Israeli couple weds at a Tottori shrine over their love of manga

Gil Hason, 34, and Niv Yohanok, 33, married on September 16 at Nawa Shrine in Daisen, Tottori Prefecture. The ceremony was held in Hebrew with views of the Sea of Japan. It is not an isolated case: the organizing company, Value Management, wants to turn this type of celebration into a stable business for Japanese tourism.

The couple met in Tel Aviv, but Yohanok did not want to marry in Israel. He told the Mainichi Shimbun that Jewish weddings include a ritual he found degrading to women and that did not fit their lifestyle. The alternative came through Instagram: there he found another Israeli couple who had held their wedding in Japan.

Yohanok grew up reading manga and watching anime, with Dragon Ball as a reference since childhood. Hason also had ties to the country through her grandmother's stories, who had visited it. Last year they traveled to Japan together and, when considering the wedding, they agreed they wanted to marry there. Their parents accepted the decision without objections.

An intimate ceremony with dashi broth and a surprise letter

After the rite at the shrine, the newlyweds dined alone at a traditional restaurant housed in a 120-year-old building. The menu, French style with a Japanese base, started with a dashi broth. Then came a surprise video with messages from family and friends in Israel. Hason cried when she heard her mother ask them to support each other in difficult times.

The ceremony and banquet were organized by Primrose Garden, a wedding venue in Daisen. With the help of interpreters, the staff gathered the couple's requests and incorporated typical Japanese experiences such as mochi preparation and a tea ceremony with matcha.

The couple translated their own vows from English to Hebrew and read them aloud. They explained that the work allowed them to understand the meaning more deeply. "We felt it was a fusion of our culture and Japanese culture, something more special than anything else," one of them said.

"Inbound weddings have the potential to save regional economies"

Japanese tourism seeks high-spending foreign couples

Value Management, the Osaka-based company that runs Primrose Garden, defines these celebrations as "inbound weddings": ceremonies for couples who travel to a country other than their place of residence. According to the company, it is a growing segment globally, especially among high-spending clients.

The Japan Tourism Agency considers attracting high-value travelers one of the pillars of its strategy. Weddings of this type fit that approach because they generate a greater economic impact than a conventional trip. If the couple travels with family and friends, the stay becomes a long-duration group trip.

The demographic context explains the interest. Marriages in Japan have fallen to less than half in half a century: from 1,099,000 couples in 1972 to 489,000 in 2025. The Japanese wedding market has also shrunk to half of its peak. Capturing foreign demand would help, according to the sector, keep the country's wedding culture and associated artisan trades from disappearing due to lack of clients.

Japan is an established tourist destination, but few people know that weddings can be held there. Compared to Hawaii, Bali, or Phuket, its presence is weak. South Korea already treats this business as a state policy, while Japan is in an early phase. Value Management's operations director, Shotaro Kasa, 47, sums it up: "Inbound weddings have the potential to save regional economies."

Kasa adds that there is a risk of foreign capital monopolizing the Japanese market in the future. To prevent that, he advocates a framework of collaboration between the public and private sectors. For now, the business relies on cases like Hason and Yohanok, who turned a childhood hobby into the setting for their wedding.

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