Ed's Photos of Japan: A Japanese Wedding Even though the culture is changing and many Japanese women are choosing to marry later in life or not at all, the marriage industry is still very sizable. Most Japanese weddings are elaborate affairs, with the bride changing her outfit several times during the reception, guests enjoying the show, and a large bag of gifts for each guest. Instead of presents, the wedded couple usually receives a cash gift, the amount decided by an unwritten code based on the nature of the relationship between the newlyweds and the guest. Some young Japanese couples these days, not anxious to spend so much money, are deciding to get married only by filing civil papers. And some people, displeased by the law that requires the bride to change her name, are even foregoing the civil function. They choose to live together as husband and wife with no legal foundation, only with the permission of the parents. However, cases like these are far less common than the elegant, Western-style ceremonies that have built a wedding industry in Japan with everything from cakes to the Christian ceremony. A recent classified ad offered to a foreigner a position as a priest to marry couples. The requirements and skills: some knowledge of Christianity. The Western media has often reported on these ostentatious wedding ceremonies that border on conspicuous consumption. However, the media is not often invited to see one part of the Japanese wedding. The traditional Shinto ceremony is austere, very formal, and closed to all but immediate family. It is a Japanese rite that not many foreigners have the opportunity to see. I was invited, as a photographer, to witness and record a Japanese wedding ceremony, both the reception and the normally closed Shinto ceremony. Ed's Photos of Japan would now like to share with you a small glimpse of a Japanese wedding.

Entering	Bride and Groom	Priest Chanting
Singing Together	Pouring Sake	Drinking Sake
The Ring	Meeting People	Reception
Cake	Oil Lamps	Young and Old