for so long.”

Photos: yoshitaka_222/Instagram

After their wedding, the Japanese couple decided to quit their jobs and just travel around Japan. They documented their adventures on a YouTube channel called “A Couple with a 25-Year Age Difference.” At some point, they started an online air conditioning cleaning service, which they promoted on social media.

Yoshitaka and Aki’s story first went viral in 2021 when it made headlines in Japan and China, but it recently resurfaced after being published in Japanese newspaper Bunshun Online. The 65-year-old woman told the newspaper that one of the reasons she kept her true age a secret from Yoshitaka was Japanese society’s prejudice against older women dating or marrying younger men.



“Older men can proudly boast about how young and beautiful their wives are, but many women who are older than their husbands are often hesitant to reveal their relationship to others,” Aki said.