Christmas in Japan: Day 1-2, The wedding reception

We left for Japan on a rather cold day, in fact it was -12 F, and a rather windy day making it -31 F with wind chill. But we left prepared.

The wind made our flight a little late. It took maintenance a bit of extra time just because it was so cold, no snow or anything, just -30 degree weather. So by the time we made it to Tokyo, all the flights to Hiroshima had left. We were in a bit of trouble since all the arrangements had been made for the wedding reception were for 12pm the next day. I was just glad to have made it out of Chicago. Anyhow, we ended up sleeping in the Tokyo airport and left at 7am, the first flight out to Hiroshima. For some reason, it was a bigger deal in japan. We had to sign forms with our passport numbers and provide evidence that we had early flights, otherwise they kick everyone out of the airport. It actually closes down from 12pm-5am or so. I managed to to sleep 2-3 hours before the place opened up and we got ready for our flight.

We got in Hiroshima just in time to shower and get ready.

The hotel was all ready for us. They had fancy little signs pointing the way to Jeff and Keiko's wedding reception, and if you look below, you should be able to catch the only English word.





Japanese wedding receptions are pretty different from the American ones I have been to. They are much more formal. The only ones I have been to: you show up, you talk to the bride and groom, eat a little, and your on your way. In Japan, they have a program all prepared. Every word is written out. There is a specific start and end time and everyone is there for the whole thing. Everyone had an assigned seat.

It started off with a toast and then introductions of everyone. Keiko's 2 sisters, her sister's family of 5, and all 12 or so aunts and uncles were there. One of her uncle's sang a traditional Japanese style of singing (2 pics below) called UTAI. It was really cool as I had only seen it on tv before. This uncle taught this style of singing for 20-30 years.



We did the cutting of the cake, which is done in Japan as often as it is in the US.

This is Keiko, her little sister, and her older sister and husband.

With Keiko's parents

With Keiko's 3 nieces and nephews

Karaoke

The Whole Crowd

Picture of everyone at their tables

We ate a 10-course meal with all sorts of raw fish and traditional Japanese dishes. Many of them had red and white, which are colors that are meant to celebrate. The songs that were sung to us were meant for celebration. There was a karaoke machine that filled the middle of the meal. I was sort of pressured to sing one at the beginning (I sang a Christmas song). It ended with a small speech by myself.