A week ago, I went to my parents' house in Osaka to attend my cousin's wedding party which was held last Saturday. I took the bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka. When I arrived at Shin-Osaka Station /新大阪駅, I had to squint. The station was too bright. I thought that it was because I was used to dimness (In the Tokyo area, towns are dim to save electricity due to the power plants seriously damaged by the 3/11 earthquake. Since the electrical frequency in Osaka is different from that in Tokyo, electricity generated in Osaka cannot cover the shortage of electricity in Tokyo). At the same time, I was wondering if the standard Japanese illumination was too bright. As a matte of fact, I often hear foreigners, especially Westerners, saying that shops, restaurants and rooms in Japan are too bright.
In the past, during the war, people were required to turn off the lights at home. Because of this, it's been said that brightness and bright lights became the symbol of peace among ordinary Japanese people, and they became fond of bright rooms. This tendency still remains in Japanese society. Brightness makes many people feel secure and cheers them up. On top of that, since many people are used to bright lights in stores, dim lights in shops in Japan make them feel like these shops are old and unfashionable, although some people like dim lights in shops and restaurants in Western countries.
Anyway, at the wedding ceremony and party, I really enjoyed the traditional Japanese beauty in Kyoto/京都 for the first time in years. Although Western-style wedding parties have become very common in Japan, the marriage ceremony was conducted according to Shinto rites at Shimogamo shrine/ 下鴨神社, which is a World Heritage site. (Please see Link #1 below). The wedding party was held in a traditional Japanese-style inn (Please see Link #2 below). Ten small children attending the party warmed it up. Surprisingly, the bride's eldest brother has five kids (9 ,8, 5, 4 and a 3 month-old) and her elder brother has three kids (my cousin was the groom). These big families gave hope to Japan which has been suffering from a low birthrate and the 3/11 earthquake.
Link #1
Link #2
