Halloween Twilight!

Japanese treats never cease to amaze me. Every season and holiday they go all out. At 711, I found an intriguing cup that said Halloween Twilight Cake with awesome ghosts and pumpkins on it. No idea what that title means, but I'm not passing that up! Turns out, the top layer is dark chocolate cake with pumpkin pudding under it. Oooohhhh yum!!

Wedding Gifts

Box of edible goodies

For the last installment of the Japanese wedding series, we'll talk about wedding gifts! As I mentioned before, it's custom to bring money to give at weddings, not gifts. On the flip side of that, it's also custom for the bride and groom to give gifts to every guest. And we aren't talking party favors (although they do that too). Each guest that attends gets a large shopping bag full of stuff, including a nice gift. Since Jonathan and I are a couple, we each got individual bags as well as one for both of us. The bride told us that usually each guest is given a catalogue to pick a gift from and you have to fill out a form in Japanese and mail it off. The catalogue is full of very nice gifts - everything from house wares to horse back riding lessons! Since we aren't fluent in Japanese, she picked something out for us on our behalf. Our gift as a couple was a really nice tea pot with cups and saucers and wine tumblers! Our individual bags were full of cakes and other edible goodies. The party favors we were handed as we left were chocolates in the shape of Landmark Tower, where the wedding was held. So nice and fancy! We love everything we got, and are still amazed that guests receive things like this!

Our boxes of edible goodies included 2 baumkuchen cakes, packs of tea (for our tea pot!), bonito flakes (dried flakes of tuna used in cooking, but also given as a gift of good luck), variety packs of rice soup seasoning (wasabi, plum, and seaweed flavors), and packets of an ingredient that I don't know the name of. I'm not sure what it's called, but it's crushed bonito that has been marinated with sesame seeds, soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar. You can either cook with it or sprinkle it on rice or pasta. We'll let you know what it tastes like!

Unnamed marinated bonito

Bonito flakes

Wasabi flavored soup seasoning

One of the wine tumblers

Our tea pot!

Baumkuchen cake box - ultra fancy!

Baumkuchen cake

Party favor

Tiny chocolate Landmark Tower!

Cards

Card giving is a special ordeal in Japan, and has a long history of traditions and rules. During weddings and other major celebrations, it's custom to give money rather than gifts, and is acceptable for people to ask only for money. Depending on what kind of event you're attending, the amount given ranges anywhere from $100 - $1000. Giving money as a present goes back hundreds of years, and money used to be considered "dirty" and corrupt, so it was important to shield the money by wrapping it in paper or silk before giving it to someone. The custom of wrapping money in decorative paper is called shuugi bukuro. When the paper is all closed up, it looks as if it's a regular card. However, there are many complicated layers.

Inside, there is an envelope for you to put the money in. The bills must be inserted in a manner where the receiver will see the face of Yukichi Fukuzawa on the note as soon as they pull the money out. The bills must be crisp and new and free from any creases - NEVER fold money. Also, for a wedding, you must give an odd number of bills, as an even number is easily divided and seen as an omen of divorce. On the outside of the envelope, you write your name, address, and the amount of money contained inside. Traditionally this is to be done entirely in kanji, so I did ours in both English and Japanese. It took me forever to write it out, but I did it! Once the envelope is complete, place it in the middle of the paper, and begin to fold it up. Start with folding the left side in first, and then the right side on top of that. Flip it over and fold the top down, and then fold the bottom up. Be sure to fold the top down first! Folding the bottom up first is done for funeral cards. The folded paper is held closed by a gorgeous wire band that is highly decorative. For weddings, the knotwork must be very colorful and intricate - a simply tied knot is looked upon as being untied easily, and a sign of divorce. The more complicated the knot, the better chance of the couple being together forever. Fancy knotwork on cards is also used for any event that you would NOT want repeated (for example, ideally you only want to marry once, meaning no divorce; and for mourning cards, since you don't wish for anyone else to die, resulting in more funerals). Simply tied cards, while not ideal for weddings or funerals, are used for events that you would want to happen again, such as being accepted into college, or having a baby.

There are strips of paper that come with the card that may be blank, or stamped with kanji that means celebration. You are to choose one and put your name on it, a little message if you like, and place it on the outside of the card, held in place by the cord knot. I chose the one with gold kanji because it's super pretty! After everything is folded and filled out, and the knot slipped back onto the card, you're done and ready to head to the party! If you're feeling really fancy, or if foul weather is expected and you want to keep your paper card safe, you can wrap the whole thing in a small silk cloth called fukusa.

Making sure to fold the top down first!

Fanciest Meal EVER

During our friends' wedding reception, they served a 7 course meal, not including the dish of sorbet midway as a palate cleanser or the wedding cake at the end. Each place setting was set up super fancy - glasses and silverware galore. The kind of dining experience I'd only ever read about! This was by far the classiest meal we have ever attended. At the head of each plate was our place card in Japanese (we have learned to recognize what our names look like) and a small card that contained the menu of what we were about to experience in Japanese and French (two languages we don't know, but we figured it out). During our dining, the married couple went around to each table and lit a candle and bowed to everyone. It was quite charming! The servers kept the beer, wine, and champagne flowing all the way through dessert. Here's the line up!

Taking it all in as we were seated

Starter of raw seafood and caviar with real flowers and gold

Mediterranean clam and bacon soup

Roast beef with foie gras

Baby lobster and fish fillet with roasted veggies

Halftime with mango sorbet

Beef  with mushroom and champagne sauce with veggies

Dessert Round 1: Chocolate mousse with fruit, raspberry sorbet with mint and gold

Dessert Round 2: Coffee with decadent chocolates

Dessert Round 3: Wedding cake

Our First Japanese Wedding!

Newlyweds, Toshi and Ayumi!

Two of our very dear friends got married this past weekend! They are both Japanese, but they did not have a traditional Japanese wedding. Their wedding was very western, but it was still stunning and amazing! It was held in Landmark Tower in Yokohama. The ceremony was in a Christian chapel in the basement, and the reception was up on the 70th floor, over looking the entire city! The view was spectacular! I have 4 different parts to talk about regarding the wedding, so this first part will be about the wedding itself.

First off, the dress code for attending Japanese weddings is pretty strict. The idea is to look very fancy - so business casual or a nice little summer dress, etc, is out of the question! All men must wear a black suit with a white dress shirt. The tie can be any kind of muted color - no bright, flashy colors are allowed for either sex. However, the tie cannot be black - a black suit with black tie is reserved only for funerals. Unfortunately we learned of that fact after we had arrived! We spent over a month researching everything about how to dress, how to act, what not to do/say, etc, yet somehow that little memo about the black tie slipped by us, and Jonathan arrived in a black tie. Luckily, another nice Japanese guy told us, so Jonathan quickly removed it and went without one. There were a couple of other men attending that did not wear ties, so we didn't feel too bad.

For women attending, a knee-length dress is a must; again, no bright colors, and of course no white. Fancy, elegant, and it must have a shawl. Tan colored pantyhose are worn with black or blue flats - no heels over 1 inch. Jewelry must be dainty and conservative - pearls are traditional wedding adornments, and I noticed that the majority of women there had pearl earrings and necklaces on. So, I ended up wearing a knee-length dark blue dress with a silk shawl that has white and blue roses on it. I had on my tan colored hose and black flats. I wore pearl earrings and a simple tennis bracelet.

When we arrived to Landmark Tower, everyone gathered in a waiting area that had refreshments. After a while, we were escorted to the chapel for the ceremony. It was very nice. Ayumi entered the room and her mother placed the veil over her face, then her father walked her down the aisle. Instead of a flower girl or ring bearer, the priest had the rings, and everyone was given a handful of rose petals that we threw as the bride and groom walked down the aisle.

After the ceremony, we all went to a grand staircase and watched the married couple beautifully descend the stairs so Ayumi could throw her bouquet. They had photos taken as the guests were again escorted to the banquet room, up on the 70th floor. The elevator ride up was so fast that your ears pop! Everyone had assigned seating and the servers immediately started with the drinks. First off, we had champagne. Everyone toasted as the newlyweds entered, and then they kept everyone loaded on wine and beer. Then the feast began - that will be a different post! After all of the eating, drinking, and celebrating, it was time to leave. Everyone filed out of the banquet room and thanked and congratulated the married couple as they handed each person a party favor.

We had such a great time, and everything was gorgeous! Roses and white lilies everywhere, and the newlyweds looked amazing. We are so excited and grateful that we got to attend a wedding while living here, and someday I hope we can attend a traditional wedding in a shrine or temple.

The view from the 70th floor!

Wedding cake! Yummy strawberry shortcake

Headstones!

Added more to the outdoor decor today! We got 4 fake headstones for free! Woohoo! The large one behind the mailbox lights up!