Do you know the low marshy areas called Suigo in Ibaraki and Chiba Prefectures? The Iris Festival is held there in May and June. I visited Itako, a city in that area, at the beginning of June. Many beautiful irises were in bloom, and seeing those flowers made me happy. Itako is also famous for its special wedding ceremony where the bride goes to the groom on a boat. I happened to see one of those ceremonies. The couple looked very happy in the nice weather, surrounded by beautiful flowers and blessed by many people. Seeing the couple made me even happier than just seeing the irises.    (107 words)