31-year-old actor Joe Odagiri and 20-year-old actress Yu Kashii surprised the entertainment world on Thursday when their agencies announced that the two are getting married. They held a press conference that night at a hotel in Tokyo.

The pair met in 2005 while working together for the movie "The Pavillion Salamandre." They began dating in the fall, and weekly magazine Josei Seven first reported the romance that December, when Odagiri was seen driving Kashii home after a night out with friends.

Odagiri said that he had marriage in mind from the start of their relationship. He explained that he will be doing more work overseas starting next year, so he wanted to get married soon to give Kashii some security. They plan to register the marriage early next year. No date has been set for a ceremony or reception.

While the two are separated by 11 years in age, they coincidentally have the same birthday, February 16. Odagiri will be filming abroad for a month starting in January, so they may end up registering the marriage in February as well.