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Just Married!


We did it! We made it official!! Yasu and I finally got our butts down to City Hall (and on my Birthday, too!) to seal the deal.

It was really easy. Turns out I'd done a bunch of extra work back home in Toronto that I didn't need to. I wrote an affidavit stating I was legal and free to marry. Then I had it and a copy of my passport notarized by a lawyer. THEN I mailed that to the province of Ontario and in return received a certificate called a "Statement in Lieu of Non-Impediment to Marriage Abroad."

Once I was here though, those weren't necessary. I actually had to go to the Canadian embassy in Osaka to fill out the exact same affidavit I had already made. They also supplied me with a Japanese translation of it which was the real golden ticket. It was stamped by the official person and it was then we could finally get things signed, sealed and delivered.

We went to City Hall where we had a choice of a "regular" marriage certificate or "kawaii" marriage certificate. Guess which one we chose?



OBVIOUSLY, kawaii.

We had to get our friends in Japan to sign as witnesses and then we went back to City Hall. Not gonna lie, it wasn't particularly romantic. It was not unlike going to renew your drivers' license - which many people were there to do. We were given a number and since it didn't look like anyone else was getting hitched that day, we got called right away.

Once called, a clerk looked over our paperwork, copied my passport then gave us another number and told us to sit back down. We got called up again shortly after by an older clerk with a sparkle in his eyes. He asked me questions out of curiousity asking if I liked Osaka and why I would not move to Tokyo. I told him Tokyo was ok, but that I loved Osaka. He beamed.

There were a few errors on our application (they made a photocopy and circled all the areas we needed to fix) and Yasu was quick to complete them. The sparkly eyed clerk spoke very fast and a lot. I had no idea what was happening but I was starting to get worried we weren't going to be able to marry. Yasu sensed my nervousness and gave my hand a quick squeeze to tell me things were alright.


Yasu pulled out his hanko (custom stamp, what Japan uses instead of signatures) and that was that. We were married! I gave him a quick kiss and we grabbed a quick snap of us in front of the 'HAPPY WEDDING' sign.

We were told to wait about 2 weeks to get Yasu's updated registry that we would need to use to apply for my spouse visa. I'm still a bit nervous we wont be able to get it in time before my 90 day visitor stamp expires but Yasu reassured me it would be ok, and I believe him.

We were treated to a beautiful dinner on a patio off the river by our amazing friends and witnesses to the marriage. I honestly can't remember the last time I felt so much love (and wine, lol). His family and mine (along with a few hundred facebook friends) were thrilled by the news and the outpouring of love that followed was incredible.

I can't wait for us to have our wedding parties with all our family and friends next year. We have to wait though, and save money. The main priority we have at the moment is getting my visa sorted and moving to a bigger apartment that's just right for both of us.

In the meanwhile, WE'RE MARRIED. It seems really surreal even though our relationship feels the same. We had a giggle the next morning after saying "Good morning, wife!" and "Good morning, husband!"

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