Zuzana Koike, a 29-year-old Austrian national of Slovak extraction, never thought she would even visit Japan before meeting and marrying Takeshi Koike, 38, a lecturer at Daito Bunka University in Tokyo.

The two met in 2000 at a gathering of the Catholic Students' Union at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, where Zuzana was an undergraduate student and Takeshi was engaged in postgraduate linguistics study. Zuzana grew up in a Catholic family, while Takeshi, inspired by Mother Teresa, was baptized after finishing college in Japan.

"She worked for the poorest of the poor. In the same spirit, I want to spend my time with my students, wife and children," Takeshi said.