Where Everyone Sat: Memory and Place, From Simonides to the Wedding Table
The memory palace began with a collapsed roof and a poet who remembered where every guest had been sitting. Two and a…
When Fuji Wears a Hat: Reading Mount Fuji Weather
Around the Fuji Five Lakes, people have read the mountain's weather for generations: one cap cloud for rain, two for wind and…
Planning a Wedding in Japan as a Foreigner: What Comes First
How to plan a wedding in Japan from overseas: the legal question, who works for you, the venue, the budget and what…
Four Signatures and Everything Else: How to Get Married in Japan
Everything couples need to know about getting married in Japan, in the order we'd decide it: the legal part, who works for…
Wedding in Japan FAQ: Straight Answers to the Questions Couples Ask Us
Planning from abroad, legal marriage, Shinto ceremonies, venues, seasons, guests, food and cost: the questions international couples ask us most about a…
Ma: The Japanese Word for the Space Between Things
The Japanese character for ma is a gate with the sun inside it. What the space between things means in Japan, from…
Taian 2027: Japan’s Lucky Wedding Days, and the Case for the Unlucky Ones
The full Taian 2027 calendar of lucky wedding days in Japan, checked day by day: which dates fill first, why only fifteen…
Japan Destination Wedding News: New Tables, New Stays and a Later Autumn
This week: new stays in Tokyo and Fukuoka, two new tables in Jiyugaoka and Kyoto, a later autumn colour forecast, and the…
Room for Two: How to Elope in Japan
An elopement in Japan deserves as much thought as a wedding for two hundred. Our guide covers the legal side, where to…
Can I Travel to Japan Now? What to Know Before You Travel to Japan for a Wedding
We first wrote this page in January 2022, when the answer was no. The answer now is yes. What couples and their…
It Was Meant to Rain: A Gothic Fairy Tale Wedding at Jinya
It rained on Tokyo for thirty-seven days in a row, and on one of them, a couple married at Jinya. Their gothic…