For today's wedding, the stone steps are covered with brand new red carpets. Ahead is the worship hall with red lacquered pillars, flanked on both sides by priests and musicians performing Gagaku. Just as Kitagawa Ryoko squeezed in, she saw the priest preparing a maidservant for the wedding ceremony.
Green branches of the Japanese sweet gum tree moved back and forth above the maidservant's bowed head, and the three little bells hanging from the branches chimed crisply. After reciting the prayer, the shrine's Palace Master held a golden key tied with a red ribbon, walked forward, and knelt on the wooden steps in front of the worship hall. Dressed in a white priest's robe, he shouted, "Oh—" loudly. Then he inserted the key into the door's keyhole and respectfully pushed it open to the sides.
Inside the worship hall, the Divine Mirror glowed brightly.
At the same time, the musicians began to pluck their strings, and waves of beautiful celestial music flowed forth.
