Hunkabutta Archives
09.25.03

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I'm drinking the best cheap-ass red wine I ever had in my life at this very moment. It's made somewhere in Japan, but they call it Mon Frère -- at $4.00 a bottle you can't beat it.

It's pretty late here, almost 1:00 a.m., and Jack and Karen have long since gone to bed. Since I started Japanese language school I've gotten into the habit of posting to Hunkabutta late at night: It seems to be the only time that I can sit down alone at the computer for long enough. Consequently, there have been a lot of crappy posts put up here in the past few months.

Well, I'm hoping that that's going to change soon. Tomorrow is my last day of class for this semester, and I've decided to take next semester off. I've done three semesters in a row (about 8 months) and I'm feeling kind of burnt out with it. I can't even get a handle on the old grammar before I'm inundated with the new stuff. So, I figured that I'd use the next three months to work on my conversation and reading ability and play catch up with all that old grammar. Unless something major comes up, I'll go back to school in January for one final semester.

I might do some freelance web work or photography, but what I'll probably be doing most is looking after Jack and the apartment while Karen works from home. She's built up quite the reputation as an editor and now gets just about as much freelance work as she can handle.

Of course I'll still be doing the weddings on the weekends. I'm planning on spending my mornings in the library doing my Japanese studying and computer work (if I have any). That's also probably when I'll end up doing Hunkabutta, so I hope that I'll be able to post more regularly and to write about things with a bit more substance.

My glass of Mon Frère is nearly empty and it's time for me to creep into bed.

More from Japan in a few days...

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18 comments so far

09.21.03

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My last post about a new wedding gig that I might get at Tokyo Disneyland generated a lot of interest in the comment section. There were several questions posed that I think I'll answer here, rather than in the comments section itself.

"..I just wanted to ask how you got the job as a wedding pastor?..that sounds like an incredible part-time job."

Yes, it's a great job. I got the idea to do it from a friend of mine who was doing it a few years ago. When I got laid off from my programming job and enrolled in Japanese language school it was the first thing that I thought of doing. I got my pastor job simply by answering a want ad in the paper for 'Ministers or experienced Christians.' I figured 13 years in the Catholic school system made me experienced enough.

"The fact that you said 'Christian weddings are trendy' seems more bizarre to me than 'Disneyland wedding'..."

Yeah, I know. It is bizarre. The Japanese seem to have the ability to mix and match religions at will. At first glance this seems ridiculously contradictory, but once you accept it, it's actually pretty cool. They seem to be able to focus on the social aspects of the various ceremonies and sacraments (i.e., who's there, how do I get to mingle with other people, what message does this ceremony send out to other people about me and my family, can I afford to do these ceremonies, etc.)

Christian-style weddings started to become popular in the early 1980's after a famous singer (kind of like a Japanese Madonna) had her Christian-style wedding aired on TV. It was a big event. A few years later there was the incredibly glamorous wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana, and that was really the icing on the cake.

According to my company training manual, although less than 2% of the Japanese are Christian, Christian-style weddings now account for nearly 70% of all weddings performed in Japan. It is one of the only business sectors continuing to grow in the current stagnant economy.

I think that one of the reasons the Christian-style wedding is so popular is that it's all centred around the bride. She is the star for the day. Everyone stands and watches her as she makes her way down the aisle in her beautiful white wedding gown. In a Shinto ceremony, the bride is pretty much just a well dressed farm animal being passed from one family to the other. She doesn't really stand out. And let's face it, although most guys will agree to show up at the wedding, it's really the girl who puts it all together and makes the final decision.

"How do 'normal' Japanese weddings work? Do they do the 'normal' Japanese wedding thing, as well as the ersatz Christian wedding?"

As far as I know, all marriages in Japan actually take place in City Hall (or the Ward office). You are not married until you go down there and fill out the forms, whether or not you participate in any kind of ceremony. So, technically speaking, most of the people that I marry have already been legally married for several months. The Christian wedding and reception is just for the benefit of the families.

In terms of other types of religious ceremonies, there are also Buddhist and Shinto weddings. I believe that Shinto weddings were the most popular before the Christian-style came into vogue. If I'm not mistaken, the Shinto style was a bit of a trendy thing too initially, being started by a dashing Prince in the 1920's. Shinto only became the official state religion after the Meiji Restoration (second half of the 19th century) but has always been the religion of the royal household.

Before that, I suppose most people had Buddhist ceremonies. Of course, a lot of people still have Buddhist weddings, but I've never been to one. I've heard that they're quite beautiful.

Well, enough about weddings for now. Maybe next time I'll walk you through the ceremony so that you can get a better idea what it's all about.

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26 comments so far

09.18.03

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Some of you may know that a few months back when I entered Japanese language school I took a part-time job as a Christian wedding pastor: I marry non-Christian Japanese couples in hotels and restaurants. Christian-style weddings are very trendy here. It's a great job for a student.

My goal is to make at least one person cry at each ceremony. I want them to feel the sanctity of the situation in the pits of their stomachs, I want the tart poignancy of the moment of 'I do' to be forever etched in their supple Buddhist brains. That is why I am very excited about a possible big break in my pastor career: I might get to be the priest who does Christian weddings at Tokyo Disneyland.

Can you believe that?!? My life is so stange sometimes that even I can't believe it.

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09.15.03

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Been busy lately. School is chugging along like a freight train going downhill, and I've been doing a lot of weddings because high season is just starting.

Unfortunately, it's getting late now, so I'm going to have to get to bed and give a more lucid description of my life's situation later.

Enjoy the pictures

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