Recently in Kamakura, I was lucky to witness a Japanese traditional wedding ceremony. On the grounds of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, the main Shinto shrine of Kamakura. This shrine is one of the main touristic spots of Kamakura (next to Great Buddha), so with me, dozens of tourists could witness this traditional wedding show. Japanese weddings are not “fun” in the Western understanding of a wedding. Neither traditional nor the westernized Japanese wedding ceremonies are “fun”. In this case here, we have a serious, well… a solemn Shinto ceremony, where neither guests nor the wedded are smiling or laughing. Everybody sits there with long, earnest faces, and since it is accompanied by traditional and rather dark music, you could start thinking that it is a funeral and not a wedding… Or you could think something like “This couple is DOOMED!”. But, traditions are traditions… Hey, the bride has put on a lampshade! But I like the hakama of the bridegroom… :D

In earnest, I cannot deny the aesthetic beauty of this.

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