Dog Ears and Silver Hair, Side by Side — A Wedding Crosses Clan and Generation in Fukagawa

A man with ears and a woman without stood side by side to take their vows. A wedding for Yamato Takimoto, 28, a second-generation drifter of the dog lineage, and Kotone Kumatsu, 26, of the genetically designed generation, was held at a Fukagawa neighborhood hall on the 1st, celebrated by around 60 relatives and friends.

Takimoto, a dockworker, belongs to the dog-lineage neighborhood association's drumming group in Fukagawa. Kumatsu, an after-school program instructor near Fukagawa North Elementary, belongs to the second generation of the genetically designed cohort dating to the 1990s, with pale silver hair and light-colored eyes as her only features distinguishing her from an unmodified human. The two met three years ago helping out at the drumming group's summer festival stall. "Honestly, I didn't really know what to make of his ears at first," Kumatsu recalled. "But it only bothered me for the first few times. After that, it just stopped registering."

Midway through the reception at the Fukagawa hall on the afternoon of the 1st, several members of the dog-lineage association who had taken part in the previously reported (October 31) joint performance at Fukagawa Central Plaza showed up carrying drums and performed a short congratulatory piece on the spot. Koji Inui, 56, the dog-lineage association's chairman, previously reported, laughed: "Takimoto's one of our younger drummers — we couldn't very well not show up. After drumbeats that layer together, I figured we'd play for a married couple that does the same." Kumatsu said, "I never imagined I'd get to hear those drums up close at my own wedding. I cried."

Takimoto's paternal line includes many second-generation drifters and carries the dog lineage's upright ears and bushy tail. Kumatsu's family, meanwhile, is third-generation among the designed cohort. Takimoto's uncle, speaking on behalf of the family, said, "Different clans, different generations — people used to make something of that, once. Today, there wasn't a trace of it in this room." Kumatsu's mother said, "Whether the man my daughter chose had ears or not was honestly beside the point for me as a parent. The only thing I worried about was whether he'd really see her."

Also among the guests was the family of a 39-year-old man, previously reported in the October 31 article on the joint drum performance, who is married to a woman of the fox lineage; his child was reportedly delighted to learn "drums play at weddings too." Takimoto said, "Whether you have ears or not, you hear the same drums and the same tears come out. Today I learned that's enough." The reception continued into the evening with food from a stall run by an acquaintance of the dog-lineage association.