news.bbc.co.uk

SAPPORO, JAPAN, November 3, 2006: (HPI note: This struck us as a lesson in how old traditions, in this case Shinto weddings, can be displaced by fads.) Mark Kelly, originally from England and living in Japan for six years, works as a fake priest performing Christian wedding ceremonies on weekends. “I was living in Sapporo, studying Japanese, and I needed the money. It’s far better paid than teaching in a language school,” he said. “Being a fake priest is big business in Japan – I’ve done a TV commercial for one company. In Sapporo, there are five agencies employing about 20 fake priests. In a city like Tokyo, there must be hundreds.” The fake Western priests are employed at Western-style weddings to give a performance and add to the atmosphere. These are not legal ceremonies – the couples also have to make a trip to the local registrar. “People like the dress, the kiss and the image. Japanese Christians make up only 1% of the country, but now about 90% of weddings are in the Christian style,” Mr. Kelly said, “At the hotel where I work, there is a Christian chapel next to a Shinto chapel. The Christian chapel is always in use, but the Shinto chapel is being used as a storeroom.” Said one Japanese priest, “In the past almost all weddings in Japan were Shinto, but in the last few years Western-style weddings have appeared and become very popular.”

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