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The wedding in Japan we went to was one of the highlights of my entire Japan experience. We were ushered inside the Shinto shrine and to the tune of wailing flutes and pipes accompanied by the squawks of brids in the trees the ceremony played out.

At the start I tried to turn off my phone but instead turned on its TV. I managed to switch it off in time but the power down tone blurted out instead.

Before the ceremony we were in a reception room waiting. Reiko went to the bathroom leaving me alone in a crowded room of foreign (and potentially hostile) strangers.

Reiko said to tell them that we were married - who would bring just their fiance to a Japanese wedding? An elderly man curious about me accosted me and asked me if I spoke Japanese. We then proceeded to have a conversation in Japanglish where I learnt that he was once in the airforce. My usual conversation blank occurred as I could only think to ask how many people he had killed. Instead I perpetuated the myth of our wedding.

Reiko`s ex-boss near completely ignored me before the ceremony but afterwards (and clearly inebriated) he was telling me at great length of his time spent studying in America and congratulating us on our marriage.

A man came over and poured me a drink from my bottle of beer which I drank and then he ran off with it. Perhaps allowing me to pace myself better. I later learned he was the bride`s father.

They had a song to sing at the end of the dinner which was “On top of the world” I knew that I being the only English speaker would have something to do with this. A group of 20 people went up and I was pulled along with them. We sang it and then they all decided to sing a Chinese song. There`s a great shot of me clearly the worse for wear standing behind the bride looking clearly confused as they sang.

Apart from that it was all very normal. The speeches were too long, many people got drunk and a good time was had by all.

Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Wedding