Inside Nicolas Cage's age-gap marriage with wife 31 years his junior

Riko and Nicolas met through mutual friends in Shiga, Japan while Nicolas was there filming Prisoners of the Ghostland in 2020.

Being that the two were in a long-distance relationship, Nicolas proposed to Riko in an unconventional way – through FaceTime.

He recalled on his brother Marc Coppola's radio show: "She left New York and went back to Kyoto, Japan, and I went back to Nevada and I haven't seen her for six months."

Nicolas added: "We were really happy together and we were really excited to spend that time together so I finally just said, 'Look, I wanna marry you,' and we got engaged on FaceTime."

The star ended up sending a black diamond engagement ring to his wife-to-be through snail mail.

He shared: "Her favorite color is black so she wanted the black gold, and the black diamond. I found it and I customized and personalized it and I actually sent it to her via FedEx." 

Their wedding was very intimate, and his ex-wife Alice attended the ceremony at Wynn Las Vegas in February 2021.

After tying the knot, Nicolas shared with People: "It's true [that we got married] and we are very happy."

Although Riko is originally from Kyoto, she moved to Las Vegas with Nicolas.

The couple made their big red carpet for the premiere of Nicolas' Pig, in July 2021.

The star has been married five times, including to Patricia Arquette from 1995 to 2001, Lisa Marie Presley from 2002 to 2004, Alice from 2004 to 2014, and Erika Koike, for the duration of one year in 2019, until he settled down with Riko.

Nicolas joked: "I'm really happily married. I know five is a lot, but I think I got it right this time," per Los Angeles Times. 

The actor expressed in 2019 that whoever is with him in a partnership tends to have unique characteristics.

He comically said: "I think there has to be some unusualness to be able to be in a relationship with me," per the New York Times.