BBC: "Faking it as a priest in Japan"

Posted on: Sat, 11/04/2006 - 18:53 By: Tom Swiss

The BBC reports on gaijin acting as "priests" in Japanese wedding ceremonies:

"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," he added. "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.

Hmmm. Well, I am a ULC minister (thanks to the Reverend Ivan Stang kindly ordaining everyone in the audience at one of his Starwood rants as ULC ministers)...and I do hope to spend some time in Japan...