Some of our students from the Osaka School’s Bridal Studies division attended the wedding of one of the host families’ daughters, and assisted at the buffet-style dinner at the reception. Weddings in America vary greatly depending on the religions and personalities of the bride and groom. Normally, to conclude the ceremony, the bride and groom, followed by the wedding party, exit the room elegantly, hand in hand. In this case however, following the first kiss, the chapel suddenly became dark, and the bride and groom and wedding party all put on glowing-neon eyeglasses, began dancing wildly, and exited the room dancing, with rock music playing all the while.
Hopefully, the students will get to observe various weddings during their stay in America.
Every year in mid-July, Seattle’s International District hosts a Japanese-style Bon Odori. The event was begun about 90 years ago by Japanese immigrants to the Seattle area who fondly remembered their homeland and families, but now it is a standard event in the series of summer festivals known collectively as Seafair. The participants are not only Japanese and Japanese Americans, but also include many white people, black people, Latin Americans, Asian Americans, etc. Of course, many people come in yukata, but there are also many people dancing in Western clothing, African dashikis, Indian saris and other ethnic clothing. The HTC students who attended seemed less interested in the dancing than in the booths selling Japanese food – yakisoba, somen, beef bowls, shaved ice.
Neal Colodner (Seattle)
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