Ryoko's Wedding

Today I went to my first Japanese wedding, of my host sister, Ryoko. Ryoko and Koji did not opt for a traditional Japanese wedding, with a Shinto priest. They also did not opt for a faux Christian wedding, which have become popular in recent years (where a foreign man poses as a minister and memorizes a set of lines). Instead, there was no officiant at all. There was a woman in the back, who worked at the establishment, who would tell us when to clap, etc., and Ryoko and Koji read vows that they had prepared to one another. It was lovely.

It was a wonderful wedding, with balloons, bubbles, letters read aloud, and much joking and laughter. Many of the principals found themselves crying at one point or another. Koji, whose parents own a cake store, actually put on a chef's hat and jacket and served the cake (I'm not joking -- that's really him serving the cake, which was delicious). Ryoko and Koji were married in front of a small wading pool which we were politely asked not to swim in. I know that Kate would have loved it, and I was disappointed not to be able to bring her. Here are some pictures:











Here Ryoko signs the traditional marriage contract, which is known in Japanese as a "ketubah." (For the record, I thought of that caption during the wedding, and I almost started laughing at a really inappropriate moment. She's actually signing the "proof of marriage"--kekkon shoumeisho--provided by the venue).