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Wedding held on Yamanote line in Tokyo

14 Comments
By Casey Baseel

Out of all the rail and subway lines crisscrossing Tokyo, the most well known and heavily used is the Yamanote line which encircles downtown Tokyo. Stations along the Yamanote serve some of the city’s busiest business, education, and entertainment districts, and the result during rush hour is train cars that are so packed it’s comical (for everyone except the passengers themselves, of course).

This month, however, the Yamanote line was the site of a gathering quite a bit more intimate than its usual pressed mass of sleeping white-collar professionals, as a couple held their wedding ceremony onboard one of its trains.

Unlike many of the lines that branch off from it, the Yamanote has no express trains. Ordinarily, each train stops at every station on the route, so some would-be passengers were surprised on the afternoon of Oct 14 when the electronic platform display flashed a message that the approaching train would be passing straight through without stopping.

Ordinarily, this unexpected inconvenience would irk plenty of people, especially considering that Oct 14 was a public holiday (Fitness Day) in Japan. But rather than being upset at having their leisure plans delayed for a couple of minutes as they waited for the next train, people who happened to be at the station when the special train passed by smiled when they found out why it was for private-use only.

Ironically, this year Fitness Day shared its date with the day dedicated to those machines that spare people in urban Japan the hassle of having to walk everywhere: Train Day.

In celebration, Japan Railways took applications from couples wishing to exchange their vows on the Yamanote line. One lucky pair was selected, and while photos of the private ceremony are few and far between, the happy bride and groom were spotted as they waited for their carriage.

The special train also featured a unique reworking of its interior displays that indicate upcoming stations and transfers.

Transfers to the fictional Teishukanpau and Kakatenka Lines were even accompanied by the somewhat flubbed English translations of Powerful Husband Line and Hyper Wife Line. Given that more accurate renderings would be “Overbearing Husband” and “Henpecking Wife,” we’re hoping the couple decides to stick with the course they’re already on, especially when the screen shows that if they do, they’ll momentarily be arriving at “happiness,” followed by “baby” in a few years’ time.

Source: Togech

Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- New train carriages on Tokyo’s Saikyo Line allow more sardines to be squeezed into the can -- Japan Rail searching for couple to get married on Yamanote Line train -- Japan Claims 82 of 100 Busiest Train Stations in World

© RocketNews24

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14 Comments
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I think it's a lovely idea... no doubt they chose the line because they use it all the time. Happy wedding day peeps ^_^

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Getting married on a train in Tokyo. A place with drunk people getting sick,perverts,molesters,suicide jumpers etc Not my first choice of a venue.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

By capitalizing Densha Otoko I was referring to the drama/movie, but I suppose any tetsudo fan would get married in a place like this. I personally would choose the Hakone Tozan line, but to each his own. Better for a young couple to not spend money on something as throw away as wedding, and to save it for their future.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This is adorable!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

LOL Mirai Hayashi, you are obviously not a densha otoko(or onna) then; otherwise you would understand why they chose to get married in the most well known (and possibly one of the most busy) train lines in Japan.

In a country where 99% of wedding chapels are fake gaudy replicas (complete with the fake priest), getting married on the Yamanote line would be a different, and memorable experience. I am not a Tecchan but I would love to have taken some of our wedding photos on a crowded subway (cant get more typically Tokyo than that)

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Homeboy probably takes Yamanote Line to work every day and you know how people here are married to their jobs....

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

It is if you are Densha Otoko.

If I were a densha otoko, I still wouldn't choose a commuter train like the yamanote line to have a WEDDING. I would choose something like the Cassiopeia or Hokutosei and take an overnight trip to Sapporo...that's much more romantic. I think these are just trying to do things on the cheap...but this is too cheap.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

They never 'host' that party, it's just a bunch of obnoxious foreigners who accost the train. JR doesn't approve of it at all.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Great news! I wonder if the yamanote line is hosting it's annual Halloween party this year.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Because the Yamanote line is the most romantic place to get married...:-/

It is if you are Densha Otoko.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@mirai

to each his own, dude.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Id rather get married on those super luxurious hotel trains that run in Kyuushuu.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Because the Yamanote line is the most romantic place to get married...:-/

-8 ( +1 / -9 )

Best Wishes on Your Wedding! All Aboard!

4 ( +6 / -2 )

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