Vulcan Wedding

Last week I returned to Kyoto for important family business. Yoshiko's brother Kazuki would have a wedding. Immediate family had to attend including me. Once again I took the Bullet train, Shinkansen, southwest to the ancient capital.
It was Saturday morning when Yoshiko met me at a very crowded Kyoto train station. It was in between school years and the equinox holiday weekend brought droves for a short vacation.
Since there was time before we had to check in at the hotel we took a side trip to a famous temple that is featured on the back of the Japanese 10yen piece. It was spitting rain on and off but basically a nice place. My problem was that I still hadn't recovered from the nausea of the poorly ventilated train and we had only a quick lunch. I'm a real wimp about lack of oxygen, whatever that's about, seems like most people can get by on less air. Anyhow, I felt kinda anxious and crappy, typical, fortunately Yoshiko is used to it. Hey, what's being married for anyway.



Okay, on to business. We get to stay at the Westin Miyako Kyoto Hotel. I'm really stoked except that because of family arrangements I must spend one night in the same room as Yoshiko's father Kazune, one of the great snorers of the modern era. Yoshiko's mother gives me "special ear plugs" that are actually just your typical airline ear-plugs, but maybe a little wish fulfillment wouldn't hurt. Yoshiko's sister Tomoko gives me some advice; if he's raising the roof two firm whumps on the back will quiet him down.
But first there's dinner; fish shabu shabu. Shabu shabu is thinly sliced pieces of raw meat on your plate. You dip the meat in a boiling hot pot in front of you for a few short swishes (shabu shabu), then dip in sauce and in mouth. I thought it tasty and now that my pleasures had been satiated it was time for my confrontation with the human leaf blower. In fact the moment Kazune hit the sack he fell asleep and started ripping into some most excellent snores. I decided to lie in bed and write a log of my experience in order not to go crazy. By the second entry I was all ready to do the "two whumps" as suggested by Tomoko. After whumping Kazune woke up like there was an earthquake, rolled over and started up the noise again. I eventually went to sleep with ear-plugs and a pillow on each side of my head.





Kazune and I went to breakfast and then scurried off to a Japanese style room where Chieko san and Kazuki, Yoshiko's brother, were getting prepared to do the greatest extreme sport of all, marriage. However, instead of suiting up with pads they were costumed in ancient traditional garb by two assistants hired for just such a thing. Meanwhile Yoshiko, her mother and her aunt were already at the Heian shrine where the wedding would take place. They were also suiting up in some kimonos from Yoshiko's mothers family collection.



In front of the Heian shrine Chieko's father and Kazune got together for a few garden photos, it was about 40f with spitting rain and wind, but when it's a pricey once in a lifetime thing photos are going to happen everywhere. After the photo session we went into a waiting room where only Yoshiko's relatives were sitting. I had never met these people before except Tomoko's family so I kept ticking over in my mind "these people are Yoshiko's close relatives", then I would look at Yoshiko to try to make a connection...nope. Just couldn't accept it.



After still more photos out in the bitter cold courtyard we were taken back into the waiting room one last time. A priest or attendant of the shrine came in and showed Kazuki and Kazune how they must take a branch attached with zigzag cut paper and turn it around in a certain manner during the ceremony.

After that the time had come. We marched off into a special room where the two families were seated opposite of each other. There were three musicians playing a flute, a drum and something I couldn't discern. They were seated on one side of the slightly raised stage. There were two women attendants with gold crowns on the other side of the stage. Also there was a priest with his Shinto quail hat in the middle. There were also tables, decanters and all sorts of artifacts on the stage. Sorry there are not photos of this but it's not allowed.

So this is so Vulcan. Absolutely something out of Star Trek. The attendants with quick steps, erect bodies scurrying about pouring sake from one decanter to another. The musicians with dissonant shrill music with no melody. Tomoko's screaming three year old girl... All very Vulcan. The Sake eventually made it's way to little dishes placed in front of each of us. The priest, mumuring Shinto chants waved a stick that had a wig of zig zagging papers glued to it. Rings were exchanged, branches with zig zagging papers on them were turned, sake was drank and then it was over.



Next a taxi whizzed us to the post wedding banquet. We were ushered to a waiting room once more. Shortly we were brought to the banquet room. Kazuki and Chieko came in to rounds of applause. They broke a cask containing sake. The immediate family served sake to everyone. We gave speeches, mine was very short. We ate a meal that would take another complete blog entry to explain.



Sake from each newlyweds home town was mixed together and drank. We drank beer too. Yoshiko MC'ed the event on the fly beautifully. Chieko's mom was too choked up to speak. The kids were spazzing out. The families served sake and beer to each other, I had some. I didn't understand a word anyone was saying. Everyone drank. Gifts were given and we were out of there by five pm.



That night we went to Chieko's mom's bar in the Gion district. Gion is most famous for the historical district with old bars and restaurants and of course the Maiko (Geisha). However, Chieko's mom's place was in a area with new buildings and her bar had a real 1980's Kenny thing going on; it was western glitzy Reno like Rogers and I would have been comfortable there with Loggins haircut. We drank for free and got a chance to congratulate the couple in more casual surroundings. The Japanese got more and more garbled until I didn't understand a word, and that's without alcohol. We returned to our hotel.



The next day we got a cab to the station from one of the many great cabbies of Kyoto. This guy took us on lots of pretty short cuts and showed us his personal hidden treasures of Kyoto along the way. He topped it off at the end by pointing out that you can see an ugly pseudo space needle building's reflection in the big glass paneled windows of modern Kyoto station. He had Yoshiko in stitches.

We took a train to northern Kyoto as it eventually heads towards the Japan sea to the rural Tango region. We changed trains in the once glamorous tourist town of Amanohashidate (a word that screams VISIT ME) to a small cute diesel train. The ride was smooth with great ventilation. The nature view was great, I kept looking at the roads winding through the woods thinking "I want to ride my bike on that road! Oh, but that road is even better!". At one stop some high school kids got on with their school clothes tugged down to hip hop standards. They sat near Yoshiko and me. I was their white skinned hero and they said "hello". I feared they may faint with excitement if I replied. I told them in Japanese I don't speak English.



We arrived at the pretty seaside town of Kumihama. Yoshiko's Grandmothers house is located there. Grandmother was from a famous family that was so respected in the region that Yoshiko's uncle was able to sell the house to the government to be turned into a museum. Recently the most famous ancestor was the Great Grandfather who was a powerful merchant and congressman. He built the first railroad through the area and was immortalized with a statue. Yes folks, my wife's family.



We got a great train ride back to Amanohashidate. The town still had some life in it, there was some tourism. The old local goods gift shops featured dried octopus and squid products. Of particular interest was a beer mug made of dried squid carcass, a fine rewarding chew after a satisfying chug a lug. We booked a ryokan for the night and were looking forward to a pleasant stay. We were not disappointed; the baths were comfortable, the Asian Fusion dinner was very good and the wooded room was spacious with enough modern amenities to ensure a cozy evening. Yoshiko treated herself to locally made wine which was not bad at all. I relaxed in the den that had nice art books, fancy design furniture and shitty coffee.



The next morning we took a walk around the town. There is a famous forested bar of land creating a lagoon and is used as a walking path from one side of town to the other. When we arrived at the other side we got to a park that had a lift that went up to an observation point. After putting down some yen for the ride we got to the top and found some viewing platforms that looked down over the bar of land and out to the ocean. There is a way of looking that involves assuming the position. While you have your head between your legs you are to get an upside down view. It is supposed to provide some sort of beautiful image like the finger of land shooting off into the sky and the sea is the sky, or something like that. Anyways, it took me about three seconds of trying this before realizing that the overlord of tourist traps was laughing down at me from his gift shop in the sky.



That same afternoon we caught the train back to Kyoto then to Tokyo. We were back in our urban home by nine pm that evening.
Thanks for reading.