Japanese singer Hikaru Utada, 31, married her Italian fiance, bartender Francesco Calliano, 23, at a church in Polignano a Mare, southern Italy, on May 23.

Local Italian media seemed amused at the incongruity of their wedding.　La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, a local newspaper, noting that the wedding was held in a church, even though Utada is not Christian, said: "A Japanese pop diva became a Catholic to marry an Italian guy.”　The only photo it could publish showed a staff member shielding Utada with an umbrella, TV Asahi reported.

Utada first announced her engagement on her blog earlier this year. She said the fact that her partner is a foreigner tends to draw people’s attention but said she didn't feel that this is an international marriage.

“I just happened to meet him, and felt he is the one," said Utada who was married once before to to photographer Kazuaki Kiriya from 2002 to 2007.

When asked about her fiance's family, she said, “They are very cheerful as well as very delicate. They are not so different from a Japanese family.”