Japan Bizarre Marriage Preparation Bra

Triumph International, maker of the solar, postal and chopstick bras, is offering a new kind of support for Japanese women on the prowl for a husband.

Japan's marriage rate is falling and the average age at which women get married is over 28 years, relatively late for a country in which single females were once considered over the hill at 25.

Triumph's latest novelty bra features an electronic nuptial timepiece, putting women seeking spouses literally on the clock.

If an engagement ring is inserted into the mechanism, the countdown stops and the bra plays Felix Mendelssohn's "The Wedding March."

The bra also includes holders for the traditional seal some people use to sign off contracts and a pen for any possible nuptial agreement.

Triumph spokeswoman Keiko Masuda said the product, which is not for sale, would suit modern Japanese women who are no longer content to sit and wait for a potential husband to approach them.

"Japanese women are becoming more aggressive than men, working actively to make marriage happen, whereas in the past it was men who led women toward marriage," she said.

"The roles have switched completely."

Government statistics show nearly 57 percent of women under the age of 34 are unmarried, while some 3,800 firms in Japan offer match-making services.