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With a sky-rocketing divorce rate, the Japanese have come up with a unique solution to the delicate issue of ending a marriage."/>
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Divorce Ceremonies Take off in Japan </h2>
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Saturday, 27 November 2010 20:07 </span>
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Mark Willacy Radio Australia </span>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><a href="/en/component/docman/doc_download/717-divorce-ceremonies-take-off-in-japan"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde; color: #ff6600;">Download</span></a> Divorce ceremonies take off in Japan.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>With a sky-rocketing divorce rate, the Japanese have come up with a unique solution to the delicate issue of ending a marriage.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Canny entrepreneurs are now conducting 'divorce ceremonies', allowing couples to formally end their time together in front of family and friends. </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>From toasts to never seeing each other again to smashing rings, the ceremonies are becoming increasingly popular.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Mark Willacy of Radio Australia has the story.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><br/></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">With one smooth swing of a hammer, Miho and Hiroshi's seven year marriage was torn asunder.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">That hurts murmurs Miho, removing her hand from the hammer's grip.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Watching their divorce ceremony is a handful of friends, there to witness the unhappy couple untie the knot of matrimony.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Reprising his role at their wedding, the best man is there to offer a few, somewhat stilted words.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">"Congratulations on your divorce" he says. "When I first heard about it I was surprised. But whatever happens from here on in I'd like to help you both" he says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Conducting today's ceremony is former salesman turned divorce planner Hiroki Terai.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">"In the beginning when I started these ceremonies I felt a bit sad" Terai tells me.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">"But now some of the guests come up to me and say that the divorce ceremony is more touching than the original wedding" he says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Divorce is one of the few growth industries in Japan, with a quarter of a million Japanese tearing up their wedding vows every year.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">But it's still very much a taboo subject. However some see these ceremonies as an acceptable way to break the bad news to family and friends.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Hiroshi and Miho were married seven years ago but financial pressures and personality differences took their toll.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">"Today, honestly, I didn't think I'd ever see you all together this way", Hiroshi tells his friends at his divorce ceremony. "We decided to get a divorce, but it's a peaceful divorce. Well, actually it's a lie to say it was a 100 per cent peaceful divorce" he admits.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">After the ceremony comes the singing. At a nearby tea house the group listens to some traditional music. The atmosphere among the guests is stiff and silent.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">"I was forced to come today" admits Miho. "But after the divorce ceremony I feel a little refreshed" she says. "When we smashed the ring I felt sad, but I want to be positive from now on" she says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">"I feel better, more refreshed", says her now former husband Hiroshi. "We didn't talk much before signing the divorce papers, but I hope we can remain friends after this. Maybe, maybe not" he says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">"The image of divorce in Japan is changing" says divorce ceremony planner Hiroki Terai. "Divorce is no longer something to be totally ashamed of. In fact I'm confident this practice of making a vow of a new start in front of family and friends will become more popular" he says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">So entrepreneurs like Hiroki Terai are hoping to cash in on couples saying - 'I do' - to divorce.</p></div>
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Last Updated ( Monday, 29 November 2010 11:21 )
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<p><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #000080;"><b>Inside the women only zone in Afghanistan:</b> </span>This week in Asia Calling, we paid a visit to Kabul’s Women’s Garden, a state-run multi center where hundreds of Afghan women go to shop, work-out and learn new skills.....like driving Some say the eight-acre enclosure in the Shahrara neighborhood goes back to 1500s. More reliably it is dated to the 1940s or ’50s, when King Zahir Shah was said to have give it to the state. Three years ago it underwent a renovated with foreign aid money. Normally strictly a women’s only zone reporter Malyar Sadeq Azad was given permission to go inside for Asia Calling.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000080;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>A Filipino who has taken part in 25 Easter crucifixions</b></span>:</span> On Good Friday– the holiest day of the year for Catholics- dozens of very devout followers in the Philippines re-enact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. They nail their feet and hands nailed to wooden crosses, while others will flog themselves while walking barefoot through villages. The Philippines is Southeast Asia’s largest Roman Catholic nation. Madonna Virola meets one man who has carrying out this painful tradition for 25 years.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;" align="justify"><span style="color: #800000; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>These stories and much more this week </strong></span></p>
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<h4><span style="color: #800000; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Your Window on Asia </strong></span></h4>
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