Adventures · on · the · Otherside · of · the · World

In preparation for my trip to Japan this week, I thought I ought to check out my ole' blog and see how ye fare. In one word, unfinished. I realized that I forgot to post a final entry of my travels post the seminar. I ended up meeting with PR for the day. We had a great time in Tokyo which included a walk along memory lane for PR. He stopped by the martial arts supply where he boughts some weapons and had them deliver them to the airport, a really cool service they have in Japan btw. Then we walked along the road to the Kodokan. We stopped along the way for some tasty chinese where we talked about training and a few folks pros and cons. It was "educational" as was the train conversation in a very differing way, in good PR form. We ended up taking the metro for part of the way as it was a fair distance to walk to get to the Kodokan from the Budokan. In the train station, I could tell that PR was deep in memories and he smiled and mentioned he remembers the smells and sounds and all the times that he spent walking through this station. I can't imagine.

The Kodokan was much bigger than I thought it would be. PR kept looking around as if he expected to run into someone he knows. I could tell that he was disappointed that he didn't. It has definitely changed in tone for him. A bit sad and I don't think he will want to come back any time soon. It was probably a difficult task to go. There was a boys tournament and we watched the last round then they had an awards ceremony. It was somewhat anticlimatic. The Kodokan had a little gift shop at the entrance and I bought a few ascundry items to take back with me. It was a nice adventure and I truly appreciated going with PR who has spent a lifetime in budo and many many many hours in that place and in judo. I will not forget it.

We headed to, guess where, Starbucks afterward. After enjoying a cup of coffee, we headed to the train station where PR gave me instructions on where to meet Z & D who I was going to stay with that night. Then he gave directions again, and walked me as far as he could and then gave instructions one more time... too funny! I got on the train and headed to meet up with Z & D. I met them with no problems. Within an hour, I felt like I had known them a long time. D reminds me so much of DS here with the same energy and strength. We went across the way from their apartment to a Chicken Bar (Izakawa), where I enjoyed my first crunchy, chewy chicken nuckles. Though it the crunchy part was good, the nuckly part was, well, pretty much what you might expect, tough and chewy. The rest of the meal was awesome. We had some sake and other assorted chickenish items. It was all very yummy made even more so with exceptional company. I really felt comfortable and we had a great time talking. After dinner, we wandered back across the street to their apartment (literally 20 feet away) and sat up chatting some more. Then I took a nice hot bath, climbed into my fouton and had a good nights sleep. The next morning D made us a nice breakfast and we chatted more. In fact, I nearly missed my trains getting back to Narita. I had a brief scare in that I couldn't figure out where to catch the next train and frantically had to try out my nearly worthless Japanese in order to ask people where to go. Thankfully, I figured it out, got to the platform with about 20 seconds to spare - literally! In Narita, I met up with part of our group, did some shopping and then we all headed off to the airport. The guys were so sweet as they sat with me and waited until my flight and then watched to ensure I made it through security. The flight home was very uneventful and then it was back to the grind.

It has been literal week all week, with an underlying theme of poo. I guess it is just one of those things, you got to be there. The last two days has been pretty much like the days before. Eating, training, eating, drinking, sleeping-repeat. We went to Katori Jingu yesterday morning. It was a great day and we cleaned the grave site of the founder, watched a friend get his shinken blessed. Picked up a few souveniors and headed for home. Last night was a vip meeting in our room. We think it went well, which is very good. While our room was occupied, I played partner pool in the bar. NR and I were partners. It is great to play with her and I was helping her with her aim. She got some pretty good shots. The game ended in a tie because we all suck and everyone was more hungry than interested in watching us move colored balls around. It was a late night, but I feel pretty good this morning which is probably due to the continued jet lag. It will probably hit me this afternoon. Today, I plan to go to Tokyo with NR & PR which ought to be interesting. I am waiting for them now.

We were astounded at our luck. She was obviously the obasan and lived there. We were free to walk around in the very old dojo. It had weapons hangin gon the wall and it was fairly apparent that the dojo was still used. there was a little heater with a tea pot on top. The ceiling was very low and the naginata was pretty short. It was a tiny dojo, but it is from such a different time. That was a real treat!

The jingu had a different feel then Katori. We saw the temple, which was pretty small and unremarkable outside of it being a temple. We checked out the "magical" water and the "magical" forest and the ice berg rock (can only see a small oval that is the very top of a very special rock. The temple grounds were very beautiful with amazing huge trees.

Training was good, continued to be with the spanish group. Not much different than the day before except to say that I just feel off this week. Not sure why. Making mistakes that I haven\t made in a long time. Oh well. It is good to work with people with different timing, etc. We had a lovely dinner at an okinawan restaurant. JT and his lovley wife hooked us up with some amazing dishes as they spent time in Okinawa and knew the local dishes. One was a very bitter green circular veggie that when mixed with eggs was really good. We also had snake sake which was very tasty (cross between plum wine and strength of cognac). We all came back to our room and drank a bit more and chatted. One interesting moment at the end with a discussion about ryu and appropriateness. This discussion I think epitomizes some of the shogyu spirit forging(sp?) that I think we all feel but in different measure at different times. This is an interesting time for k. We can definitely feel this this week.

We had training early this morning. Felt pretty good about it. One spaniard mentioned my mawai was good. Not sure what that means. She is very nice and fun to train with. I always love working with other women. Just such a different feel. This afternoon we hung out in Narita and went shopping after a nice meal at a chinese restaurant. I ate some gyuza (sp-cant spell tonight). Haven[t eaten tha tmuch pork in a very long time, albeit it was only 3 bites or so, gyoza is small. Tonight is again hanging out with my fellow americans.... to again celebrate the Obama success! We were all waiting for the news yesterday and tried to find a tv or internet to check the numbers. It was during lunch yesterday when we heard the final numbers! The coverage and interest in the US here is amazing. They had a one page spread on a newspaper in our hotel announcing the winner. It is clearly a worldly issue. Everyone is releived that Obama won. So, I am off to help in the celebration tonight....:)

p.s. i have no idea which feeling I will pick as I can not read most of the screen as it is all in Japanese. So, pay no attention to the emotion below....

the festivities were quite yummy... we finished of a tasty bottle of sake. after fighting off a headache, the next morning, we headed off to kashima jingu. Just before we got to the big gate, KL took a left, near the hankypooh clock as one of our group pointed out. Down the alley, we came across the dojo that is associated with the shrine. KL wanted to take some photos of the outside. Two little ladies were sitting there and said something and motioned for us to go in.KL and i looked at each other in confused disbelief. After much more proding, one lady got up and took us to the door of the dojo and then opened it and guestured for us to go in. She turned

After having the fun of being locked down in the Seattle airport due to someone going throught the exit causing all flights to be delayed 30 minutes or so, I had an uneventful trip to Narita. Thankfully-especially after last year. I was beginning to think I was cursed with challenges in getting to Japan.

I sat next to a lovely older woman who was making her first trip to Japan with a tour group. She was so excited that she nearly cried when we landed. I did take some time to review some Tomiki articles that brought up tons of questions. After collecting my bags, getting through customs, which was incredibly smoother without having a mogito, I got on the hotel shuttle and arrived at the Mercure. Everyone was waiting in the lobby to head off to dinner. We went to a nice little place around the corner. We squashed into a small booth, all 12 of us, and enjoyed a whole slew of small dishes like an egg omlet with sauces on top (I thought it tasted like a mcd's hamburger - though keep in mind I haven't eaten one in 15 years), fried chicken, and gyoza, and, of course, beeru. We all retired to bed as we had to get up early to go to Tokyo for the culture day to watch the demos in Meiji park.

After a great japamerican buffet breakfast in the hotel, we hopped on the keisie train to Tokyo. I had a great time sitting next to PRss as I asked him about Tomiki. He knew him pretty well and we talked about the time period and what Tomiki was thinking. I wished (and PR wished aloud) that I was recording our conversation.

About Tokyo, I have to say, it was a bit underwelming downtown. I think I was expecting more like Beijing where there were lots of very tall buildings everywhere. I found out later that the area I was expecting is the business district. All the buildings in this area were mostly 3 or 4 stories. Meiji park was very beautiful and huge. The entrance is graced with an enormous wooden arch-quite awesome. There was a lot of people as it was culture day and they have a ceremony in the jingu. I immediately recognized the area for the martial arts demos as I had seen many videos with the same background. I felt it odd to actually be there in person. The demos were already started. The area was divided so that there were two groups going at the same time, which was great because you always had one that drew your interest. It was a smorgasport of japanese martial arts. Daito-ryu, koryu, aikido, shinto muso ryu, katori shinto ryu, manreoioaisdfndjnv ryu... etc. My impression overall was not being overly impressed. I will say that they were doing the demos deliberately slow and with strength as that seems to be the norm for these sorts of demos. I was particularly interested in the smr as there were two groups, one was Tokyo police and the other was kyushu. Both were very harsh and rough. The other demo of interest is the brandx ksr and ksr. I can't believe the brandx was there. I was quite shocked and appauled. It felt really dead. No target. I want to say, hello! what the hell are you doing? The ksr was great. Not much more to say. After the demo, we went to the martial arts store and then to dindin at a lovely noodle shop, after we spent some time in search of the shop. We were on a JG mission as he really wanted to go to this specific shop. Finally we found it, and partook of some great noodles. We had to hurry back as we had to meet everyone at the Ryokan.

So, as I expected week will be interesting. We met up with everyone at the ryokan. They had a two hr meeting with the result that we would split into two groups. We would be with the spaniards. While the vips met, we all chatted with the other groups. It was a nice get together, I wouldn't go so far as to say a party though.

We had the morning session this morning. It went well. I had one person who just really messed me up. I couldn't seem to remember what to do. Different timing, body movements, etc. and it just messed me up. PR said that I didn't have enough of the onion. Maybe. We came back and had lunch. I decided to take a nap, living dangerously as I had a hard time waking up. But, it helps in that everyone is in our room (I am sharing with some friends) partying... so with that, I better get to it. Kampai!

Yes, yet again, I will be trecking across the seas to our hombu. Although, this time, I will be flying direct (yipeee!), and I will be staying with good friends in a local hotel where I hope to be a bit warmer. It will probably also be helpful to be coming from a cooler climate, versus the 100 still degrees that I left last year to travel to Nipon.

I have decided that this trip is about the people, not as much as about practice or getting kata or anything else that I might but probably shouldn't expect. I am looking forward to meeting many new Europeans and seeing a few familiar faces. I also hope to get to Tokyo this time.

My bags are not yet packed, but I have some time still and I pretty much have everything in order, including my 4-legged children. Hi ho, hi ho, and away I gooooo....

Well, I can't believe it has been a week already! i am getting on the plane in about an hour for the long flight back to LA. Hopefully, it will be more direct and not through LV. It has been an amazing. The city of Narita is quiant and easy to get around in. Fukukawa san kindly gave me a ride in his mini-mini van to the Keisei station in order to take the train back to Narita airport. By the way, it costs more than 130yen. i ended up having to pay the clerk at the other side. The "document" only says how to get to the Ryokan and forgets to mention how to get back, like how much fare to get. The machines don't tell you the fare, you have to look it up and put in the right amount. I guessed and well, it was wrong. No worries.

I had many inquisitive security checks for my weapons case. They are serious about their swords leaving the country. Thankfully an iaito is not considered a sword. Key word here is mogito. Very important to remember. Ok, so it is off to my gate now. I have to take a little metro train to the outer terminal. Hi ho hi ho, it's off to LAX I go.

This post curtesy of Narita airports free internet. :)

Wow, what a week. I am tired, but happy. My big toe decided to call it quits 20 minutes before training was over. I felt bad for it. It was cold and abused, so I suppose I deserved the sharp pain and cramping. I am going to miss walking up the hill to catch the bus and the training all day, dinner at the Ryokan, which was fabulous last night. We had tempura and sushi. Yum! After dinner I decided to lay down to get warm (the Ryokan is not very warm) and the next thing I know I was zonked out. It was only about 8pm. I slept until 7am. okay, time is up. off to dinner.

...is a good thing when you are tired :) I slept in a bit, 6am. I went back to the jinku (shrine) to watch the daily ceremony again. I forgot to mention the playboy bunny guy. It is odd to see a person sitting in a holy place with a playboy bunny sweat track suit on. Bizarro.

Nice day today. I had san sin soba, aka veggie noodle soup for lunch. Training was great. Too many things to remember and think about. I also had a long chat with R sensei about life. Many things to ponder.

Dindin will be a fun shindig at the ryokan. Much imbuing of warm luxsure to be had. (can't spell that right.) anyway, off to enjoy the evening.

3:15am is early! I was worried that the cell phone wouldn't work, so I got up and called Budoka. It was no problem. The interview went for 1 hour and went pretty well. My potential future boss advanced me to the next interview phase which will be an in person interview in the office when i get back. So that is good news.

With my early wake up, it made for an especially long day! I just got back at 8:30 from training. Boy am I tired. Today, reaffirms my relief and happiness to have such wonderful teaching and training partners. We are so lucky!

Had lunch and sort of dinner at 7-11. Oh yum. Lots of rice and bananas. It was a great day and I will definitely sleep well....ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ