Something Old: When Americans were singing “Going to the Chapel” in the 1960s, Japanese brides would’ve sung “Going to the Shrine.” That’s because until recently, Japanese wedding ceremonies almost always took place at Shinto shrines. These atmospheric wooden structures, usually quite old and tucked into a wooded area, each house a god of the indigenous Japanese religion. In the understated and reverential marriage ritual, the priest chants prayers asking for the couples’ marriage to be blessed by the 8 million gods in the Shinto Pantheon, but especially Izanami and Izanagi, a pair associated with matrimonial happiness. The shrine maiden, or miku, may perform a sacred dance, and the newlyweds offer a branch of the holy sakaki tree to the altar.