I eloped in Japan
:: Sep 27, 08:11 AM

It felt like a day of rebellion. August 24.

Well, not really, because we chose it for the fact that it was the closest “Tai-an Day” (Day of luck) since we got engaged. It was calculated, but the two of us snuck out on a Monday morning at 9:00am to the Setagaya city office to get married. We weren’t going to a chapel, we were going to the Japanese equivalent of City Hall.

The Japanese separate the civil ceremony from their wedding, therefore, in order to officially be deemed married, you must visit the ward office and process your papers.

It was not how I imagined my wedding day. But then again, I had never imagined my wedding day. Or a life of marriage. But here I was, 28 and getting out of bed to get married… in Tokyo.

We rode the Setagaya tramway, one of only two surviving trams in Tokyo. Looking back, it was the best mode of transport to use to enter a new phase in my life. No cars, no trains, but a two-car tram.
We got off at the Shoin-Jinjamae station and walk down the sunny, lonely street lined with small teishoku and yaoya shops with shutters halfway open. A sharp right at the temple and a grey admin building greeted us.

After getting a number to get in line, just like the deli, we were called up to the Family Registry counter where birth, marriage and death is reported. We submitted our marriage application to the office person. Her face was pleasant and I could tell it was her first marriage application that day. I wondered what kind of face I would have seen in her if I was reporting my father’s death. We were asked to be seated again.

After 25 long minutes and a visit to the bathroom, we were called back to the window. “Congratulations! You’re married! Please apply your family seals here.” And that was that.
And there we were in front of the doors of city hall, two people, who grew on the opposite sides of the Pacific, facing a whole future ahead with nothing to say to each other at that moment.

1. So, will you now be known as Kumano Yoko of Setagaya? I recall our having to visit Redwood City for our license. We wrer able to make an appointment, so it only took a few minutes. Redwood City seemed as far away from any place we were familiar with as Tokyo is from Cupertino.

   Looking forward to the celebration!!

   — lakshman    Oct 1, 05:29