Marriage in Japan

I got married over two years ago in Tokyo.
After a series of complications that developed in our relationship we decided to separate. Never really pushed on getting a divorce back then but the marriage was over as far as we were concerned.
My mistake not getting a divorce back then...

Since then I got quite close to a good friend and our relationship bloomed. I decided to make a commitment to this girl after some and she accepted.
Now her and her family wish for us to Marry in August this year in her families hometown.
I contacted my separated wife and asked about divorce. She had no issues with doing it the easy way, but I did not tell her I was going to remarry. I know from research we can either both go into the office where we registered our marriage in Tokyo and sign papers or she can do it and mail me the documents to sign. The first option isn't an option for me so I am hoping she will do the second.
To my shock she is out of Japan at the moment and will not be back until late this year. She says she does not care and does not want to think about it and just told me to be patient.
I told my girlfriend about this and she said it's ok I can still marry in her parents hometown but I will need to sort the divorce out later.

I am very worried about this. It doesn't sound right, what can I do? Is my new partner right??

No, your new partner doesn't seem right to me. It's obvious.

If you marry your current partner without dissolving the marriage to your wife, the second marriage will be bigamous and therefore not legally valid. If you love your current partner, surely she deserves that the vows you both make are legitimate, even if that means you have to admit to the in-laws that the wedding needs to be postponed until your divorce comes through?

You know, rather than asking for answers on an internet forum, I would seek legal counsel. Plenty of people are able to obtain divorces around the world despite the fact that one partner has relocated to another country.

Where are you right now? are you in Japan?
If you are in Japan just go to the city hall office and ask for a divorce form, send it to your wife (X) and have her sign it then have her mail it back to you once you have the form just bring it back to the city office and it will be filed, easy man.

A guy that have been trying to divorce for years but cannot, and a girl that's trying to marry this guy before it's even illegal, and the guy is too blind to judge if it's right or wrong. I can't see how this new marriage can work.

That's a bit harsh Uco and uncharacteristic for you on this forum I think! :( He hasn't said anything to suggest he has been trying to divorce for two years. Couples can separate without divorcing - in fact in other countries they are required to be separated for a period before they can divorce.

I'm going to take a stab in the dark with this and assume the family is from a small country town in central Japan? I think I know why they want August.

Regardless, you must still divorce before you Marry again . You are right to question it and ask for help over it because if you just went along with it you could/would come across big trouble in the future.
You must divorce and like 'OK' says you can do this quite easily if you are in Japan.

Right, this is something I totally can't understand. Thank you.

First thing first. You have to divorce. Try as OK said. The only challenge is your almost ex's cooperation. If it didn't work out, tell your future in-laws what is going on. You can't marry to your GF at this point anyway.

I didn't mean you cant understand the OP's situation Uco. Just that you came out with a pretty harsh judgement of this person and his future.
I thought that was a bit strange because you are extremely helpful with providing information to people here :)
I mean it in the nicest possible way.

I think the guy had the best intentions in mind when he decided to ask others about his situation.

I didn't mean you cant understand the OP's situation Uco.

No, no, no, I didn't mean to say that you said I don't understand. I'm just saying that I realized that I don't understand this whole issue and therefore have decided to stay out of this thread. It's just me.

I usually stay out of the Love and Relations threads for this kind of reason, but it so happens that this question ended up in the Living section, and I accidentally participated. Also, I'm not saying that the OP is a bad guy or what not. I just don't think he is ready to be married to anyone at the moment. But again, that's just my opinion. No hard feelings, neither to you or to the OP.

Btw, I don't mean to be harsh, but I'm often pretty straightforward. Bye, guys!

Ah I am very sorry, I read your post the wrong way then! That is entirely my fault :(
Being straight forward is a good trait I think but can have its disadvantages :)

I also agree with you that the OP isn't ready to be married yet and get the impression the family is pushing for it. Which is quite strange imho

Why not have the ceremony anyway so mom and pop can be happy. Tell everyone your married. Nobody really has to know the truth. Then when you can finally get divorced have the paperwork filled out and then sign the marriage papers at the courthouse to legitmize it later. No one has to know.

Wedding parties are just for show anyway, but some people can have it done simply and secretivly the other way.

anywho good luck.

When you are questionning, if your girlfriend is right about sorting out your divorce matter after cerebrating a wedding, she is certainly right because a wedding ceremony is nothing to do with registering your remarriage. A number of couples reigister their marriage after or before a wedding ceremony.

When you are questioning, if your girlfriend is right for you,,,, well, no idea...