A Japanese wedding. No, we were not guests, but chanced upon the
ceremony whilst at the local Shinto temple. Formal weddings such as these
are big business in Japan... the Shinto and Buddhist temples, where
ceremonies are traditionally held, charge a fortune! The wedding dress
("kimono") is made of fine-quality white silk and is so expensive (about
30,000 euros) that most people, quite sensibly in my view, choose to hire
them!

No wonder the bride's father (below, to her right in the photo) is looking
so depressed!



And the best bit! The white headdress on the bride's wedding kimono is
called a "tsunokakashi", which translates literally as "hiding the horns" -
being symbolic of the horns of female jealousy!!!



Also at the Shinto temple today... here we have a 5 year-old boy and a 7
year-old girl dressed in their Sunday best. Traditionally, on, or as near to
the 15 November as possible, girls aged 3 and 7, and boys aged 5, dress up
in colourful kimono and visit the local shrine with their families to pray
for good health and fortune. They are given a long bag of traditional
sweets called "thousand-year candy", which is a symbol of long life. Hmm,
at that age, it beats Confirmation!

Everything is held in the open, so the wedding party mixes with both the
3,5, and 7 year-olds, and 100 day-old babies, who also come to the temple
in traditional dress to pray for a healthy life!