The wedding was held at the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka. All of the English speaking students, 13 of us, were kinda made to attend as my professor had paid the 20,000yen fee for each of us.. This was the first time I heard of the need to pay a fee to attend a wedding, but it seems like this is a common practice in Japan. On top of the "attendance fee", one is required to give a token of good wishes too, much like the "ang pao"/red packet the Chinese would give. So it seems like the "attendance fee" would be to cover the dinner banquet, while the ang paos would be the "profit", so to speak.. Luckily, the Chinese did not adopt such practice..:P 参加婚礼是被老师逼得，至少对我而言。一向都对参加婚礼感到反感的我不得不给老师及先辈面子，特别是当老师说他已经为我们每人交了2万的出席费。。骑虎难下，无法编造任何借口推辞了。。只好自我安慰地说难得有机会参加日本人的婚礼，就去开开眼界吧。。 :x
Before I proceed to write about the wedding, I must thank Michelle, Shinta and Jim for their photos.. as I left my camera in my bag when I "checked" it in at the cloak room.. :(
When we got there the place were packed..
Not surprising considering the fact that the groom is a Member of the House of Representative belonging to LDP.. so all the politicians and related academias from Waseda and Todai were present.. But one interesting observation I made was that there were very few young people, people in their twenties or thirties around.. most of them are in their forties, fifties, sixties or older.. Guys are all in suits while the ladies are in their kimonos or evening gowns.. For me, I wore my suit since I don't have anything formal to wear.. I didn't expect to be invited to nor attend weddings while in Japan.. Think this is the first wedding I have attended in the last 3 years!! :P 到场之后，更是感觉到老师叫我们来是为了充场面，壮声势的。在会场的99%都是日本人，以老先生及老太太占大多数，平均年龄应该有55-60岁吧。相比之下，我们这班外国人更是显得与场面异常的格格不入。
Since the groom is from LDP, it was not surprising that LDP politicians of the past and the present to be present at this wedding. The VVIP of the evening would have to be the most charismatic ex-PM of all, Mr Koizumi! 亲眼目睹了前首相小泉的个人魅力，果然名不虚传，师奶、阿伯、年轻人、小孩无一幸免全部都被他迷倒。。尤其是那些师奶们更是争先恐后地排队和他合照。。 ;)
No prize for guessing the person they were swarming around.. taking photos after photos..Everyone just crowded around him, taking photos with him as if he was some super star!! which I must admit he is.. women of all ages just couldn't resist taking photos with him.. And Mr Koizumi was ever obliging.. From the moment he arrived till the time he left the banquet, throughout that 1.5 hours he was taking photos with anyone who requested.. Even I couldn't miss this rare opportunity.. :P
Frankly, no one was paying any attention to what the MC was saying nor what the newly weds were doing.. 
Only when Mr Koizumi was invited to the first speaker for the wedding did everyone settled down. Somehow everyone is mesmerized by him.. People lapped up his every word, laughed at every one of his jokes and clapped very enthusiastically.. One thing for sure, he was not your typical Japanese politician.. In the ballroom, everyone seems to conform and no one stood out more prominently than him... I sorta felt his charisma and yet I can't quite explained it.. Then it was my professor's turn to give his speech..
Can see very clearly that he was beaming as proudly as a father would be, seeing his "daughter" marrying so well.. :P 老实说大家都怀疑这门婚事是老师一手促成的，但没人敢当面确认。。由于先辈似乎24小时全天都在老师身边帮忙，她突然说要结婚大家都大吃一惊。相信每个人都在猜想她哪有时间去拍拖啊？在研究室里听说了一些不是很好听的话，似乎在影射一些什么的。对，她确实有如麻雀飞上了枝头变成了凤凰，但对我而言，这又干我们什么事呢？？每个人几乎只看到了她现在风光的一面，但我想她也肯定有大家所不知的辛酸辛苦，不管是以往或是将来。我坚信任何的风光背后都不免会有不为人知的辛苦及牺牲。。
After all the speeches by almost every prominent person in the room and a thank you speech by the groom, the couple then proceed to cut the wedding cake..
It was a buffet style banquet.. As we are requested to present a song, we did not tuck in when it was time to eat.. All of us were starving and thirsty.. also all of us have been standing for almost 2 hours.. Then finally green light was given for us to eat as our "program" was scheduled at almost the end of the dinner.. The food was good.. not too sure if it was because I was starving or maybe it was really good.. :P
A while after the buffet had started, people who had eaten started to form a queue to go on stage to get their pictures taken with the newly weds.. So the bride and groom did not have a chance to eat at all!! And I thought it was bad (for the bride and groom) during the Chinese wedding dinner where they barely got a chance to eat! :D 从头到尾，新人都没有离开过在台上。虽然说他们是今天的主角是众人的焦点，但看他们俩不停地笑得脸颊都已经僵硬了有点虚假了，我很难不可怜他们。还有，从开始到结束，双方的家长从没被提起过，他们是否在场没人知道。所以这一切的种种更加证实了今天的晚宴纯属“公事”。
By the time it was our turn to sing, almost 20% of the crowd has left.. Due to the short time given to us to prepare, one of my Senpai chose the song, "Fly me to the Moon" which is rather simple and short.. And luckily for us, he was the lead singer and all of us just stood behind and provided some vocals.. :) The master of ceremony (MC) introduced us as the bride's students, which in fact was incorrect, but none of us bothered to correct him.. She was our Senpai who got her PhD last year and is now one of the lecturers in our graduate school. 老师吩咐司仪把我们介绍为先辈的学生，大家听了都心知肚明了解老师的用意，没人出来纠正。老师爱怎么讲就怎么讲吧，毕竟他是老师，大家都还要看他脸色毕业。。按照逻辑，老师说的也不完全错，先辈已经当了我们大学院的讲师，而我们都是大学院的学生，所以说我们是她的学生也不为过。
Shortly after our song, the wedding sorta came to an end.. The newly weds stood in the middle of the stage while the MC concluded the wedding and thanked everyone for coming.. then the couple left the ballroom..
真的是郎才女貌！The MC came over and talked to us.. unknown to us, he is actually the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs!! No wonder he was such a good talker.. :P
We took a photo with him.. He is the gentleman sitting in the middle in bow-tie, between 2 ladies.. Outside the ballroom, the bride and groom were thanking every guests for their presence.. sorta like what the Chinese would do at the end of the wedding dinner..
Before leaving, each of us were given a door gift.. which I had written about in my earlier blog entry.. All in all, the wedding banquet had lasted from 6pm to around 8.30pm.. Once again I would like to wish Naoko-Senpai a very happy marital life ahead and everlasting happiness!!
在此诚心地祝福尚子前辈：婚姻美满，白头到老。。
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