Three Arrested in Hiroshima Over Alleged Sham Marriage for Residency Status and Payment, Including Filipino Woman
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On June 9, 2026, the Hiroshima Prefectural Police arrested three people on suspicion of having a false marriage registration submitted and accepted: Okazaki Yukio (60), an unemployed resident of Naka Ward, Hiroshima City; Takahashi Yoshimasa (54), a taxi driver; and Calimag Twinkle Salvador (28), a Filipino national working at a restaurant. The three are suspected of conspiring to submit a false marriage registration to the Kure city office in February 2024 and having it accepted.
Under questioning, Takahashi reportedly stated he did it "to receive payment," while Calimag said she did it "to obtain residency status," and all three are said to have admitted to the allegations.
Current status: The case is at the arrest stage; whether prosecutors will indict the suspects had not been determined as of this writing.
As in the sham-marriage cases uncovered in Gifu and Aichi (related coverage, related coverage), the same three-party structure is at play here — a broker, a Japanese spouse, and a person seeking residency status — suggesting that sham marriage is being carried out nationwide as an organized brokering business.