Do you do anything on your wedding anniversary in your country? Japanese wedding anniversaries include what are called golden and silver wedding anniversaries. However, there are many more, so it may be difficult even for Japanese to remember them all.
Nevertheless, no matter how many years have passed, we should always cherish the day to commemorate our marriage.
On this page, we will review a list of the many ways to call a wedding anniversary, as well as the origin of wedding anniversaries, when they should be celebrated, and key points on how to count them.
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Contents
List of ways to call a wedding anniversary
Wedding anniversaries are named according to the number of years that have passed since the wedding ceremony and reception.
Gifts and presents that match each name are exchanged between the couple.
| After the year Anniversary | How to call (read) |
| － | [Wedding ceremony 結婚式] |
| 1 | Paper wedding 紙婚式 |
| 2 | Cotton wedding 綿(わた)婚式 |
| 3 | Leather wedding 革(かわ)婚式 |
| 4 | “Flower and fruit” wedding「花と果実」婚式 |
| 5 | Wood wedding木(もく)婚式 |
| 6 | Sugar wedding 砂糖婚式 |
| 7 | Copper wedding 銅婚式 |
| 8 | Bronze wedding 青銅婚式 |
| 9 | Ceramic wedding 陶器婚式 |
| 10 | Tin wedding 錫(すず)婚式 |
| 11 | Steel wedding 鋼鉄婚式 |
| 12 | Silk wedding 絹婚式 |
| 13 | Lace wedding レース婚式 |
| 14 | Ivory wedding 象牙(ぞうげ)婚式 |
| 15 | Crystal wedding 水晶婚式 |
| 20 | Porcelain wedding 磁器婚式 |
| 25 | Silver wedding 銀婚式 |
| 30 | Pearl wedding真珠婚式 |
| 35 | Coral wedding 珊瑚(さんご)婚式 |
| 40 | Ruby wedding ルビー婚式 |
| 45 | Sapphire wedding サファイア婚式 |
| 50 | Gold wedding 金婚式 |
| 55 | Emerald wedding エメラルド婚式 |
| 60 | Diamond wedding ダイヤモンド婚式 |
| 65 | Blue sapphire wedding ブルーサファイア婚式 |
| 70 | Platinum wedding プラチナ婚式 |
| 75 | Diamond and gold 「ダイヤと金」婚式 |
| 80 | Oak wedding 樫(かし)婚式 |
| 85 | Wine wedding ワイン婚式 |
| 90 | Granite wedding 花崗岩(かこうがん)婚式 |
I am Japanese and I am married. I am Japanese and married, but I was surprised when I looked them up. I was surprised to find out that there are so many different types of wedding anniversaries.
The custom of celebrating wedding anniversaries is said to have originated in England, but there is no literature that clearly identifies the origin of this custom.
There are also some differences in the names of wedding anniversaries between the United Kingdom and the United States.
The above list is mainly based on the British wedding anniversaries, of which the golden wedding and silver wedding anniversaries are the most widely known.
Next, let us review the origin of the Japanese wedding anniversary celebrations.
What is the origin of the wedding anniversary in Japan?
In Japan, the “family” has long been respected, with the patriarch (kafucho) at the center.
Therefore, after the marriage ceremony, it was considered important that the groom’s family and the bride’s family were united. Therefore, the idea of celebrating the number of years that have passed since the couple’s marriage has not developed.
In Japan, however, there was a pioneering event in celebrating wedding anniversaries in accordance with foreign countries. The “Grand Wedding 25th Anniversary Celebration,” which corresponded to the silver wedding of Emperor Meiji and Empress Dowager Shoken, was held in the 27th year of Meiji (1894).
In the postwar period, the tendency to celebrate wedding anniversaries annually increased due to the influx of American culture.
In modern times, the names of the 25th and 50th wedding anniversaries, the silver and golden wedding anniversaries, have become widely known, even though they are not celebrated every year.
What determines a wedding anniversary, anyway? Let’s check it out next.
What is a wedding anniversary? When is it good?
There are several ways of thinking about what day should be considered a wedding anniversary.
- The day of the wedding ceremony and reception
- Date of marriage registration
- The day the couple began living together
- The date they reached an agreement to marry.
Of these, the first “wedding or wedding reception date” is often used as the wedding anniversary.
However, there are cases in which these ceremonies are not held due to circumstances (ceremonial marriage), and in such cases, they cannot be considered as anniversaries.
The “date of registration of marriage” is the so-called “date of enrollment in the family register”.
In Japan, the registration of marriage is required for marriage to take effect. However, there are many couples who have not registered their marriage, but are still effectively married (de facto marriage), and in such cases, they are excluded from the anniversary.
In addition, since the above two anniversaries do not often fall on the same day, it is quite common for one of them to be used as the anniversary of the marriage. However, in recent years, the use of other dates as wedding anniversaries has been increasing.
For example, “the day you started living together” is probably the most popular wedding anniversary date in the case of an unceremonious or de facto marriage.
Furthermore, “the day when the couple reached an agreement on marriage” is also increasingly being used as a wedding anniversary, which is the most flexible choice.
As described above, there are multiple choices as to when the wedding anniversary is to be celebrated.
And since there are no stipulations regarding the decision, the married couple can choose the one that makes the most sense according to their ideas.
How do you count wedding anniversaries?
A wedding anniversary is a “paper wedding” the year following the year of marriage.
In other words, one year after the marriage is the “first wedding anniversary” date, so you can count by “X years later” or “X anniversary”.
However, there seems to be some confusion when counting. This is due to the fact that we think of it as the “XXth year.
Thus, there is a discrepancy between “X years later, X anniversary” and “X year”.
Therefore, it is important to always use “after ____ years” or “____ anniversary” for counting wedding anniversaries.
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