Weddings Japanese Style

There is a shocking lack of Japanese culture in Japan. When I was sitting in the States with my National Geographic I was picturing a place where everyone wore kimonos and commuted in rickshaws and sat on the floor eating noodles with chopsticks. I expected gilded temples and buddhas and pagodas.

But Japan is extremely modern, and in the process of modernizing they Westernized as well. My first impression of Okinawa was neon. There were so many lights that I couldn't even find the stoplights. There were modern concrete and glass buildings and traffic jams. The first "attraction" I was taken to was a giant ferris wheel on top of a mall. We drank Starbucks coffee. Aside from the fact that the signs were in Japanese, I could have been on a street in LA.

Oh well, I thought. It's probably just this part of the city. I assumed that if I drove away from downtown I would find "real Japan." Well it took a significant amount of driving, flying, train travel, and walking to get there, but I found "real Japan" in Nara this last trip.

This is a traditional wedding at a traditional shrine in traditional Nara:

Complete with kimonos...
And a rickshaw...It's a beautiful country if you know where to look!