The Fake Christian Priests of Japan.
One doesn’t even need to be Christian in order to carry out the task. In fact, the less religious the pastor, the better. The words spoken during a Western-style wedding are important, but companies are just looking for nonreligious guys who can stick to a script, because they realize for the average Japanese this kind of ceremony is more about the image rather than the essence. You can find real Japanese Christian priests to perform the nuptial ritual, but a Western man just fits much better into the picture than an Asian ever would. Playing Christian priests has become a well-paid acting gig for many foreigners, but the practice is obviously frowned upon by genuine pastors. ”It is a real problem for us. They are not genuine and they give us a bad name,” one of them told the BBC. ”It is important for the bride and groom to have a proper wedding, and they are not getting it from these foreign priests. I have even heard of hotels using staff when they can’t find anyone else.
Hiring foreign-looking stand-ins seems to be really popular in some Asian countries. A while ago we reported about a trend in China that involves companies hiring white men to pose as business partners in order to make them look more international to their real partners. Over there it’s called White Guy Window Dressing.
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