Weddings in Kamakura

I haven't written in ages and while it is already May these pics are from March but beautiful enough to post anyway. While Yoko was here we went to Kamakura an old city just about two hours south of Tokyo near the ocean. Ryan's brother Jared was in town and the four of us went with Kikuchi-san for a day trip. Being from southern Japan Yoko had never been to Kamakura before.

Kamakura was the political center of Japan from around 1190-1290. The Kamakura government's power declined in the early 14th century and power then moved to Kyoto.

The day we went to Kamakura we saw two weddings going on and it was a weekday! Here are some pics! The groom at this first wedding was actually a gaijin (foreigner), though you probably can't tell in these two pics.
















The music of these wood instruments was georgeous. This is one of the big shrines in Kamakura called Hachimangu Shrine.

















Wedding number two, these two are getting around in style!

















Attendees to wedding #2, apparently it is common to wear black kimono's to weddings here.