Are there other ethnic groups in Japan besides the Yamato?

Japanese people are very efficient, and I was lucky to encounter a Japanese wedding at Asakusa Shrine on a weekend.

Asakusa Shrine (Important Cultural Property) - Located on the east side of the main hall. This shrine enshrines three people who were involved in the founding of Asakusa Temple. After the separation of the Meiji Shinto and Buddhist shrines, it was managed by a different corporation from Asakusa Temple. Wedding is the daughter was the first to find out, and then she regretted, because I immediately relied on the wedding, all of today's sightseeing plans were disrupted.

Japanese people, after a history of back and forth between Shintoism and Buddhism, are now basically in a state where both religions are practiced, with shrines going to the gods and weddings often choosing temples. What we see today, however, is at a shrine, which is an important form of traditional Japanese wedding. There are four types of traditional Japanese wedding ceremonies, roughly categorized as Shinto-mae style, Buddhist-mae style, church style and human-mae style.

The "Shinto Mae style" is an excellent opportunity to get in touch with Japanese culture and traditions. Shrines are permanent and can be visited at any time of the year. Whether it's a wedding ceremony, the first visit of the new year, or the "7-5-3" ceremony to celebrate a child's seventh, fifth, or third year, a shrine can be with you for the rest of your life. Every time you visit a shrine, you will be reminded of the emotion of your wedding day and the eternal vows made by the couple, which is one of the attractions of holding a wedding ceremony at a shrine.

The "Kami-mae style" began in the Meiji era (1868-1912) with the wedding ceremony of Emperor Taisho, who was then the crown prince, and Princess Setsuko Kujo in Meiji 33.

Unlike traditional Chinese weddings, where red is the main color to symbolize the joyous occasion, neighboring Japan uses white, which is as pure as European and American wedding dresses. But the style is similar to ours. Japanese brides wear pure white Japanese-style dresses at weddings called "white immaculate", this kind of dress from the time of the chamber nail, the Japanese and Europeans and Americans believe that white is the color of God, symbolizing "pure and unadulterated". However, in terms of style, the Japanese bride symbolizes her past life in her mother's house and her husband's house as a rebirth, implicitly expressing her abandonment of the past and her attachment and loyalty to her husband as a wife. The bride's hair will be pulled up, the face painted white with powder, the bride wears a huge hat called "Kakuin", the hat must cover the bun, with a special meaning to remove the corners of the special, no matter how much temper you have before marriage, after marriage must be virtuous to the husband as the husband's main husband is the biggest.

The following is the flow from entrance to exit when the shrine organizes a wedding ceremony. The ceremony takes a little over an hour and is simple and solemn.

At the sound of the yagura music that tells the ceremony to begin, the saijin and the witch who preside over the ceremony will guide the bride and others into the shrine from the front.

Inside the shrine, the groom's relatives are seated on the right side facing the deity, while the bride's relatives are seated on the left side. The relatives are seated in order of closeness, starting with those closest to the shrine.

All relatives wear black uniforms, not white.

The groom wears a kimono with a family crest.

The master of the Saikai makes the announcement of the beginning of the ceremony, and all attendees bow to the gods along with the master of the Saikai.

Ceremony of purification: The ceremony of purification is a cleansing of the body and mind. The bride and groom and all attendees are blessed with the purification performed by the master.

At the Shinto ritual, the priest recites a congratulatory message for the newlyweds, informs the gods that they are getting married, and then proclaims their undying love for each other and exchanges rings.

The Three Offerings Ceremony: The bride and groom drink the sacred wine alternately from three overlapping cups, one large, one small, and one medium, to conclude the vows of eternity between husband and wife. The first cup is drunk in the order of bridegroom → bride, the second cup is drunk in the order of bride → groom, and the third cup is drunk in the order of bridegroom → bride. The first two sips are just to let the glass touch the mouth, and the third sip is to actually drink the wine. The bride and groom alternately drink from the cups as "one round", or "one offering", and one round of three overlapping cups is "three offerings", because the ceremony is repeated three times, so it is also called "three-three-nine degrees". Because the ceremony is repeated three times, it is also called "San San Jiudu". The three cups represent heaven, earth and man, and "three" is an auspicious yang number, while "nine" is an extremely yang number, thus representing supreme joy and good fortune.

The Cup of Consolidation of Kinship: A ceremony in which all participants drink goshinto from a cup to consolidate the bonds between relatives. Like "Sansan-kudo," it is consumed in three sips.

Exit: The master of the house, the bride and groom, the matchmaker, the relatives, the witches and the dowagers exit the hall in order.

Similar to our custom, it also ends with a family group photo combined with traditional customs.

The groom is meant to hold a white folding fan and wear white civilian shoes.

After the wedding, the newlyweds ride in a traditional rickshaw to the bridal chamber, which is not at all ostentatious, but it is quite tasty.

These photos are of the couple after their wedding at Sumida Sky Tree in Tokyo, so they're not the same couple as the one at the shrine, which looks a bit older, and this one, which is younger! Just in time to fill us in on a full Japanese wedding.

It was fun to see a caravan with two lanterns running through the streets. In Japan, where labor costs are high, I'm guessing the cost of a trip like this is not much cheaper than the cost of our luxury cars.

I am really not used to the dresses they wear, they are too similar to ours in some ceremonies.

Watching them disappear down the street, I could see in the distance the world's second tallest Tokyo landmark: the Sky Tree.

On a final note, I love their big red umbrellas!