Celebrity royalty get married

Norika Fujiwara’s wedding topped most of the nightly news broadcasts, so it is probably worth mentioning here:

Actress Norika Fujiwara and comedian Tomonori Jinnai got married in a ceremony held at a Shinto shrine in Kobe city in Hyogo Prefecture on Saturday. Fujiwara, 35, and Jinnai, 32, were both clad in traditional formal court dresses in a ceremony at Ikuta Shrine that drew around 100 participants, mostly the couple’s kin, according to Jinnai’s management company Yoshimoto Kogyo Co. The shrine closed all its gates to bar entry of the public, while 400 police were mobilzed. Yet, around 2,000 fans braved a cold rain and showed up around the shrine to bless the couple. [Japan Today]

Shortly after their wedding, the couple held a press conference for the legion of reporters gathered outside the shrine. In contrast to other celebrities who go for secret weddings away from the prying eyes of the media, these two seem to have embraced the media coverage of their marriage ceremony. They definately went all out with their decision to wear traditional court wear for their wedding (As the Overthinker has pointed out: “The bride is wearing a 十二単　(juu-ni hitoe), traditional court dress in the Heian period. While the name suggests twelve layers, in reality there are about eight. Still weighs a good 20kg though. Jinnai is probably wearing 衣冠 (ikan), male court dress, and the thing in his hand is the traditional symbol of the Japanese comedian, the harisen.”). I’m sure the media, and especially their promotion agencies, were pleased with how things went today.