SHINO HORI AND DAVID McCARTHY were married on March 28th in the Church of the Assumption, Collooney, Co Sligo by the groom’s uncle, Fr Eamonn McCarthy. More than 100 friends and members of family joined them for a few days at Markree Castle, first for a day of traditional Irish music and toasts of mead, followed by a second day with a distinctly Japanese flavour as the couple wore kimonos for afternoon tea.
From Kawasaki in Japan, Shino is the younger of Teruko and Toshio Hori's two children. She has an older brother, Daisuke. Her father Toshio is the founder and president of Green Power Investments, a company that sets up wind farms. Shino studied international culture at Ferris University in Yokohama, Japan and then moved to Sheffield in England to pursue an MA in film at Hallam University. On returning to Japan, she started working for Rockstar Games, the company that developed the video game Grand Theft Auto.When an opportunity arose to work for the company in London, she took it.
From Billericay in Essex, David is the son of Clare and John McCarthy. He has one older sister, Caroline, and younger twin sisters, Rachel and Fiona. His parents, from Douglas, Co Cork, moved to England 35 years ago. His father is a dentist and Caroline has followed in his footsteps. Twins are common in the family as David’s father has a twin brother and that brother has twin sons. David identifies with his Irish roots so strongly that he has yet to hold a British passport. For that reason, and to introduce Shino’s family to Irish culture and landscape, the couple chose to be married in Sligo.
David studied history at St Catherine’s College at Oxford, after which he worked as an investment banker. On seeing an advertisement for what seemed like a dream job – writing reviews of video games – he changed tack and set about his new career. He later got a job for Rockstar Games in London in a business development capacity and that’s how the couple first met, in 2004. David proposed to Shino on the summit of Mauna Kea while they were on holiday in Hawaii last year.
Shino is currently studying photography and David works as a freelance writer for computer magazines and websites. The couple plan to move to Japan in July as part of the Jet Scheme, a one-year cultural exchange programme. They hope to spend a month on honeymoon first, backpacking around Eastern Europe, before moving to the Far East.