Heyo! Wow, this...this happened two months ago. I swear I'm trying to catch up!
Back last summer, the night before my friends John and Rebekka’s wedding I had receiving a call all the way from Japan from my friend Sara, informing me that she had just gotten engaged. The ceremony date was March 14th, and that day finally rolled around, so I used some compensatory days off I had built up to take a 3.5 weekend to head up to Miyagi Prefecture for the wedding. Sara had been living in a smaller town called Ishinomaki, but the wedding and reception were held in a hotel in Sendai, the largest city in Miyagi Prefecture. I left Ogaki on Friday soon after getting home from work in order to catch the overnight bus up to Sendai. A good 12 hours and many a pit-stop later, we had arrived in Sendai. I was kind of surprised to find a bus going directly from Nagoya to Sendai, and my suspicions of the popularity of such a route were confirmed by the fact that the bus was at maybe 1/3 capacity, so everyone essentially got to use two seats, and some of the two seats rows were even empty. This made for a much more pleasant bus ride as I had much more room to move around. And if I really curled up tight I could kind of almost fit across the two seats (granted, the width still wasn’t near enough, but I achieve a sort of balance). It was probably the most sleep, or maybe “rest” is a better word, that I’ve gotten on a bus. The ceremony wasn’t until Sunday, and Sara wasn’t even going to be in Sendai until the morning of, so I had Saturday to kill. I had gotten there so early that the tourist info place in the station wasn’t open yet, so I walked around the station a bit, and then went to my hotel to drop off my cumbersome luggage. I had done a little bit of research about Sendai, but nothing had jumped out at me as “must-see,” Seeing as Sendai is known at the City of Trees, and boasts the most green of Japan’s large cities, it was a little hard to appreciate during early spring before the green actually shows up. So I ventured back to the tourist info center to see what they had to suggest. Apparently there is an area called Akiu that is famous for hot spring baths and accessible by city bus. Okay, sounds like a plan to me. Most places are hotels equipped with these hot spring baths, but they generally have a plan where you can just use the baths without actually staying overnight. I found a reasonable plan that had lunch partially included, so I went with that. I had use of the place from 11am-2:30pm and pretty much took advantage of every minute of that. They had a few different sets of baths to try out, and the genders would switch at certain times.
The outdoor bath
The view from the outdoor bath
After soaking a bit, I headed to the in-house restaurant and had a rather varied and tasty lunch.
After trying out a couple more baths, my time was up, so I wandered around the neighborhood. After accidentally heading in the wrong direction and taking a roundabout way, I eventually arrived the tourist info center/neighborhood activity center and museum. One of the rooms had a very cool hina matsuri display, featuring interpretations of the traditional doll arrangement using various materials and designs. They also had a ton of figurines hanging mobile-style throughout the room and it felt like a veritable jungle, one in which I was more than pleased to get lost.
This was only for a couple days, so I really lucked out. They were also running this drawing where you get a stamp from the hot spring you went to and a stamp from the ladies at this little exhibition, and then put your stamped entry in a box for a drawing to win a free night or two at a hot spring hotel. I figured why not, so I went up to the table of old ladies, who were all absorbed in some sort of craftwork and didn’t notice me. So I asked if this is where I could receive the stamp. A couple ladies looked up with smiles and stamped my ticket, while giving me the perfunctory compliment on my Japanese and asking where I was from. While I was answering, one of the ladies still working on her crafts looked up and said, “oh, a foreigner! You sounded like a Japanese person to me” Wow, thanks old lady, that is a huge ego boost, although I’m going to blame part of her confusion on senility and lack of a hearing aid. Still, it is amazing how differently one’s Japanese is received when they aren’t seeing your face (i.e. they don’t know you are a foreigner).
Then I wandered over to this area with some neat rock formations, a mini canyon, almost, and snapped some pictures. The general shape kind of reminded me of Wisconsin Dells.
I then caught the bus back to Sendai Station, checked in to my room, and went searching for dinner. Sendai is famous for cow tongue, so I knew what I was looking to eat for my meal, but since it is famous, there are tons of places serving it. I scoped out the many joints in and around the station and finally settled on one that was moderately priced. I got a mix, some of the tongue seasoned with salt, and some of it covered in a miso sauce.
I hadn’t eaten cow tongue in quite awhile, so it hit the spot and was quite tasty, but it is also something that I wouldn’t want to eat everyday. The big problem is that although soft and yummy when piping hot, it becomes tough, chewy, and much less appetizing once room temperature (more so than other types of meat). It came with rice and a clear soup that a couple chunks of unidentifiable meat. And I was quite fine with not knowing what they were. I then stumbled upon a Cold Stone Creamery. Yes, that chain has made it to Japan. I’ve seen them before, but always passed because it is even more outrageously expensive over here. But after getting used to paying out the nose for ice cream at Baskin Robbins here, the price for the small suddenly didn’t seem as bad. Plus there was a delicious looking mango ice cream-based sundae that I couldn’t pass up. They were handing out menus to folks waiting in line, and the lady first gave me a Japanese menu and then asked if I would like an English menu. I said I was fine, after which she complimented me on my Japanese. I had literally said one word, and quite possibly the most often used word in the language, and one that someone learns in the first week or two of learning the language. Sorry, pet peeve, moving on… One thing they decided to add to the Cold Stone experience for the Japanese stores is that the employees behind the counter sing you a song as they make your sundae. A couple girls ahead of me in line were “serenaded” by quite possibly the most annoying, nasal version of “It’s a Small World” that I’ve ever heard. Thankfully, the girl behind the counter could also read body language, and realized I wasn’t having any part of being sung to. Instead she just asked where I was from and chit-chatted a bit. That’s cool, I can deal with that. I was still tired from the bus ride, so after dessert, I headed back to the hotel early, watched part of the sixth Potter movie on TV, and promptly fell asleep.
The next morning I woke up and realized I had neglected to unpack my clothes and cringed a bit when I took my suit out and saw the creases that had formed. I’m not sure what I was expecting, considering I had folded it up and packed it into my duffel bag, which was a bit too small width-wise. There was a sort of heat press/ironing board sort of thing in the hotel room closet, so I tried putting the creased sleeve in there for a bit. It might have helped a bit, but not a ton. I also realized I had forgot a white undershirt, and my dress shirt was far too see-through to be kosher by itself. So I set out to find an undershirt, and looked around the mall area by the station, but to no avail. All of the stores were far to fancy and apparently above carrying something as pedestrian as a regular undershirt. I randomly ran into my friend Kevin, who was also in town for the wedding. We caught up a bit and I told him of my plight. Turns out he had an extra shirt I could use if need be, so that at least turned panic mode off. With a clear head, I suddenly realized where I could get a plain, white undershirt…a convenience store! And sure enough, when I headed back to a convenience store in the station, I found one, albeit a bit overpriced, but oh well. I had a bit of time for lunch before I had to be at the hall at 2:30pm, so I stopped by a ramen placed I had scoped out the night before. It was small, and there was a line outside. Those are pretty much the two features I look for when choosing a ramen shop, and again they didn’t lie. The place specialized in a concentrated pork broth, and it was out of this world. By far the best pork-based ramen I’ve had, and not too far second to the spicy miso garlic butter ramen back in Nagoya. After inhaling the deliciousness I headed back to the hotel, threw on my suit and headed over to another hotel where the ceremony was held. After checking in and dropping off the money envelope I headed upstairs to the waiting room. As a side note, for Japanese weddings, guests all bring gifts of money, rather than actual items. There are no “gift registries” or anything like that. Rather, there is a fancy envelope, called a shikibukuro, that you put money in and hand to the registration table when you arrive. You also need to go to the bank ahead of time and ask for fresh, crisp bills to put in the envelope. Put in a non-pristine bill, and, well, don’t you look like a jackass. The other difference is the level of expense. Apparently Japanese weddings are super expensive, and the guest’s gifts of money are an attempt to stem the bleeding. If you are invited to the wedding it is generally expected that you put 30.000 yen (a little above $300) in the envelope, and the amount goes up depending on how closely related you are/how good a friend you are. After consulting with folks at work, I found it was acceptable for me put in a bit less seeing as I was traveling a large distance to get there and footing my own travel/hotel bill…apparently that counts for something. Tangent aside, when I got to the waiting room, they had cherry blossom tea sitting out, so I grabbed a cup. I can’t say I’m the biggest fan though. It was way too salty, which was completely unexpected. I got a hint of cherry blossom flavor as an after taste, but initially it mainly tasted like salt water. Another interesting difference in wedding practice is that the bride and groom were both in the waiting room, taking pictures with relatives, etc. So not only did the guests get to see the bride and groom before the ceremony, the couple got to see each other.
The study abroad group from Nanzan.
With some of Makoto's family.
After a little meet and greet, the ceremony started. It was a relatively small room. The groom’s side had just family members, but since only Sara’s mom and aunt could make it, we were able to sit in and help fill out the bride’s seating section. The Shinto ceremony itself was interesting and mercifully short. It starting with reading some prayers and calling the gods, and then culminating with the sharing of three nuptial cups (really, tiny saucers, so they aren’t getting drunk) of sake, each of which is to be consumed in three sips. Each cup represents something different, health/longevity, etc.
After that, all guests at the ceremony are poured a saucer of sake to consume together. This is sometimes followed by family introductions. Sara’s father-in-law asked the priest if he could do family introductions, at which his wife told him he didn’t need to because he had basically already done that in the waiting room. He responded with curt “urusai na,” calling her noisy/annoying, and essentially telling her to shut up. Nice. Something tells me that’s not the first time she’s heard that. Gotta love the Japanese married couple dynamic, not exactly the most progressive thing in the world. He then proceeded to introduce everyone on the groom’s side, or at least he attempted to. He ended up mixing up how people were related, and even just forgot some people’s names. Well played, sir, well played. Insist on introducing the family and don’t even get it right, that takes some balls. There was then a small waiting area outside the reception hall, where we joined with all the friends, etc who were just invited to the reception. They had some beverages out and we mingled a bit while the couple was getting photographed.
We were then led into the hall where we found our table o’ foreigners, which consisted Sara’s family and study abroad friends. The Japanese wedding reception is also very different. Like many things in Japan, it attempts to be Western, but in many respects still manages to be very Japanese. The reception is relatively short and honestly is more like an extended dinner. There is no dance floor, nor any dancing to speak of during a standard reception. Since this was an “international wedding” we ended up having a small bit of dancing near the end in which all of us foreigners ended up teaching everyone how to do the Chicken Dance. The rest of the ceremony, however, mainly consisted of dinner, which had many, many courses, during which pre-selected friends and acquaintances were called up to give short congratulatory speeches. A couple month ago, Sara had asked me to give a speech, so halfway through I was called up to the mic. A table of the groom’s (already tipsy) friends nearly fell out of their respective chairs at the first Japanese word I spoke. I didn’t think it should be that surprising, but apparently they weren’t expecting my speech to be in Japanese. Overall, I’d say the speech went well, seeing as I managed to make them laugh a bit. Aside from the speeches, one of the nephews played a couple songs on his guitar for the newlyweds. The couple also had a clothing change halfway through the reception, to switch from the traditional Shinto garb to a western bridal dress (which Sara’s mom made herself and brought over!) and tuxedo. They also did the standard cutting of the cake and fed it to each other.
Still, the entire reception only lasted about two hours, and pretty much everyone was herded out within ten minutes. The foreigner table was the last to leave, as I think we were all still just realizing it was over already. We headed out to the receiving line, where we all congratulated the couple and then received a little jar of jam from them. I guess it is customary to receive a little gift on the way out. We also received a bag of gifts at our table, with fancy Japanese sweets and a catalogue of schtuff from which we get to choose our own gift. I’m now beginning to see why these things cost so much.
Although the reception was over, the festivities were not. Some of the groom’s colleague’s had organized a nijikai (an “after-party”, although from what I remember from university, those occur after bar time, not at 7pm, but whatever). For some reason I can’t explain, they decided to go for an all-you-drink course meal at a nearby restaurant. I understand the all-you-drink, but I don’t understand the massive course meal almost immediately after the exercise in decadence that was the meal at the reception. I sure as hell wasn’t hungry, and most of the other people weren’t either. A ton of food was wasted, and I felt bad.
Beautiful, but I can't eat it all!
A nice photo of the newlyweds at the after party.
I also was a bit taken aback at the 6,000Yen price tag (that would be over $60 for those keeping score at home). Most of these course sets are around 4,000Yen, which I also consider to be exorbitantly expensive, but this was a step above apparently. This led me to drink like a fish in an effort to come close to getting my money’s worth. Good things the drinks were weak as hell, or I might have been in trouble. Instead, I was only slightly buzzed. After that we continued the night further, this time with a much smaller group, namely just all of us who had studied abroad together and Nanzan, plus Sara’s husband. The group of us went out for some karaoke and had a few drinks there as well, as Sara’s husband is a fan of whiskey.
Also, he hams it up. I like this guy.
(from left) Matt, Kevin, Crystal
No better way to celebrate your marriage than a karaoke duet!
The karaoke was a ton of fun and it was great to get to hang out with the Nanzan gang again. It was also nice to go out with a group of mainly foreigners and have singing in Japanese be the norm. I realize that your standard group of non-speaking foreigners get annoyed with Japanese songs, so I usually tone it down or cut them out altogether.
I hope to make it back up to Sendai to visit Sara again at some point, it had been far too long. And of course, congratulations to the newlyweds!
