mothsoccer
09-17-2006, 12:50 PM
A FAIRY story ended behind bars for a Japanese couple yesterday, when they were jailed for staging an elaborate fake royal wedding to defraud guests.
Yasuyuki Kitano and Harumi Sakamoto, both in their 40s, invited hundreds of guests, including Japanese celebrities, to a wedding reception in 2003, saying that Kitano was a member of a defunct branch of the imperial family.
Guests at Japanese weddings traditionally bring with them gifts of at least 30,000 yen ($260) in cash.
Pictures shown on television at the time showed Sakamoto in the "junihitoe" 12-layered kimono worn by women of the imperial household on formal occasions.
"It was a malicious crime that cleverly took advantage of a mentality for revering the imperial court and imperial family," Kyodo news agency quoted judge Takaaki as saying.
Yasuyuki Kitano and Harumi Sakamoto, both in their 40s, invited hundreds of guests, including Japanese celebrities, to a wedding reception in 2003, saying that Kitano was a member of a defunct branch of the imperial family.
Guests at Japanese weddings traditionally bring with them gifts of at least 30,000 yen ($260) in cash.
Pictures shown on television at the time showed Sakamoto in the "junihitoe" 12-layered kimono worn by women of the imperial household on formal occasions.
"It was a malicious crime that cleverly took advantage of a mentality for revering the imperial court and imperial family," Kyodo news agency quoted judge Takaaki as saying.