Everybody is used to the traditional “I do” during the exchange of wedding rings. Nevertheless, with divorce on the rise in Japan, some couples are choosing to celebrate the end of unhappy marriage in front of their friends and family at a divorce ceremony. Divorce ceremonies were pioneered about a year ago by a former salesman, Hiroki Terai, who set up a "divorce mansion" at a hidden space in Tokyo
Terai explained that everyone should be a positive way to end a marriage. At the ceremony, friends and family of the couple going through a divorce witness them smashing their wedding rings with a gavel. The gavel has a frog’s head, which symbolizes change in Japanese culture. The moment the couple see the smashed rings. After they smashed the ring together, they felt like "oh, this is the end of it, really" and their heart and soul felt renewed. Now they feel they can have a new life and start all over again.
