JAPANESE CULTURE, EXPLAINED

Shinto weddings: ritual combinations and modern expansion

神前結婚式

A Shinto wedding takes place before the kami; its rites and sequence vary by venue.

Objects and actions in the ceremony

One shrine’s sequence

At Tokyo Daijingū, priests and shrine maidens lead the procession; priests purify participants and announce the marriage in prayer. Shared sake precedes Toyosaka dance, vows, tamagushi worship, rings, the shrine’s own Toyohogi dance, then family sake.

Objects used in actions

Small

Medium

Large

Not to scale.

Sake cups have three sizes; the offered branch is sakaki. Rings come from Western wedding custom.

Modern beginnings and new venues

Why 1900 and 1901 matter

The crown prince’s 1900 palace wedding drew public attention; Jingū Hōsaikai staged a model ceremony in 1901 and promoted the practice. The National Diet Library also presents earlier origin accounts, including Mino and Izumo, rather than establishing one uncontested first.

Homes, shrines and hotels

Household weddings continued. Late-Meiji Nagashima-style services brought ritual personnel and equipment to homes, then to hotels. After the 1923 earthquake, the Imperial Hotel developed combined ceremony-and-reception services; Meguro Gajoen opened in 1931 with integrated facilities.

Check your understanding

Which branch is offered as tamagushi?

A sakaki branch.

Was shared ritual sake invented in 1900?

No. Earlier household weddings also used it; modern shrine-wedding expansion is a separate history.

Sources and images