Ito now acts as a volunteer adviser to the association, which was founded in 2005 in the village of Tsumagoi, north of Tokyo. He often gives the local chapter's 20 members advice on how to avoid his mistakes.
"Repent, repent, repent. That's what I do every day," Ito said."
The group held "Beloved Wives Day" last year for members, but opened it this year to a nationwide audience for the first time.
Tsumagoi, whose name sounds like the words "wife love" in Japanese, has also recently started to market itself as a romantic destination for married couples.
Last year, it invited couples to an event called "Shout Your Love from the Middle of a Cabbage Patch," where husbands took turns hollering romantic messages against a backdrop of Tsumagoi's wide-open fields.
That was where the soon-to-retire Fukatsu said "I love you" to his wife -- for the first time.
RSS