Invited to my first Japanese wedding!!

As most of you know, I studied abroad in Japan for sophomore year of high school. I lived with a wonderful family in Kobe for 11 months, named the Shimizu's. My host brother, Ari, ended up spending the following year studying abroad at my high school in Austin.

Ari's oldest sister, Yukari, is getting married in Kobe at the beginning of October. The Shimizu family called me today (first Ari, then my host mother, father, and Yukari) to invite me to the wedding, tell me that I could stay with them, and that they would cover my travel expenses. I hadn't been able to get into touch with any of them until now because their home phone has been disconnected (but they were able to see that I've tried to call them a few times since arriving a month ago), and they gave me my host mom's phone # and told me that if I needed anything at all to let them know.

Such nice people :-)

Easy thing about Japan with wedding gifts- you just bring cash in a ceremonial envelope! Instead of worrying about the relative advantages of getting them a fruitcake or a toaster, I just hand them cash. The interesting part comes, however, in determining how much to give them. In Tokushima, relatives of the couple will usually give 20,000-30,000 yen, or about $200-300. Having lived with them for 11 months, I'm assuming I qualify for this category :-) Friends will usually give the equivalent of about $100-$200.