Marriage Ceremony Requirements?

[jbutton]

I'm getting married this year in Japan, the to be wife is Japanese. Just wondering what is involved in getting our marriage legalized here.

What do we need to do?
Is there a timeframe to do it?
Also do we need a judge/lawyer/pastor to officiate the wedding and make it legal?

I know in the US and Canada, an officiant (judge/minister) is required to make the marriage legal. Can we just exchange vows in front of family and friends?

Thanks!

PS. Any marriage planning tips welcome!

[Welesley]

Something to be asking the prospective bride and her family????

City hall takes 10 minutes and you are legally married. Just paperwork, nothing else needs to be done. It is separate, the "ceremony" has no bearing on the legality of the marriage.

The "ceremony" or party is up to the couple. In Japan they can range up to 5,000,000 yen or more, costing each party goer about 30,000 yen in the "gift" to the couple. Kind of a fund raising thing, the party goers get a "party gift" worth about 15,000 yen usually so the couple retains about half of the gift value.

My wife and I did the party outside of Japan. Much cheaper that way and had more control. The wedding planners in Japan are pretty pushy, plus it is a huge industry.

[天邪鬼]

if you do the ceremony on a 仏滅日　butsu metsu　nichi (Buddhist unlucky day) you will get possibly 50% discount and extra service.

[ChrisElliot2000]

Forget about the ceremony, just have a nice dinner party with friends and family.

[let`s talk]

I will give you a serious answer.I already tried but somebody deleted it.The link is www.crnjapan.com Read about marriage, koseki and other stuff.

OP, this site does not work anymore.Very upsetting news for me.Some months ago I printed out some info from their page (my old habits to trust papers) but it does not help here.Check these links.

www.international-divorce.com/d-japan.htm

http://www.internationalfamilylawfir...rnational.html

[KansaiBen]

I'm getting married this year in Japan, the to be wife is Japanese. Just wondering what is involved in getting our marriage legalized here.

What do we need to do?
Is there a timeframe to do it?
Also do we need a judge/lawyer/pastor to officiate the wedding and make it legal?

I know in the US and Canada, an officiant (judge/minister) is required to make the marriage legal. Can we just exchange vows in front of family and friends?

Thanks!

PS. Any marriage planning tips welcome!

Lots of so-called Christian weddings here are performed without a marriage celebrant or pastor, though maybe performed in a church chapel or hotel restaurant. These ceremonies are called 'jinzen-shiki' (ceremony in front of people) and are essentially an affirmation of ones wedding vows and an exchange of rings. Many are stripped of all religious pretensions.

The only legal marriages here are those that involve signing papers at city hall and a church wedding ceremony by itself doesnt make you married in this country, where less than 1% of the population are Christians.

[let`s talk]

This has been pointed out before by alongdriver, but...

http://www.crnjapan.com/ expired on 04/17/2009 and is pending renewal or deletion.

In short, the link you keep suggesting is dead, useless etc.

You are always late.See my post.

[ひさしぶり]

You are always late.See my post.

Yeah, by one minute.

Nice editing there.

[US27]

It is very important for the OP to understand what he is getting into. The traditional Japanese wedding ceremony is difficult, unpleasant, time consuming, and expensive. This is true for almost all Japanese traditions, customs, and institutions. They are all about control. They are all about the crushing of the individual. They are all about making every Japanese citizen accustomed to a straightjacket society with ridiculously unreasonable rules and regulations. Sadly, this is necessary in Japan. Without straightjacket crushing of the individual from kindergarten on, Japan would degenerate into a mass murder slaughterhouse...Some of us know this is true but for most ignorant, politically correct westerners it is too horrifying to admit. I have had Japanese people admit this to me on several occasions--so this is not just some complainist gaijinism rant. Many J-nationals I have met openly admit to it.

The Horror...

The Horror...

[SteadyRollingMan]

Sounds to me that US27 has some mental problems and that he should seek medical counseling!

[クロネコ]

I'm getting married this year in Japan, the to be wife is Japanese. Just wondering what is involved in getting our marriage legalized here.

What do we need to do?
Is there a timeframe to do it?
Also do we need a judge/lawyer/pastor to officiate the wedding and make it legal?

I know in the US and Canada, an officiant (judge/minister) is required to make the marriage legal. Can we just exchange vows in front of family and friends?

Thanks!

PS. Any marriage planning tips welcome!

umm。。。

http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/

For something important why not go to your embassy. Don't be like the guy in the UK embassy that expected his wife to do everything for him and then didn't bother to do anything himself. Bit him in the arse though when he got the wrong size of paper from the ward office to send to the GR office in the UK. Really bit him in the arse 'cuz that kinda thing ain't cheap.

In short, don't be cheap. Pick up the phone and dial...your embassy

[jbutton]

Wow, I thought this thread was finished since the first few days garnered about 4 posts but thanks for all the extra posts everyone! Good tips, yes I should definitely visit my embassy! OK, so basically if I sign the papers, that's a done deal eh?

I'm Canadian actually, and in Canada they require the official officiant (pastor, judge, etc.) So I wonder if everything will be hunky dory if I move back to Canada in a few years since a Japanese wedding is legalized without an officiant. But again, as per sound advice, I should contact the CDN gov.

[let`s talk]

Sounds to me that US27 has some mental problems and that he should seek medical counseling!

Can you pay? I mean for yours?

It is a fact that in Japan "we" goes over "me".Individualism and being different is not a right.Traditional wedding ceremonies? They all look the same, the same kimonos, hair-does, make-up,etc.A bride can`t even change a color of her lipstick.And it is true that some J-people really dislike it.

[let`s talk]

Wow, I thought this thread was finished since the first few days garnered about 4 posts but thanks for all the extra posts everyone! Good tips, yes I should definitely visit my embassy! OK, so basically if I sign the papers, that's a done deal eh?

I'm Canadian actually, and in Canada they require the official officiant (pastor, judge, etc.) So I wonder if everything will be hunky dory if I move back to Canada in a few years since a Japanese wedding is legalized without an officiant. But again, as per sound advice, I should contact the CDN gov.

There is no "Japanese wedding" in the meaning of a legal term.They have a marrige registration under Japanese Family Law.It is a trivial paper job. Whatever ceremony you have or even if you don`t have any, does not count.You are getting married not in the church or shrine.You do it in the city hall.Just fill in some papers and contact your embassy.

[US27]

Sounds to me that US27 has some mental problems and that he should seek medical counseling!

The terms "mental problems" sound too politically correct for me. I prefer mentally deranged or mentally disturbed,　and I don't believe any kind of counseling will change it, and it may not be such a terrible problem all the time...

I would like to start another thread on this because I believe my way of looking at this is related to culture shock / culture trauma and I am sure others have been there.

[天邪鬼]

The terms "mental problems" sound too politically correct for me. I prefer mentally deranged or mentally disturbed,　and I don't believe any kind of counseling will change it, and it may not be such a terrible problem all the time...

I would like to start another thread on this because I believe my way of looking at this is related to culture shock / culture trauma and I am sure others have been there.

do that.

p@ad pad apd

[Effected After]

It is very important for the OP to understand what he is getting into. The traditional Japanese wedding ceremony is difficult, unpleasant, time consuming, and expensive. This is true for almost all Japanese traditions, customs, and institutions.

I did a traditional Japanese wedding ceremony:

difficult: somewhat - I had to read a scroll with a bunch of Japanese on it that I didn't understand.
unpleasant: not at all, I really quite enjoyed it.
time consuming: not at all. We paid the money one day, which took about 10 minutes, and we had a 20 minute explanation on the day of the ceremony. The ceremony itself was about 20-30 minutes.
expensive: We had to pay 50 000 yen to the shrine. Considering the whole thing including explanation only took 1-2 hours, I suppose that is a fair bit of money, but it didn't seem particularly exorbitant to me.

in Canada they require the official officiant (pastor, judge, etc.) So I wonder if everything will be hunky dory if I move back to Canada in a few years since a Japanese wedding is legalized without an officiant. But again, as per sound advice, I should contact the CDN gov.

As long as your marriage is legally recognized in Japan, it will be legally recognized in Canada.