When 26-year-old Yuki announced that she was marrying a 70-year-old man named Kenji, the people closest to her reacted as though she had just revealed the most unbelievable secret of her life.
Her best friend stared at her across the kitchen table, waiting for a smile that would reveal the whole thing was a joke. Another friend laughed nervously, then stopped when she realized Yuki was completely serious. Even her relatives struggled to understand how a young woman with her entire future ahead of her could decide to marry someone old enough to be her grandfather.
“Wait a minute,” one friend finally said. “You’re twenty-six. He’s seventy. Please tell me there’s something about this man that you haven’t told us.”
Yuki lowered her eyes to her cup of tea.
“He makes me feel safe,” she answered.
For several seconds, nobody said anything.
Then another friend leaned forward and asked the
