I'm not usually observant, but... The procession from the banquet hall took about 15 minutes. It’s not that far, but remember we were talking little geisha steps here, as so many of the guest in attendance were in kimono.
As we neared the main gates, I started to think there was something a little odd about one of the shrine buildings. It was kind of fuzzy. This was still early in the day, so not a sup of alcohol had passed my lips, if that’s what you’re thinking. As we got nearer and neared, I said to the people around me, ‘Hey look, it’s not a shrine at all - it’s a massive canvas sheet covering the shrine.’ I guess one of the outer buildings was under construction or something. And to keep the feel of the scenery undisturbed the decorated the massive sheet with an exact replica of the shrine being worked on.
I was happy with myself for being the first to spot it. I really don’t think I’m naturally observant, but I certainly pick up quickly on odd things. Water finds its level.
I was bad the other day to a student. I was interested to know how she read her watch. You know the way some people put the face towards the inside of their body, or have different wats of wearing a watch to the standard.
Anyway, whatever way she had it, I just couldn’t figure out how she told the time without breaking her arm. So I asked her in front of the whole class. Turns out the poor dear had just put it on upside down by accident that morning. My bad!

One thing I did not imagine would be a problem during the ceremony was pigeon poop. But just look at them all there waiting to fire. And this is just a small fraction of the birds flying around the shrine grounds. Seriously, these kimonos are expensive things. The one-day rental for the bride’s white kimono alone was about 1,500 euro. I know it’s lucky and all, but I’d hate to have it soiled by one of these airborne terrors. No kidding - special insurance against this kind of thing is included in the rental charge.


Here we have the bride and groom (from Switzerland), and some of the bride’s closest friends. It was really great that so many people went to the trouble of wearing traditional dress. It made the experience even more special.
I mean, I was lucky enough in the first place to see a Shinto wedding at all. More and more young people these days choose a Christian style white wedding (even if they’re not believers), or go and get married barefoot on the beach in Hawaii (my wedding of choice).

The Important Suff: The Fodder; The bride and her family really went all out for me. As I said, I was mortified by how much they took care of me, even though I barely know the bride and had never met the groom.
The family organised with the wedding staff to provide me with a 100% vegetarian feast of Japanese cuisine. It was so good. I had various boiled vegetables, salads, tofu prepared in two or three different ways, special celebratory beans and rice ‘sekihan’ (赤飯) and miso soup. And it was all presented like something out of a gourmet magazine. Above you can see how beautifully the dishes were presented, even down to the gold powder sprinkled the radish salad. For those of you who are really interested you can go and check out the pictures in the album on the right under Kamakura Wedding - you’ll even get to see a lobster from a gynaecological perspective! You’ll never eat seafood again (K. - you’re from Maine so I guess this doesn’t apply)

Another reason, aside from the paparrazzi bombardment, that I will never get married in Japan is that they set time aside in the recpetion to show a slideshow of your baby pictures. Oh God! The humanity! When I think about what terrible pictures my family have of me. I mean, I know this blog is all about opening up and sharing and all. But there is no way I am ready to expose my early childhood as captured on film here in these pages, much less on a big screen in front of seventy or so of my closest friends and family.

Video Message
As if all the photos weren’t bad enough, there was also the dreaded video message to the newlyweds. After having been given out to for trying to hide in the official portraits, I didn’t dare refuse to be filmed. It wasn’t bad and passed pretty quickly. I don’t know how TV announcers do it though - I wasn’t sure where to look and will likely come out cross-eyed.

Japanese people are so considerate and tidy. We were all given party poppers for the end of the karako section. You know the way you usually end up with streamers all over the place when the smoke settles. Well here in Japan, the streamer is still attached to the cone, so when you’ve had the desired blast of colour you just roll up the paper strings and take the whole thing home: No mess for the staff to clean up. I think it’s a great idea.
These were two of the bride’s friends, who serenaded the newlyweds with a karaoke extravaganza. They’re wearing ‘kimono dresses’. This is a new fashion, which takes old kimono material and re-styles into a sort of flamenco / kimono hybrid. I thought they looked very cool and like something out of a Japanese animation. I’m going to see if I can upload the video of their performance onto youtube. I’ll let you know if it works.




My Swag
I really can’t complain about the cost of the wedding. It was a wonderful cultural learning experience. I got a great meal. Plus I cleaned up on gifts, too. Here you can see: a baum kuchen (kind of a German layer cake); a ceremonial sake cup; a Japanese sugar confectionery; Swiss jam; a hand-crafted coffee mug (the bride’s mother made a piece of pottery for every guest in attendance - in Japan they seriously kill you with kindness); and a Mickey Mouse novelty pen which lights up when you write (eh...yeah...).