36-year-old Ryuta Watanabe.
Credit: Insta/@watanaberyuta_official
A man in Japan, who currently has four wives and two girlfriends, is aiming to father 54 children and etch his name into history.
36-year-old Ryuta Watanabe, as of now, is the father of 10 children and lives in Hokkaido, South China Morning Post reported citing Shueisha Online.
Watanabe's aim is to become the 'god of marriage' and to that end, the 36-year-old is looking for new wives, having become estranged from his fourth partner.
He has not worked in past 10 years and is living on his wives' and girlfriends' incomes. Watanabe does all the household chores, cooking and even takes care of his children.
The household expenses, which are around Rs 5.13 lakh (914,000 yen) per month, are borne by Watanabe's wives and girlfriends.
With special room for each partner, he rotates on sleeping with them. Watanabe also claimed to be having sex more than 28 times a week.
In a TV show called Abema Prime earlier this year, Watanabe expressed how his wives have a strong bond and never get jealous of each other.
The 36-year-old's story started six years ago when his girlfriend dumped him. Living on welfare and miserable after the break-up, he started dating other women through online dating apps.
On the TV show, Watanabe admitted that he "just loves women. As long as we love each other equally, there won’t be any problems."
Watanabe wants to become the 'god of marriage' and break the record of being father to the most number of children.
In 1841, during the Edo Period, a Shogun named Tokugawa Ienari was said to have fathered 53 children.
"I want to have 54 children so my name will go down in history. I’m still looking for new wives," he said, as quoted by the publication.
In Japan, both polygamy and polyandry—the custom of having more than one wife or husband at the same time—are illegal. and for this reason, Watanabe is unable legally marry multiple women at once.
Regardless, he is persisting in his quest and his story has garnered significant attention on social media platforms, sparking discussion among netizens.
The publication quoted some of these comments.
"His kids will never be able to have a close relationship with their father because there are just too many of them," a netizen commented.
Another expressed how they would not want their child to end up being like Watanabe. "I would never let my own children end up like this man," a second said.
A third, however, appreciated the 36-year-old saying, "They seem like a happy family. Respect their choices."