Today was really good. We walked around in our local area this morning and accidentally found a very busy and interesting street market, which we later discovered was highly recommended by our guidebook! We returned to our hotel at noon to meet up with Joe, who is the son of one of Jenny's cousins and teaches English at university here. He is lovely and taught us quite a lot of useful stuff in a short space of time. We had a sushi lunch first (one of those conveyor belt jobs) and then took the train out to see a Shinto shrine set in a park. It must have been our lucky day, because there were no fewer than three weddings taking place while we were there. They really are a sight to see - formal, but colourful and cheerful at the same time. Here is a selection of photos...
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| I almost missed this first one, but the bride and groom just turned towards me as they passed. |
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| As you can see, the bride, groom and principal attendants always wear exactly the same formal attire. |
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| Some of the guests. |
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| Check out the shoes on the priest! |
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| Some of the oldies are still managing to walk! |
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| After the parade, the formal portraits. |
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| These chaps are novice priests about to be ordained (if that's the right word!) |
After leaving the shrine, Joe took us to a government tower block downtown, which has an observation deck. Unbelievably, it's free! Also, because the air is so clean here, you can actually see something. Here's an example.
Finally, it was time to say goodbye to Joe. For all you family members back home, can anybody see the family member resemblance that I saw?
Jen and I cheated and had supper in an American Bar & Grill in the evening, but we'll do better tomorrow!
Jenny's bit: Three weddings and an ordination! And lovely Joe as well, a really good day in Tokyo. Jx
Is the Sakura ( cherry blossom ) still out in Tokyo? Wonderful sight if still around, but you may be a week late.
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