Over $60K Japanese Wedding! Which is Expensive? Nagoya or Hokkaido?

2016/09/03 2017/01/03

My impression of a wedding in Japan is … expensive!!

How about your country?

You have a choice of having a wedding or not.

It’s totally up to you but I think that some girls dream of nice weddings and white wedding dresses!

Today I’m going to talk about a wedding in Japan.

Contents

1 History of Weddings in Japan
2 Cost of Weddings in Japan
3 Areas Matter! Is Hokkaido More Expensive than Nagoya?
4 Summary
- 4.1 Related Posts

History of Weddings in Japan

In Japan, most of the weddings was held in bride’s house in olden times.

However, after Meiji period (1868-1912) it changed and weddings were held in shrine.

Most of the weddings were done by Shinto (神道) style.

Some weddings are held in special places such as chapels, by ocean or hotels after 1980.

Cost of Weddings in Japan

Weddings, as you can imagine, could cost a lot.

Here are some figures for your reference.

The average cost for weddings is 2,443,000 yen and the average number of guests is 57 according to survey done in 2014.

On the other hand, the average cost for weddings was 3,120,000 yen and the average number of people invited to weddings was 80 according to the survey done in 1998.

I’ve also checked Canadian weddings.

Both Japanese and Canadians have more or less similar budget.

The average wedding cost for Canadians is $30,717, while the average number of people invited to the wedding is 129.

As you can see, Japanese generally spend less for weddings and invite less people compared to 18 years ago.

One of the reasons Japanese spend less on weddings is that Japanese are more likely to spend money carefully.

They have to save for future use while managing living expenses.

Another reason is change of customs.

That is, they had to follow the rules and customs 50 years ago, but they have more freedom to choose what kind of weddings they want to have after year of 2000.

wedding-dresses

Areas Matter! Is Hokkaido More Expensive than Nagoya?

In some areas, there are traditional rules for marriage.

For instance, people in Hokkaido generally don’t spend a lot for weddings.

It’s more like casual party, so participants pay and celebrate the couple.

In Nagoya area, Aichi prefecture, on the other hand, people usually spend more for weddings.

A bride used to prepare tons of Yomeiri dogu (items for couples, such as furniture and dishes etc.) and a groom would buy a house to fit the all items the bride brings.

This kind of custom has been changing, but they usually spend more compared to other prefectures.

Stat shows that people in Nagoya spend over 6,000,000 yen (some up to 8,000,000 yen) including new furniture and everything. WOW!

I would have a headaches if I live in Nagoya…