A Japanese couple was put in jail for staging a fake wedding and telling guests the groom was a member of an extinct branch of the imperial family.
Authorities say Yasuyuki Kitano and Harumi Sakamoto invited hundreds of guests to a wedding reception in 2003 with the intent of defrauding them.
Wedding guests traditionally give monetary gifts of at least $260 in cash.
Photos of the event, which were broadcast on television, showed Sakamoto in a 12-layered kimono worn by royal women on formal occasions.
Judge Takaaki Oshima tells Kyodo news agency, "It was a malicious crime that cleverly took advantage of a mentality for revering the imperial court and imperial family."
Kitano said during his trial that he had been given permission to use the Arisugawa name.
Sakamoto said she thought she was a member of the imperial family.
The couple was sentenced to two years and two months in jail.
Kyodo reports the Arisugawa branch of the imperial family died out more than 90 years ago because it lacked a male heir.
