BRASS crafts fully private “house wedding” celebrations nationwide across Japan, pairing bespoke venues, gowns, cuisine, and masterful hosting to make every couple’s big day feel uniquely theirs.
I would like to begin with the topic of Japan’s declining population. As you know, Japan’s population is projected to fall by half over the next 50 years. Both the birth rate and the marriage rate are declining, and the total fertility rate is now around 1.15. Far fewer young people are choosing to get married. According to data from the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the number of marriages is expected to fall from about 500,000 in 2020 to less than 240,000 in the first half of 2025. How would you describe the current situation of Japan’s wedding industry, and what trends do you consider most important within it?
The decline in the number of people getting married, due to factors such as the falling birthrate and later marriages, is something that is beyond our control. The decision not to marry is part of a broader social trend and not something the industry can directly change.
However, among those who do marry, more and more couples are choosing not to hold a ceremony or reception. I believe that is clearly the responsibility of us in the wedding industry. If people no longer feel the value of a wedding ceremony, then it means we have failed to communicate its significance. That is why we need to create truly good weddings, ones that make the bride and groom who chose to have a ceremony, and the guests who attend, say, “That was a wonderful wedding” or “If weddings are that lovely, I want to have one too.”
Japan’s rich culture, history, and beautiful regions are attracting a growing number of foreign visitors. More than 36 million people visited last year, and the government has set a target of 60 million by 2030. Recent data suggests that overseas couples spend roughly twice as much on wedding-related expenses as domestic couples. For these international couples, what appeal can a Japanese wedding offer? And why do you think they would choose Japan?
At this point, I do not think there are that many couples who actually travel from overseas to hold a full wedding ceremony in Japan. The mainstream is still photo weddings, and Okinawa is overwhelmingly popular for that. It is easily accessible from across Asia and relatively affordable. Kyoto also enjoys a certain level of demand, but it is still limited. I think regions like Kyoto, Osaka, and Hokkaido are drawing attention as well.
However, if we ask why couples would want to have a wedding ceremony in Japan, to be honest, I do not yet see a clear answer. Just as Japanese people long for Hawaii and choose to marry there, it is still uncertain whether people in other parts of Asia feel the same kind of “yearning” for Japan. Another key point is how capable Japanese venues are of delivering a truly good wedding, with Japanese-style service. A wedding is a cultural ritual, and values differ by country and region. It is not easy to take the “Japanese-style wedding” that we design for Japanese couples and apply it as is to couples from other countries. To provide wonderful weddings and services that really suit couples from other cultures, we need to work and learn together with people from those countries.
Incidentally, data from Okinawa shows that in 2021, 124,000 guests visited for wedding-related purposes, generating an economic impact of about 22.3 billion JPY. Do you see growth potential in this inbound market?
Yes, I definitely think there is potential. Places like Okinawa and Hokkaido, where the natural environment itself becomes a special location, are especially attractive. On the other hand, the situation is a bit different in other areas, especially large cities. In reality, there are not many people who would travel specifically to a city solely for a wedding. Of course, if there are overseas couples who love Nagoya and want to get married here, we would be delighted to welcome them. But if we are going to seriously target the inbound market, then I believe we have to build venues in places that can offer truly special scenery and experiences.
Let me ask about your experience in Hawaii. Your group also handles weddings there. What have you learned from operating in Hawaii?
Our group company B.Nature provides comprehensive support for Hawaiian weddings, focusing on producing ceremonies and parties, as well as photo weddings and video production. Most of our clients are Japanese couples. However, we occasionally support local couples living in Hawaii, as well as international couples living on the U.S. mainland. Those experiences are very educational. Cultural values and views on weddings differ completely from country to country. We really feel that we cannot simply take the services we provide to Japanese customers and apply them unchanged to other cultures.
B.Nature/HAWAII
Next, I would like to ask about your founding philosophy in 1998. Your company has long emphasized “creating good weddings” and “creating the best possible wedding for each couple.” What underlying beliefs support this way of thinking?
First, I want to explain the special nature of weddings as a product. A wedding is, in principle, a once-in-a-lifetime event. It is a service business with no repeat customers. In restaurants or theme parks, the goal is to make people think, “I want to come back again,” but weddings are different. They happen only once. No matter how wonderful the wedding is, that is the end. If a venue is good at advertising, it can attract new customers even if the quality is somewhat lacking. But that is not truly good service. When I worked in the field as a wedding MC, I realized that this is an industry where the will to pursue genuinely good weddings does not easily arise. That is precisely why we founded BRASS with the intention of “creating good weddings.” That is the origin of BRASS, and it remains our unchanged core philosophy today.
I understand you have an initiative called the “BRASS Summer Festival” planned for August 2025, which will involve around 9,000 couples. That is a very unique concept.
Yes. We wanted to create an opportunity for the couples who held their weddings with us to come back to the venue. Every summer, we invite the families who were married at our venues and offer free family photo sessions. It is not a profit-making event. It is about maintaining the connection between our customers and the wedding venue.
In the service industry, what matters is building fans. When the same people choose to come back again, that is the essence of a repeat customer. We hope that as children grow up, they will one day choose to have their own weddings at the same venue where their parents married. That kind of cycle is what we aim for.
That is wonderful. Next, I would like to ask about the stress associated with weddings. While weddings are joyous occasions, the preparation and emotional burden can also be significant. How does your company support brides and grooms who may feel this stress?
One of the difficult aspects of a wedding is that the couple are both the “protagonists” and the “organizers.” During preparation, they have to decide everything about the event themselves, and on the day they also stand at the very center of the wedding. This is a structure that you would not find in an ordinary event.
That is why stress arises. The role of a BRASS wedding planner is to understand this structure, build a relationship of trust with the couple, and guide them with professional, specialized advice. On the wedding day, the planner manages everything so the couple can focus entirely on being the protagonists and feel at ease. I believe this way of thinking is important in any country.
On a related note, could you tell us about your dress shops B.DRESSER, which you operate in Nagoya, Osaka, and Shizuoka, and also about your handling of kimono? What points do you place special importance on?
The Japanese wedding dress market has a distinctive feature, which is the culture of rental. In most countries around the world, brides purchase their dresses, but in Japan rental is the norm. It is quite unusual. If you were the owner of a rental dress shop, what would be the best way to make a profit? The answer is to rent out the same dress as many times as possible. That is why Japanese-made dresses are designed to be easy to wash and highly durable.
On the other hand, a couture dress from haute couture dresses from New York and Italy are delicate, high-quality pieces crafted one by one. In other words, while Japan’s rental culture makes economic sense, beauty and artistry tend to be sacrificed. There are so many more beautiful dresses in the world. With that in mind, B.DRESSER carries dresses sourced from ateliers around the globe. We also produce our own high-quality original dresses. By providing dresses of exceptional quality that fit each bride perfectly, we want brides to encounter a truly special “dress of destiny,” even in a rental format.
Could you tell us about your “guest house wedding” concept, which is a hallmark of your company?
I often use sports as an analogy. If you were going to watch a game, you would probably prefer a dedicated stadium to a multipurpose arena. It is the same with weddings. All BRASS venues are designed exclusively for weddings. Everything is optimized for that “one special day,” from the open kitchen and garden to the spaces filled with natural light. Only when you combine the best hospitality and service with a venue that is truly suited to weddings can you create a genuinely good wedding.
You operate 25 guest houses nationwide. If you had to choose one venue that best embodies the BRASS brand, which would it be?
I have strong feelings for all our venues, but if I had to choose one, it would be 'ARBRE ORANGE' in Shizuoka Prefecture. The name means “orange and trees” in French. The flow between the ceremony hall, party space, garden, and waiting room is outstanding, and the venue is designed so that weddings can take place in comfort regardless of the weather. That, too, is a form of hospitality.
I would also like to ask about BRASS Blue Tokyo, which opened this year.
Opening a venue in Tokyo has been a long-held dream for us. A few of our employees are from the Kanto region, and we have always wanted to have a presence in Tokyo. Space is inevitably limited for venues in Tokyo, but we wanted to create a spacious, wedding-only venue that reflects the BRASS ideal. In the end, we completed a venue that truly symbolizes BRASS. It is a generously sized space filled with greenery, despite being in central Tokyo. I would very much like you to see it.
I would love to visit. This is my final question. If we were to interview you again five years from now, what kind of company would you like BRASS to be at that time?
Our style will not change. We will continue to build our own venues and have our own employees create the weddings. I do not believe it is possible to deliver the very best weddings in venues that we simply rent. Five years from now, I want us to still be carefully creating each venue one by one and to be the company that produces the most wonderful weddings in Japan. We will keep creating good weddings and spread them throughout the country. That is our mission.
For more information, visit their website at: https://www.brass.ne.jp/corporate/
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