Entertainment Apr. 14, 2011 - 03:30PM JST ( 16 )

TOKYO —

Dante Carver, 34, one of the stars of the popular series of Softbank commercials starring the Shirato Family, had a wedding ceremony this month to commemorate his marriage to former model Akiko Matsumoto, 23.

Carver is perhaps best known for starring alongside Aya Ueto, 25, as her fictional brother in the Softbank commercials. Matsumoto modeled for magazines such as ViVi, JJ, and CanCam while still a student in Osaka. After graduating last year, she moved to Tokyo where she runs an online apparel shop called Herradura.

Carver, who also has some modeling experience, said he was introduced to Matsumoto at a fashion show in Kobe a few years ago by a mutual friend. The couple registered their marriage on Aug 4 last year.

Carver recently updated his blog with the following message in both Japanese and English: “Recently we had our wedding ceremony. We didn’t say anything due to the current events over the past month. This has been a very hard time for people all over Japan and in many places around the world. This is also the reason we went ahead and had our ceremony.

“Things have been so sad and dark, we hoped we could help by showing people smiles and love. We know it’s hard, but family and friends give us all strength to move forward. From Dante and Akiko Carver, Ganbare Nippon!!”