A Japanese wedding

A Japanese Wedding


On October 13th, I attended a wedding of a friend of mine named Taichiro. A good month before that he invited all the ALTs to an engagement party to celebrate the wedding that was coming. The party itself was fun because he held it at George’s House, the place I met him. The owner, George, made a lot of food that I liked because he knew I was coming. No one else complained because how can you go wrong with chicken with fries? He also prepared some beef stuff (I don’t know what it is actually, but it was good).

Joe being amused by what the sign says.

Fast forward to the wedding day. We were told that it would be held at the community center in my town. Luckily for me, it’s a 5 minute walk. Around noon, all the ALTs headed there to meet with the guests from the actual ceremony (We weren’t invited to the wedding itself, just the reception.). We had to sign the guestbook and give our present to the lady in kimono handling the seating chart.


The present itself was something I had a slight issue with. We were told to cough up 20,000 yen for the wedding (which is about $200). The issue was I really didn’t know the guy and while it was fine inviting us and all, but $200?? I didn’t even give Matt that much on his wedding. Anyways, around 12:45 the wedding party came in and stood by the door to the hall, signaling people to start coming in. We had to bow to the groom’s parents, the groom, the bride, the bride’s parents, and the wedding party. I had back pains just walking into the room.


The table itself was already decorated and food was already out. We sat for another hour waiting for the guests to arrive and find their seats. The wedding started with opening ceremonies (the Japanese really love their need for customs). First it was a talk from the father, which was 30 mins, then the priest who did the ceremony, another 30 mins. Then it was the bride’s father, then some other people I don’t know. Basically it was another hour and a half of watching my food sit there taunting me.

As with all Japanese food, I didn’t know what I was eating. I knew there was a potato dish there, and salmon. I think there was also roast beef as well. However everything else was a mystery. There was some yellow stuff in a bowl, as well as sushi and sashimi. I gave those to Andrea in exchange for the potato stuff. There was also lots of alcohol. Considering it was a Sunday, I didn’t drink very much knowing that I had to come into work on Monday.



The main attraction to having a reception in the community center was the stage. They performed a whole lot of stuff for the wedding. I watched everything from Taiko to some guy hitting a dragon with ferns. There was also a comedy sketch where his friends were talking about his bad habits and casting it away in a box. It was very funny. George also played his guitar, as well as Mayumi (my piano teacher) playing in the background. Our table was the drinker’s table, considering that’s how we all met Taichiro.

The wedding was over by about 5, with most of the party going to the nomikai (2nd party) at George’s House. However, I was already tired, full, and sleepy to be going to another party. I went home and enjoyed the party gifts he gave us.