Watch the moment father-of-three speaks to his wife after 20 years of silent treatment

At some point in time we’ve all faced the silent treatment from a loved one, be it from your mum for not getting that Michael Bublé CD for Christmas, or from you girlfriend for actually getting a Michael Bublé CD for Christmas.

So spare a thought then for long-suffering Japanese woman Katayama Yumi, who for the better part of two decades found herself on the receiving end of complete silence from her husband, Otou, in a strop to end all strops.

But it got even stranger at the end of last year when their 18-year-old son, Yoshiki, wrote to a TV show to ask for help with his parent’s dysfunctional relationship. He told one of the presenters he has never heard his parents have a full conversation, while his sisters 21 and 25 years old, also said they had never heard their parents talk to one other. 

On the back of this, the couple agreed to meet in a park and sort it out once and for all, resulting in this incredible video, below. As the previously tongue-tied patriarch talks to his wife, telling her he is grateful for all she has done and that they can now move on from it, you can see the tears of joy from their brood watching on.

In the show it was also revealed as to why he carried out his campaign of silence: “When the kids were born my wife was very involved and busy in raising the kids. I was kind of... jealous. I was sulking about it.”

Why are we bringing this story to you now? Well, given it’s Valentine’s, the one day of the year most synonymous with romance, we thought it pertinent to remind you how downright weird and strange love can be. Some marriages would do well to last 20 years, let alone on nothing but silence, and it is clear in the video that there is genuine affection there.

But let it also be said: what a massive fucking douchebag. By carrying out a campaign of silence with his spouse for two decades, his actions are tantamount to bullying. If we were in Mrs Yumi’s shoes, we’d have taken the opportunity to go live on TV with him to ditch the bastard for good. But hey, here’s hoping he’s doing the dishes every night and making up for it.

And if nothing else, any Valentine’s-starved souls watching this odd clip may just feel bit better about their single status when buying their meal-for-one from M&S tonight.

You just never know who’s going to be an absolute weirdo, do you?