Alfie Goodrich and Hiromi Kumai first met in south Wales in 1999 when she was acting as an interpreter for her mayor's delegation to the town of Monmouth.
When the delegation visited the headquarters of the record company where Alfie worked, he got interested in the slim Hiromi, who was enjoying a buffet lunch he organized. Alfie started writing to her, and three months later he proposed.
The two married on Alfie's birthday in June 2001 and now live in Tokyo with their 6-year-old son, Joe Kenta, and 4-year-old daughter, Ami Shoko.