A traditional Japanese wedding in Tokyo

schmoo

A very good friend who transplanted to Tokyo recently got married. This provided me with a great opportunity to take some photos -- not only of the infamously difficult wedding variety but also of a type of wedding that is rarely seen outside of one rather small country.

They got married at the famous Meiji Shrine in Tokyo in a traditional Shinto ceremony. It was a very wet, rainy day but thankfully almost all of it was indoors.

My equipment consisted of one 30D (I had a backup body but got so befuddled on my end that I just went with the one), a 580EX II, an 8mm fisheye, the 24-105 and the 17-55. Not a stellar wedding photographer's kit but it was already mostly new gear for me and I was confused enough with everything going on.

Thanks to Shay and all the other great people who've donated advice in various threads I dug up in preparation for this trip!

Before you enter the shrine you must purifiy yourself by rinsing both hands and your mouth with water:



Stepmother of the groom:



The groom arrived first in the meeting room, where traditionally the two families meet and are introduced to each other. You can see a clearer pic of his kimono in his stepbother's G5 LCD:



As the couple signs paperwork and introduces each side of the family, we are all served "cherry blossom water," which is beautiful in that it has cherry blossoms floating in it but it's very salty. I hope I didn't jinx the couple by not drinking all of it.... :uhoh



Some of the bride's relatives:



Bride and groom, together finally:



Signing the official documents:





Mother of the groom looking on:



The ceremony was quite difficult to photograph. ISO 1600, FTW! There were only two cameras allowed in the room at the time which put a lot of pressure on me. I also didn't know until afterwards that I was allowed to get up out of my seat to get better angles! It's difficult being a guest as well as the photographer, especially in a completely different land with a completely different culture. Ah well, they didn't seem to be upset about this afterwards. :rolleyes



The procession to where the ceremony is held crossed the main courtyard, which was filled with tourists. We all got pointed at and our pictures taken many times. :lol3

The ceremony is conducted by a shinto priest, accompanied by two other officials who chant and play the koto and two younger priestesses. They drink sake, shake bells, and chant. I wished I could understand more of what they said as it was as different from rings and flower girls and kissing the bride as you can get!





Family and friends:



After the ceremony was a more Western-styled reception. Here is the lovely couple goofing around as usual, as they have quite a sense of humor:



There was a photographer from the shrine there to cover all the things that I missed. I am very very grateful that he was there, and he was quite a character. Not only was he shooting only with film but he was equipped to the max and even had a bandanna wrapped around his arm. He was totally hardcore and if someone had told me he'd just popped out of a time capsule from 1970 I would have believed them!





Additionally, the shrine provided an entire group photo - of all 40 of us. They too had not changed their photographic equipment in about 40 years. It was such a trip to see all of this old, large-format gear and wanting to ask questions about it, but being blinded by the repeated strobes and the constant, "Hai! Cheeeez-suh! Hai! One more! Hai!" :lol3

The couple entering the reception room for the first time:



The bride was so beautiful and her smile is always so uplifting! Partway through the reception she changed to a black kimono and had a second entrance. I am not sure the more "casual" kimono was more comfortable than the wedding one, as she still needed an assistant to help her stand up and sit down.











The groom's step-sister-in-law is a wonderful violinist and she performed several short pieces for us. Being a violinist myself I can really vouch for her virtuostic skill. It was an excellent way to finish off a truly trans-global wedding event. :thumb



And that was my experience in Japan. CC and feedback welcome! I really admire all of you people who shoot weddings regularly. :bow

Giphsub

Wow Schmoo! Great job! It's a completely different world isn't it! Looks like you had a great time, and I think the black and white really works. I shot a friends wedding here a few years back (not in any capacity as photographer) and the colour shots are quite different from the b/w effect you got there. Nice!

schmoo

Giphsub wrote:

Wow Schmoo! Great job! It's a completely different world isn't it! Looks like you had a great time, and I think the black and white really works. I shot a friends wedding here a few years back (not in any capacity as photographer) and the colour shots are quite different from the b/w effect you got there. Nice!

Hi Mike thanks for looking! So since you've seen ceremonies like this, could you perhaps shed some light as to what's going on exactly? Thanks - and my dirty little secret is that the room where the familes were introduced was so awfully yellow: yellow carpet, yellow furniture, cream-colored walls, and the screen standing behind the desk was painted gold. The ceiling lights were all fluorescent, too. There was NO way a flattering color shot was going to come out of that room.

But given the hairstyles that are prevalent around Tokyo these days I pobably would have processed them as black and white, regardless of what color the carpet was.

Jeff_Milo

Great captures schmoo, Great job!!! I love the composition, and the b&w sets a very dramatic mood. Must have been a wonderful experience seeing such an extrodinary ceremony.

Skippy

schmoo wrote:

A very good friend who transplanted to Tokyo recently got married. This provided me with a great opportunity to take some photos -- not only of the infamously difficult wedding variety but also of a type of wedding that is rarely seen outside of one rather small country.

They got married at the famous Meiji Shrine in Tokyo in a traditional Shinto ceremony. It was a very wet, rainy day but thankfully almost all of it was indoors.

My equipment consisted of one 30D (I had a backup body but got so befuddled on my end that I just went with the one), a 580EX II, an 8mm fisheye, the 24-105 and the 17-55. Not a stellar wedding photographer's kit but it was already mostly new gear for me and I was confused enough with everything going on.

Thanks to Shay and all the other great people who've donated advice in various threads I dug up in preparation for this trip!

And that was my experience in Japan. CC and feedback welcome! I really admire all of you people who shoot weddings regularly.

Weddings are a lot of pressure, it's not like you get to reshoot if you muck it up the first time round.

My nephew John ( the one you spoke to online ) loves the Japanese Culture
The College he used to attend hosts many Japanese Students,
and he too had the opportunity to visit a host family in Japan.

The way the Japanese write has always had me baffled,
it's very artistic though I don't have a clue how you read it,
it's an art all of it's own.

I bet they took thousands of photos at this wedding

You did extremely well Schmooo
Very interesting series ... two cultures blending ... nicely Done!
... Skippy
.

Awais Yaqub

Wonderful series enjoyed it

Giphsub

Haha! The bad (tacky??) colours forced you to b&w?! Classic!

I'm not sure really what more I can explain to you. What do you want to know about?

Basically they enter, and the priests wave about their little paper wand thingies to put a blessing on the couple for a happy and long marriage. They then have the celibratory sake driunk from the shallow sake cups, and the couple make their vows in Japanese in front of everyone. The relatives are all then introduced to each other. That's a left over from old times when arranged marriages were more common and both sides were only meeting each other for the first time (not the parents, but the wider relatives like aunts and uncles, etc.) That's about it really. What else did you want to know??

Here is one I took of my mate's wedding a few years back.

schmoo

Skippy wrote:

Weddings are a lot of pressure, it's not like you get to reshoot if you muck it up the first time round.

My nephew John ( the one you spoke to online ) loves the Japanese Culture
The College he used to attend hosts many Japanese Students,
and he too had the opportunity to visit a host family in Japan.

The way the Japanese write has always had me baffled,
it's very artistic though I don't have a clue how you read it,
it's an art all of it's own.

I bet they took thousands of photos at this wedding

You did extremely well Schmooo
Very interesting series ... two cultures blending ... nicely Done!
... Skippy
.

Thanks Skippy! Thanks again for allowing me to get in touch with your nephew. He's really lucky to have had the chance to indulge in his interest in the foreign culture. I wish I could have been able to do so when I was that age - or at least before all the other grownup responsibilities started kicking in.

I thought the way my friends had blended the two cultures was very well done! Most Japanese couples have Western-style weddings with the white gown and rings, etc. It was good that they did most of this weekend in the Shinto style, but the following day we had a huge afterparty at a funky American ex-pat bar in Shinjuku, complete with roast beef, mashed potatoes and banana cream pie. Some of the (American) guests had been living in Japan for years and didn't even realize how much they missed the food until they ate it!! :giggle

Thanks again, Mike! And that is a lovely couple. I figured that was the general gist of it, but it seemed a lot longer than that of course. I enjoyed the sake immensely, especially as they were served in handmade cedar boxes that smelled so good! And good sake is hard to get in Maryland. We each got miniature casks of it to take home, which I look forward to enjoying at some point after the jetlag goes away.

Giphsub

ah yes! The cedat boxes, not the dishes! On the topic of sake, I'm not a huge fan, but do enjoy the odd cup if it is good stuff. Luckily, in the town next to Hiroshima, they have a sake festival every October. All the sake makers across Japan send their best sake to the town (which is, itself, a sake brewing town) and they have a weekend-long festival where you can go and pay 20 bucks to sample all the sake you like from all over Japan. It is held outdoors in the park in the center of town, and is quite an amusing event. By the end of the day there are people staggering, stumbling, puking and passed out all over the place!

Llywellyn

Wow, I just loved looking through these. It gave me a sense of being there, surrounded by a completely different and very unique culture. I confess my favorites of the series are your close-ups: the water ladels, signing the contract, hands holding cameras in a row, and that amazing profile of the bride smiling. These little details more than anything else gave me a sense of what it was like to be there. Just lovely.

evoryware

Too many nice shots to count. I like the last color one, the first color one, the second shot after the reception entrance, the wide angle of the other photographer, the bride signing the document, and the bride and groom seeing each other for the first time (and is that the bride with the roses in her hair?). My favorite is the profile one of her smiling after entering the reception.
Thanks for posting!

saurora

Great stuff Schmoo! The black and white works very well with the ceremony shots. I especially love the signing of the document and the profile of the bride smiling. The family members looked so ...mmmmm... somber that it was wonderful to see some 'comic relief' as the groom gave the peace sign!

Little T

I thought the way my friends had blended the two cultures was very well done! Most Japanese couples have Western-style weddings with the white gown and rings, etc. It was good that they did most of this weekend in the Shinto style, but the following day we had a huge afterparty at a funky American ex-pat bar in Shinjuku, complete with roast beef, mashed potatoes and banana cream pie. Some of the (American) guests had been living in Japan for years and didn't even realize how much they missed the food until they ate it!! :giggle

Makes me think to my brothers wedding there a month ago. Our afterparty was also in Shinjuku i beleive but it was at some little itallian bar/resturant.

Glad you got to experince this it was a great blast for me as well, already made me think back to my trip there.... Ahhh the memories

Think your photos turned out alot better than mine but i was a little side tracked since i had to walk in the procession from inside the prep area or whatever to the actuall temple so i didnt have my camera the whole time :cry

schmoo

Little T wrote:

Makes me think to my brothers wedding there a month ago. Our afterparty was also in Shinjuku i beleive but it was at some little itallian bar/resturant.

Glad you got to experince this it was a great blast for me as well, already made me think back to my trip there.... Ahhh the memories

Think your photos turned out alot better than mine but i was a little side tracked since i had to walk in the procession from inside the prep area or whatever to the actuall temple so i didnt have my camera the whole time :cry

I really enjoyed Shibuya, what I saw of it. I wanted to take some night photos of it but I didn't feel like lugging the tripod around all day.

I was in the procession too, but I had special permission to bring my camera and gear into the temple. But as the priests were bowing at the main gate (the open area where the tourists were photographing us ) I felt as though it would have been disrespectful of me! So I have no photos of the procession, unfortunately. :

giphsub wrote:

ah yes! The cedat boxes, not the dishes! On the topic of sake, I'm not a huge fan, but do enjoy the odd cup if it is good stuff. Luckily, in the town next to Hiroshima, they have a sake festival every October. All the sake makers across Japan send their best sake to the town (which is, itself, a sake brewing town) and they have a weekend-long festival where you can go and pay 20 bucks to sample all the sake you like from all over Japan. It is held outdoors in the park in the center of town, and is quite an amusing event. By the end of the day there are people staggering, stumbling, puking and passed out all over the place!

You know I was really and truly impressed by how the Japanese hold their liquor. I've been to Germany and to Ireland, both countries that people tend to think of as heavy drinkers but I saw more drunks in my first two days in Japan than I did in two weeks in Europe. Even our first night there was a dude passed out so hard on the metro his face was smooshed against the seat and his spine was at a 90 angle. Then there were the businessmen in Shimbashi square starting to take their pants off for some businesswomen friends. And the guy at a yakitori joint who was babbling nonstop at one of the poor chefs. These are just the individual ones I remember.

That sake festival sounds like a lot of fun... if you like sake and can tolerate the staggering people, I guess!

Thanks for all of your generous comments, guys

Giphsub

Yeah I agree! We aussies like to think of ourselves as big drinkers, but the Japanese go just as hard. PErhaps they reach that wall to splat against a little earlier :slosh :slurp

urbanaries

A wonderful story
Awesome set Steph! I enjoyed your amazing images as much as your enjoyable commentary. You have a real eye for the details, I love the first shot and the perspective on the cherry blossom drink shot!

You also captured some wonderful and flattering moments of the bride and groom. Love the story of the house photographer! I laughed out loud!!!

Art Scott

wHAT A great series...expecially for not knowing exactly what to expect.
I understand this very well as I just retruned frfom Kansas City and shot a few frames of some of my friends taking Refuge at the Rime Buddhsit temple there...
Again You did a FANTASTIC job.

cwphotos

Very cool Schmoo. Being a wedding photog I find these are amazing. Very sharp and you captured the moment. Bravo. And oh yeah that other photog guy is awesome. Im surprised he wasnt going ninja style from the ceiling to get the shot.

schmoo

Giphsub wrote:

Yeah I agree! We aussies like to think of ourselves as big drinkers, but the Japanese go just as hard. PErhaps they reach that wall to splat against a little earlier :slosh :slurp

Heheh maybe a little earlier, maybe it has to do with them being at least 10% smaller

Thanks guys! You are all great wedding photographers yourselves so it means a lot to me. Of course now I'm wishing I could go back and shoot it again. There is so much I missed.

Mrs F

I love this set! You did a fantastic job with these and the black and white is perfect. You told a wonderful story with words and pictures.


Your photos and commentary on the photographer cracked me up.

schmoo

Mrs F wrote:

I love this set! You did a fantastic job with these and the black and white is perfect. You told a wonderful story with words and pictures.


Your photos and commentary on the photographer cracked me up.

Thank you! I am glad my writing (generally) goes over well because adding them to all the shots makes my posts a bit... lengthy. :giggle

dkoyanagi

clap
Very, very impressive photos! Love the black and white. Sounds like you had a blast. Can't wait to see more.

jasonstone

Great stuff! Love the one where the bride is behind the groom as they enter reception as they're both so in focus - nice

and love the fisheye of the photographer taking the photo

very very nice!

I also love Japan - wife lived there for a year as an exchange student and when we finally visited - it's übercool - just such a funky place

felt like i was in Bladerunner the movie for a while mind you I'd been awake for about 36hours at this point and it was 4am on New Years day!