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One by one, Michiko walked through the legal steps of finalizing her divorce: dividing property, determining child custody and arranging her daughter’s college fund. But when it came to settling the heartache over the end of her eight-year marriage to Taka, the legal system had no formal process.

That’s when she decided to go through a divorce ceremony.

One in four marriages in Japan now ends in divorce, yet it’s still considered a cultural taboo. Increasingly popular ceremonies help some Japanese cope with the country’s changing social norms, according to divorce ceremony planner Hiroki Terai.

Michiko’s soon-to-be ex-husband, Taka, says the idea was surprising to him. He had never heard of a divorce ceremony when Michiko brought it up.

But when he looked at the brochures on-line — which explained that the divorce ceremony was like a wedding ceremony, with a different outcome — he decided some sort of formal closure to their marriage might provide him with emotional closure as well.

via Divorce ceremonies give Japanese couples a new way to untie the knot – CNN.com.