Pictures from this entry can be found here.
On Saturday morning early we caught a slower bullet train to Shin Kobe station, and then a faster one from there all the way to Tokyo. The Yamaji’s were nice enough to buy us the tickets for the train, and also to pay for a hotel room at the wedding place. Nice people! We relaxed on the three hour train ride, and when we arrived at Tokyo station I think we were pretty well rested up.
Right away we went out and met an old friend at the station, Nel. He lives in Chiba with his wife, daughter and incoming second daughter. It was great to see him after so long. He hadn’t changed at all. We went to an interesting Chinese restaurant in a nice shopping center that featured a waiter who poured tea in a very acrobatic way. I wish I had thought to take some pictures, but it was a very interesting presentation. Lunch was pretty good, and I could (temporarily) scratch my dim sum itch. After lunch we tried to burn off some of the calories by walking around the Imperial grounds near the emperor’s palace. It was my first time visiting, and it was nice to walk around in the wide open spaces. The area was unlike most of the rest of Japan, so it was a good experience.
After walking around a bit we said goodbye to Nel and headed off to check into our hotel. The hotel was located near Omotesando station, just a few minutes walk away. After checking in it was right back out the door to explore the area. We had fun walking through the ritzy parts of Tokyo and also poking around in Harajuku. There was some of the best people watching I’ve ever done there, too.
We stopped in for a local beer on the way back to the hotel, and then finally met up with the Yamaji’s, some extended family, and Yuki and Anna. From there we took a long train north, meeting the Fukumis at an African (?) restaurant that apparently was a regular haunt of Mr. Yamaji at one time. The place was a lot of fun, and we ate and drank a lot. I was trying to save myself to have a clear head the next day, but Mr. Yamaji would have none of it, and was clearly looking to party hard.
After several hours we checked out of the restaurant and made the long trip back to the hotel. We almost got into a fight with a bunch of young guys that were casually walking in a wide line blocking the sidewalk. We tried to pass through them, and they called Mr. Yamaji an “old man” before they saw Yuki and I right behind them. They quickly changed their tune and moved out of the way, and just like that I was robbed of a chance for my first Tokyo street fight. Maybe next time.
The next day we took advantage of a late checkout and slept until about 10 am. Then we spent the rest of the morning getting all dressed up for the ceremony.
And it was a very nice ceremony to prepare for. Anna and Yohei looked nervous but very happy, and the Yamaji’s did a great job giving their daughter away. It turned out that Yohei’s family was just as nice as the Yamajis, and it seemed to me that they got along very well. They had a Japanese priest who said some very nice things and gave them a little advice on finding (and keeping) happiness. The only bad news of the whole thing was that I found that our camera’s zoom out function died, so every time I zoomed in I would have to shut off the camera and then turn it back on go back to a regular angle. I’m gonna have to figure out what’s wrong with it before Bali in December.
The reception was also very well done, and we had a primo seat. For some reason Anna and Yohei put us at one of the “seats of honor” closest to the bride and groom. I don’t know what we did to deserve it, but it was a great spot. Easy to take pictures, too.
After the ceremony we took out time and went back out to Tokyo station to do some omiyage shopping, picked up some dinner and beer to enjoy on the train ride back, and we were at our doorstep in Akashi by 10 pm that evening. Nice!
We really enjoyed the whole event, and we have to try to figure out how to pay the Yamajis back for all their hospitality in the near future. Now Anna and Yohei are off to Europe to spend about a week traveling between Paris, Rome and Barcelona. Nice idea for honeymoon!
