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| Yuki being Yuki |
I first met Yuki when I signed up to play for our team, Carnegies B53. Yuki was one of the funniest guys on the team, with an infectious personality and a smile on his face, always. We had fun together playing soccer and hanging out. I remember Thanksgiving dinner at our sponsor bar, Carnegies, because it was one first big moments for me to bond with the team and Yuki introduced us to his fiance, Matsumi. I never imagined I would attend his wedding almost a year later.
When we got the invitation to the wedding, I had already committed to play in a soccer tournament in Manila, and I couldn't go to both. But when the Philippines tournament was cancelled, I jumped at the chance to travel to Kyushu for the celebration. I wanted to see an awesome Japanese guy marry the love of his life, spend time with friends, and visit for the big historical significance. Yuki inviting the whole team to his wedding was incredibly kind, and really shows his generosity and how open he is.
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| The Wedding Crew |
We had four guys living in Taipei attend Yuki's wedding: My Portuguese soccer manager Nuno and teammates Hirosan, Ali, Tim, a German-English teammate. So we started planning out exactly what we wanted to do. Turns out Tim and I are similar in that we love to plan, and enjoy putting nice itineraries together. We booked our flights, acquired accommodations, and started figuring out exactly what we wanted to do. Before we knew it, we were headed to Fukuoka.
On Thursday evening, Hiro, Tim, and I arrived at Fukuoka and surprisingly got to the hostel with relative ease. Tim and I arranged for a Japanese style room, however, I found the support of the Japanese mattress not to be the most comfortable. Still a cool experience being in a traditional style room in hostel. We went up to the roof top, and met a Korean girl who we nicknamed Kim, because we joked about how "everyone in Korea is named Kim." She countered to Tim, "I heard Germans aren't funny, but you are very funny." Excellent banter. We went out for the evening, but even though Japan had just gotten rid of their 67 year ban on dancing after midnight last year, most places still closed around 1 AM. So while Tim and I practiced our Japanese on random residents and sipped sake, Hiro just laughed at us "gai jins."
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| Loitering in Fukuoka |
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| Tim with the nap |
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| Train view |
Hiro had a work commitment and Ali and Nuno didn't get in until Friday evening, so Tim and I had all day Friday on our own. In the morning, we left our hostel without our passports after the receptionist told us we didn't need them for the train to Nagasaki. But when we arrived at Hakata Station of course the ticket lady says, "Passports, please." At first we were upset, but then you just have to get over it quickly, go to pick up the passport, and get back to the train station. If things don't go your way, you just have to move on quickly. We ended up catching a train only an hour later, and were able to have some delicious Udon noodles with a "cold-as-Mt. Fuji" Asahi. Even though we were behind schedule, everything worked out just fine, and we were on our way.
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| Dejima props |
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| Dejima main street |
After the scenic two hour ride to Nagasaki, we first visited Dejima. This 3 acre plot of land at the port is the only place where foreigners could live in Japan for over 200 years, from the early 17th to mid 19th centuries. There were plenty of interesting historical artifacts and info about life during that time, and even had actors dressed in the traditional outfits of the time. I think it's so interesting that no one made an effort to discuss trading elsewhere like Kyoto or Tokyo during those 200 years. After Dejima, we walked further south to check out the Glover House and Chapel, built in the late 1800s by a British trader.
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| Peace Memorial Statue |
Our final stop was Peace Memorial Park, honoring those who perished with atomic bomb dropping on August 9, 1945. The first thing you see as you get to the top of the hill is a memorial fountain showing the epicenter of the bomb. It's tough to imagine and accept when you're there: the explosion, its devastation, and its lasting impact on our world. It's powerful. But the hope of the people in creating these monuments so we can see that this should never happen again is inspiring. I cannot recommend Nagasaki highly enough, especially if you love history. It's a beautiful city with a nice combination of modernity and charm.
We ended the day trip to Nagasaki at an izakaya, where I indulged in one of my favorite foods in the world, karaage. Nobody does fried chicken better than the Japanese.
That night, we had a small bachelor party for Yuki, who was in Fukuoka the night before his wedding.....so the next morning...we luckily did not find Yuki sleeping on the roof a hotel, but sound asleep in the bed with all his clothes, even the sport jacket. That's all you can ask for. He left to go get ready for his wedding while we got a couple extra hours of sleep. I woke up in our illegal-in-Japan-but-still-operates Airbnb, and hung out on our balcony with spectacular view of downtown. Tim and I then made our way to a restaurant before our Shinkansen ride to Kumamoto. The sushi for breakfast was the best I've had in my life. Great start to what we knew would be an amazing day.
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| Bachelors...kind of |
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| Wedding time! |
Tim and I had to ask which tram stop the wedding was at after getting off at Kumamoto, but we eventually got on the right one and were off to see our boy Yuki tie the knot. On the tram, we see a lot of people who are dressed up, and by the way, Japanese love to dress well and I absolutely love it, but we then joked that half of Kumamoto was going to be there, especially this one good looking Japanese girl. But as we're going along, we're going pretty slow, and 1. I thought the actual wedding ceremony was at 3 PM and 2. The venue was further from the tram stop. So I suggested we get off and take a taxi, which in hindsight was dumb. A crisp 1000 Yen bill later and slightly longer than the tram would've taken staying on it, we were walking into the gorgeous venue straight across from the tram stop. Of course, the girl on the tram was inside. We'll call it close to half the town.
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| The Chapel |
The wedding ceremony was mostly Western with the entrances of the bride and groom, proceedings of Christian verses and prayers (done by a white guy who spoke in Japanese 80% of the time), and exchanging of the vows and rings. Yuki had on an all white suit, looking like a true boss as he strutted up to the alter.
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| Stylish |
I must admit, the drinking culture in Japan is so much fun. Yuki's father walked around to each table, and thanked everyone for coming and then we all said "kannpai!" or "Cheers!" You can start to get to know each other with just a simple "kannpai!" We had some delicious food at the reception as well including sashimi, Japanese beef, and even duck liver. Actually so good! Speeches are a big deal in Japanese weddings, just as in western ones, and even though I couldn't understand any of them, I could just feel the passion. I loved the last part of Yuki's father's speech where he talked about embracing foreigners in the wedding and said, "Danke schoen, xie xie, and thank you." You won't hear that at many weddings, and we were appreciative of the inclusiveness.
I came up with a Japanese name, because I thought I needed one in addition to the nickname that I was given on my last visit to Japan, "Dagusan." I wanted something more complex. So I went all out and chose Kawasaki as my last name because 1. The company is awesome 2. It kinda sorta sounds similar enough to Chesney, and unlike Chinese, there are not too many good last names starting with "Ch." I chose Daisuke as my first name because it's another famous boy's first name starting with a D and for Matsuzaka Daisuke, a former pitcher for the Red Sox. So my Japanese name is Kawasaki Daisuke (last name first, same as Chinese). This was such a good decision because it's the best conversation starter ever. The shocked reactions when I said, "Watashi wa Kawasaki Daisuke!" were priceless.
The Japanese people at the wedding were so friendly, and many people came to introduce themselves to us even though their English was limited. I think I held the wedding record for most selfies with Japanese girls, so you know, kind of a big deal. We had a ton of fun with everyone at the wedding, trying to come up with things that we could relate to and trying to communicate with each other. On our way to the after party, the best things I came up with were Ichiro, skiing in Niigata, and Kaarage being one of my favorite foods.
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| Sorry Yuki |
The after party was so great, trying to communicate with new friends and drunkenly giving out English names. I named a guy Jack, because he said he liked "24." We wanted a funny picture with the bride, so Tim and I pretended to kiss Matsumi, only to have a line up of Japanese guys trying to do the same. Had to break that up because I didn't really think of the consequences. We did quite a few more "kannpai's," but we felt like the party was getting going just as people started leaving before midnight. But no matter, because I had experienced one of the most incredible days in my time in Asia.
Hiro, Tim, and I went to the convenience store to collect some more Asahi's, but we had an early flight and our train from Kumamoto left at 6:30 AM. We went into the train station, and took a nice four hour nap in our wedding attire. Things got a little crazy in Kyushu, but we had an unbelievable time.
Yuki's wedding was so well done and wonderful, and I am honored to have been a part of it. I've been so fortunate to attend three weddings this year, two as the Best Man, and on two different continents. Being in the presence of true love is special and moving, and I enjoyed every moment of each of them. Hell of a season. Japan is an extraordinary place, as fascinating as it is beautiful. From the city to the countryside, it's stunning. I'm already looking forward to my next visit.
