“Takayoshi, you may lift the veil and kiss the bride.”
On a warm winter day last month, Takayoshi Ohgami and Mihoko Hashimoto realized their dream,exchanging vows in a Western-style church wedding at Knott’s Berry Farm, complete with Snoopy in attendance.
The two traveled all the way from their home outside Tokyo to Buena Park, with their immediate relatives. As the happy couple stood at the altar, the screams of park-goers on the nearby ride echoed through the chapel.
Thousands of Japanese couples come to Orange County and Los Angeles to get married each year, according to wedding and tourism officials. For most, a Southern California wedding with close family can be cheaper than a big affair in Japan. Others come here for an authentic American ceremony and the fantasy experience of being married alongside Snoopy or Disneyland’s Mickey Mouse.
The number of Japanese couples coming to Southern California for weddings is on the rise, according to Haruo Nakai, president of La Verne-based JAS Express Inc. Some 800 Japanese couples used Nakai’s Southern California wedding services last year,a 150% jump from 1999, he said.
Nakai, whose family-owned firm handles everything from setting up a wedding to videotaping the special event, said 2000 was an extraordinary year for Japanese weddings here. Many couples wanted to be married in the first year of the new century, he said. Nakai also said he expects a big 2001 as couples look to tie the knot in the official first year of the new millennium.
Tadao Saito, manager of Watabe USA Inc. in Santa Monica,a unit of Kyoto-based Watabe Wedding Corp.,said it set up 550 weddings here last year, a 105% increase over 1999.
Along with Disneyland and Knott’s, Wayfarers Chapel in Palos Verdes and Westwood Hills Christian Church in Los Angeles also are popular with Japanese couples.
As many as 400 Japanese couples get married at Disneyland and nearby hotels each year, according to Lisa Simpson, manager of Disney Fairy Tale Wedding, which serves Japanese and other couples looking to get married at the Disneyland Resort.
About 150 Japanese couples married at Knott’s in 2000, according to Nakai of JAS Express. (Knott’s officials declined to offer a number).
Some younger Japanese even are brave enough to elope to Southern California, Hawaii or Las Vegas. They do so to avoid the lavish but sometimes boring conventional weddings of Japan, in which as many as 100 guests are invited.
In other cases, Japanese couples marry in Southern California because they have a strong affinity for Disney and Peanuts characters such as Snoopy.
“The Japanese dream about a wedding with Mickey,” said Watabe’s Saito.
Recent newlyweds Ohgami and Hashimoto said they brought their immediate relatives to Knott’s Berry Farm because they wanted them to be part of their special day.
As with the Ohgamis, having parents in attendance for an overseas wedding is increasing in popularity for Japanese. Forty percent of Japanese couples marrying here have close relatives on hand,five people on average, according to the Japan Travel Bureau’s Los Angeles office.
“I am surprised that my son is getting married at an amusement park,” said Ohgami’s mother Michie, who added that her son didn’t give her detailed information about the wedding. Hashimoto’s Japanese friends from Alhambra also joined the wedding.
After the ceremony, Ohgami and Hashimoto enjoyed a horse-drawn carriage ride with Snoopy.
“Mom, look at that beautiful bride,” said a little boy visiting the park with his family.
Hiroko Easton, a consultant for Knott’s Berry Farm, said the joy of a theme park wedding is that even bystanders at the park can join in the celebration.
After the carriage ride, the happy couple moved to an old courthouse building to cut the wedding cake. Their interpreter, Nobuko Nakai of JAS Express, coached the couple: “Pick a piece of cake and feed each other, OK?”
The American cake tradition was foreign to the Ohgamis, but they managed.
The couple wanted to have an “Americanized” wedding and didn’t arrange for a Japanese or Japanese-speaking priest. Officials from Disneyland and Knott’s say they seldom get such requests.
The Ohgamis started their honeymoon by changing into casual clothes to enjoy the park by themselves. Ohgami said he planned to buy souvenirs for his co-workers back in Tokyo.
On average, Japanese tourists spend nearly $200 for shopping at Knott’s, consultant Easton said.
“I heard sometimes they purchase 100 to 200 Snoopy key holders because they follow the tradition of buying gifts for a wide circle of friends and family,” she said.
Japanese visitors also spend nearly 20 times as much as the average American tourist for souvenirs, Easton said.
Some Japanese couples enjoy extravagant “after-wedding dinners” at Rainforest Caf & #233; in South Coast Plaza and Hard Rock Caf & #233; in Newport Beach, Haruo Nakai said.
Besides Knott’s Berry Farm, the Ohgamis and their relatives visited Disneyland, Universal Studios and Las Vegas during their seven-day trip. The cost: about $2,000 per person, excluding wedding expenses. But the combination of a wedding and honeymoon in Southern California still can be cheaper than a big event at home.
Local Japanese travel agencies and wedding coordinators expect Disney’s California Adventure theme park, opening next month next to Disneyland, will attract more tourists,and couples,next year.
“The Japanese love to visit new places like California Adventure,” Haruo Nakai said. “I am getting more wedding orders from Japan for 2001.”
While many Japanese couples get married in Orange County, for most it’s an “LA Wedding,” Nakai said.
“I expect they will make a new term ‘Anaheim Wedding’ soon,” he said.
For the Ohgamis, this was their first trip outside Japan. They said they fell in love with Southern California and hope to come back.
“The weather is way cool, and we like this open-minded atmosphere,” Ohgami said. n
