Polygamous Freeloader Ryuta Watanabe Wants to Surpass Tokugawa Ienari the 11th Shogun

How is he able to live this way?
Living in Hokkaido with three wives and two children, yet somehow living separately from his fourth wife.

“The Freeloader’s Gratitude”—this is not a parody of an old tale. These words embody the very life of Ryuta Watanabe (37), who leads a polygamous life in Hokkaido. Once living as a live-in freeloader supported by his partners, he eventually evolved into a traveling freeloader. Now, he has established a polygamous household while earning 1.25 million yen per month as a social media influencer on platforms like SNS and YouTube.

At first glance, his family structure may seem complex, but apparently, it is perfectly rational.

The “Fifth Wife Audition” is also scheduled to be held

“Currently, under one roof, there is the first wife, Hiyaki (24), the second wife, Ayaka (37), and the third wife, Chiharu (28). There are also Hiyaki’s child, Ema (2), and Chiharu’s child, Toa (1), making a total of six people living together. Moreover, Chiharu is pregnant with twins, so the family is expected to grow in the spring.”

But that’s not all. In addition to his fourth wife, Chihiro (27), who is currently living separately, he also has a 25-year-old girlfriend, and there are six other children from different mothers besides these four wives.

Normally, one might wonder, “Is this okay?” But for him, polygamy is an efficient and rational family structure.

“With monogamy, there’s often too much expectation placed on one partner, and the roles tend to become skewed, causing one person to take on too much. But with polygamy, the burden can be spread out, and each person can utilize their strengths. For example, Hiyaki handles the cooking, Ayaka takes care of the cleaning and laundry, and Chiharu, who is pregnant, helps with that as much as she can without overexerting herself. In our household, the simple rule is whoever wants to do it, does it, and this allows everyone to live comfortably without forcing anyone to do more than they can.”

Their way of living, where each person brings their strengths and supports each other, presents an unconventional family dynamic that challenges traditional family models.

Origin live-in pimp

“I grew up in a single-parent household and moved around a lot, constantly changing schools. My mother was a nurse and also worked at a snack bar at night, so she was hardly ever home. In fourth grade, my teacher suspected I had dyed my hair, which led to me hating school and becoming a truant.”

However, things changed when he transferred to a new school in middle school. “I first became aware of being popular.”

“When I was in first year of middle school, girls came to see the new transfer student (me) and called me cute. Their excitement led to me writing a love letter, and that was when I got my first girlfriend. My first experience was at 16, with a girl one year younger. I used protection. My parents had taught me, ‘Always use protection when you do it.’

But at 19, I got married to my girlfriend in a shotgun marriage after she became pregnant. We were both too young and still wanted to enjoy our lives, so after two years of juggling work and childcare, we got divorced. She took the child.”

Although he started a family young, it ended in failure. Afterward, Watanabe pursued his dream of becoming a musician and moved to Tokyo, but life was difficult, and he ended up carving a new path as a live-in freeloader.

“When I moved to Tokyo, all I had was a guitar and 20,000 yen. I got a girlfriend and moved into her house. I lived off of her as a live-in freeloader, cooking meals, cleaning, and waiting for her to come home.”

However, this lifestyle didn’t last long. After breaking up with his girlfriend, Watanabe lost his place to live and had no one to turn to, so he turned to his mother.

“I asked my mom for help, and she sent me 150,000 yen, but I quickly spent it all on living expenses and unnecessary things, and I hit rock bottom and became depressed. I started receiving welfare, and then an 18-year-old girlfriend came into my life. At first, it was really fun, and I felt saved, but she started changing after interacting with wealthy clients at her night job. One day, she told me, ‘I can’t date anyone unless they make more than 40 million yen a year,’ and it ended. I couldn’t keep up, being on welfare.”

The frustration from being rejected gave Watanabe a new goal: “I want to be a popular guy.” He then became a traveling freeloader, flying around the country to meet women he met on dating apps, living with up to 16 women at once.

Words from his parents

On this day, Chiharu, the third wife of Watanabe, who was also present for the interview, reflected on how they met.

“Our meeting was through a dating app. When I looked at his SNS, there were so many photos that seemed like they were taken by someone else, and I thought, ‘There’s no way he took these himself.’ I confronted him, asking, ‘You have other women, don’t you?’ But there was something mysterious about him, and I was drawn to him.”

At the time, Chihiro and Hiyaki were living together with Watanabe, and later, Ayaka and Chiharu joined, gradually forming Watanabe’s polygamous family. However, it wasn’t a smooth journey, as Chihiro struggled to adjust to the new life and eventually lived separately.

“My parents found out about our lifestyle through YouTube and got really angry. They misunderstood and thought, ‘Our daughter has been taken by a cult!’ They barged into our house, shouting, ‘Give our daughter back!’ I thought I was doing this of my own free will, but I realized that ordinary people just can’t understand this.”

Chiharu shared the struggles she faced during that time.

“I told them about my pregnancy, but at first, they just ignored my message. I sent a follow-up message on my mom’s birthday, and I finally got a reply. But she said, ‘I think it’s better if we don’t meet right now.'”

Despite his parents’ opposition, Watanabe explained why he continued to live in a polygamous family.

“‘The Freeloader’s Gratitude’ is an important theme for me. I want to make the wives who have supported me happy.”

After living as a freeloader for many years, Watanabe now returns the favor by using his income from SNS to support his family. He’s also eager to expand his household and is currently planning a “Fifth Wife Audition.”

“Until now, I’ve received DMs from people saying, ‘I want to be a wife.’ But many of them lose interest quickly. This time, I want to be more selective and carefully choose new members. If it goes well, a sixth or seventh wife could be possible.”

Although his lifestyle may be difficult to understand, could there ever be a day when society will celebrate it?

The third wife is pregnant with twins

From the February 14, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY”