Getting Married in a Hospital?

Out of general curiosity, are there ever any exceptions to having to go to the shiyakusho/kuyakusho to be married?

I was reading something else and for whatever reason, I thought about unwed couples having a baby. I wondered if there are any cases in Japan about a marriage taking place in the hospital room just before the baby is born so that it's born legitimately.

Thanks!

By definition, Japanese marriages cannot be done at the hospital, the reason being that in Japan the legal marriage comes into existence when the couple reports the marriage application form to the city/ward hall and when it is accepted.

You must have been thinking of a superintendent or someone conducting a short ceremony/vows by the couple :)

No, that wouldn't be possible. In Japan, no ceremony is required to be legally married- all you have to do is to submit the documents to the city/ward office, and you are married, and obviously you can't do that at a hospital.

Both the husband and wife do not have to be there in order to submit the documents, so theoretically the husband could be down at the ward office handing over the papers while his wife was in hospital about to have a baby, but in practice I doubt that most couples would time it that way- if they had the documents ready, they would submit them earlier that that, surely.

I wondered if there are any cases in Japan about a marriage taking place in the hospital room just before the baby is born so that it's born legitimately

Regarding legitimate birth, I believe that it is possible for an unwed father to have his name on the baby's birth certificate and have the baby registered to his family koseki. That would make the baby legitimately his.

Either way, as others have described, getting married in Japan is a simple, straightforward set of paperwork that can be done by one member of the couple. You've got 9 months to get it done, so I suppose it would take some extreme circumstances for one to put it off until just before the baby is born.

Legal procedures are as explained. But ceremonies are honored, too. Having a baby without the ceremony does not make the baby less legitimate in any way, but a lot of couples decide to get legally wedded after they find out that the lady is pregnant. Then they try to decide whether they should just skip the whole ceremonial procedure, or wear the wedding dress before the tummy gets big, or wear it after the baby gets old enough to participate in the banquette.

While we're on the subject of getting married at a hospital, there was a young Japenese lady who died of breast cancer, but had her wedding done at a church on a wheelchair during the term she was hospitalized. Her story was documented on TV, then a movie and then a play was made based on it titled "Yomei Ikkagetsu No Hanayome" and the whole thing promoted prevention on breast cancer.

Either way, I can't imagine a situation where a man and woman feels the necessity to get married at an obstetrician, because even Virgin Mary had nine months to think about it.

Thanks, everyone! As always, you respondents are quick, informed, and articulate. It's always a pleasure to read your replies to the various questions I see posted here.