It occurred to H and myself that our wedding date was fast approaching and yet we had not a single plan written in stone. This is what happens when squealy friends are not present to carry me along on their excitement train, flipping through wedding magazines and going to bridal shows and the like... I suppose I would do it myself, but I know (and have been able to find out so little of the things I want to know) so little about Shinto weddings that I'm rather lost. I know that magazines exist for Shinto weddings in Japan, the problem is that the kanji are far too numerous and I cannot read them well enough to make them useful. Thankfully, once we got on the ball, H broke out his organizational skills and we are well on our way to having a plan.
The other day we checked out some shrines in person. You might recall that, from way before, I was in favour of Hakone shrine. Well, we drove about two hours to get there, waited in a line of idling cars (and yes, our car was idling, too...don't even get me started on the Japanese and car idling) and finally got a parking spot. Of course, people were still getting their hatsumode on, and once January is over, things will quiet down.
Hakone Jinja
Must say, I was a little disappointed with the shrine - I had built it up in my head to be this amazingly magnificent collection of buildings when in reality it is quite a small shrine. It's beautiful, and the surrounding trees, lake and view are stunning, but still, I was a little let down. But, I got over it and in the end, after much mulling over of things, chose Hakone.
Reasons I had aplenty. For one, the sando (the pathway leading to the shrine, right), is just fantastic. It is in the forest and comprised of quite a few steep, stone steps. The trees are so tall - it makes me feel like I'm in a fairy tale. It's lined with stone lanterns and has a few bright, orange buildings off to the side, including a dojo and kyudo (Japanese archery) range. Another winning point is that it is located on the shore of Lake Ashi, in which it has a large torii (below, left). On a clear day, you can see Mt. Fuji peeking out from above the other hills of Hakone...It's brilliant. Did I mention there are pirate ships sailing the waters of Lake Ashi?? Even better.
)
winding through its woods. And pirate ships. Oh, I already mentioned those, didn't I...
The Other Contenders (AKA - The Losers...I kid, I kid...)
After Hakone, we sped back towards the ocean for a stop in Kamakura. H was gunning for Kamakura's Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine, but as light was fading fast, and we figured Hachimangu would have better lighting than some of the other myriad shrines in Kamakura, we decided to save it for last and instead dropped in to see Kamakura-gu.
Kamakura-gu
It was cute, it had miko (shrine attendants dressed in red hakama and white haori) and it was slightly off the beaten track, but it was, well, meh. I blame the lack of orange paint, not to mention the blatantly visible pop machines. It just didn't scream "fairy tale" to me.
Tsurugaoka Hachimangu
This shrine is truly something. It is HUGE, absolutely beautiful and a little too popular for my liking. It you do a search of 'Tsurugaoka Hachimangu weddings' on Yahoo or Google, the number of tourist shots of brides that pop up is enough to sober any excitement one might feel at having their wedding there. And me being 'gaijin' (a foreigner) pretty much guarantees that not only will other foreigners be snapping my picture, but scores of Japanese tourists will be doing so as well. Yikes. Like I won't already be stressed out enough worrying about tripping over my zori (traditional sandals) and ruining a freakishly expensive, rented wedding outfit (expensive to the point that very few people can afford to buy their own).
Hachimangu did have something very powerful that nearly swayed me, though: Cherry Blossoms. Early April is peak sakura season and the sando that leads to the shrine is lined with cherry trees (right, but lacking blossoms). It would be pretty darn beautiful, especially a picture taken by one of the bridges at the entrance of the shrine, with water lilies in the background and sakura petals fluttering around... But then again, camera-wielding tourists...
Anyway, Hakone won, as already mentioned. The other shrines will just have to deal with being visited in a less formal manner.
Two weeks ago (a Sunday) found H and I setting out to a tiny little room of an office near Inokashira Park in Kichijoji. The office was home to a Japanese bridal professional who would help us with choosing and fitting kimono and shiromuku etc., in addition to dressing me the day of the ceremony (it's going to take two hours!!!!). 
After tucking my hair up in pins and nets and a tie, I had the contraption put on by our lovely helper. But then my great big head had to go along and do something stupid...namely by being too big. But apparently, these wig-things come in different sizes. Saved! So on it went (see left), and then in went some decorations (see right) and voila, one step closer to going Japanese. 
To look at it, you would never guess how heavy that wig thing is. The reason is that under all that hair, as you can see on your left, are metal bars that kind of groove together to make it flexible. So, luckily, although a bit creepy, the wig intrigued and pleased me. I'm not too sure that I'll be feeling as pleased with it the day of the ceremony as I attempt to navigate the shrine grounds with several extra pounds on my head, but for now, it is quite the novelty. I especially enjoy how every Japanese person who has seen the photos tells me, between gasps of laughter, how much the wig suits me. But is it really the truth when they're holding their sides from laughing so hard?? I guess it's all relative, though. The final product will look entirely different to boot, what with my face being painted all white, so it's anyone's guess as to what I'll look like in the end. 楽しみですね！
