The Nagasaki Wedding

The main reason for our trip to Nagasaki was the marriage of Kentaro (Yuki's brother) to Mika. The wedding took place at the Luke Plaza Hotel. The views from the hotel were lovely. We could see our hotel on the other side of Nagasaki Bay and all the comings and goings of various ships and boats. The weather was also pretty good. I was worried that the temperatures would be too high but it was a pleasant 23C.

The Luke Plaza Hotel must specialise in weddings as we counted about 5 other brides during the course of the day. I decided to keep myself to myself as I did not want to introduce myself to the wrong family.

We all sat around for a while and then headed into a side room where a group photo of the two families was taken. During that time, the families of the bride and groom formally introduced themselves to each other. After that, we were soon directed into the chapel which stood behind the hotel. The chapel looked very nice and had recently been renovated. There was a good selection of kimonos on display and Clara was very proud to wear her dress, along with a necklace and earrings. Joep and I both decided to fly the flag for Scotland and wear the kilt.After the ceremony and photos, we were directed inside for the wedding reception. Everything was done very professionally and seemed quite expensive. As is the case with all Japanese weddings, it was a mix of madcap and emotion. Kenken's friends from university bellowed out good wishes to the happy couple whilst performing an odd looking dancing ritual. On the other end of the scale, the bride and groom thanked their parents for all their care and support over the years. Clara was a little star and behaved very well. I was interested to see her thinking about the events and she became quite tearful at times during the day. I guess she is growing up fast as she was able to fully appreciate the significance of the days events.

My parents seemed to enjoy themselves, even if they were slightly bemused by some of the days events. The wedding finished at around 3pm, so we took the hotel bus back to the New Nagasaki Hotel to unwind. For me, the biggest difference between a Japanese and a Scottish wedding is that in Scotland, the partying lasts until around midnight. In Japan, it always makes me feel a little odd to leave at 3pm in the afternoon, sober and in daylight.