Over the last two years, we’ve collected a large garbage bag full of “sensitive” paper documents that we need to dispose of in a secure manner. Before this began to build up, we had purchased an inexpensive paper shredder from one of the office supply stores. That was fine for a while, but once we began to clean up old papers to prepare to move into our house, the pile quickly outgrew what we could destroy with that little shredder.

So, we toted the garbage bag to the new house where we have continued to add to the pile. I’ve thought about building a fire and burning this in our back yard, but it’s actually illegal to have a fire outside of a grill or something like that. We considered purchasing a [url=http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infxtra/infchiminea.shtm]chiminea[/url] that we could use during the summer and I figured we could just burn the stuff in there. I’m not sure if that would have worked or not.

Anyway, I was doing some searching for local personal document shredding services when I ran across [url=http://www.expressdestruction.com]Express Destruction Shredding Service[/url]. This is an inexpensive way to destroy your personal documents in a relatively safe and secure manner. They have a good FAQ that explains why they are secure enough for the average consumer.

I think we’re going to give these guys a try so that we can finally get that ugly bag of paper out of our office!

It’s been a long night of cleaning stuff out in the babies’ room. We probably could have begun a bit sooner, but I guess we didn’t realize just how much we had to move. The big issue right now is determining where my clothes are going since we had my dresser in that room. We’re throwing a lot away, but our probem is finding storage space for everything that is staying.

We had an appointment with Robyn’s doctor on Monday afternoon. She was very good about soothing any fears that we had about the cervical issues saying that everything looked good. She didn’t recommend bed rest or anything like that, but did, to Robyn’s delight, ask when she wanted to stop working and recommended that she plan on stopping sometime in the next few weeks.

In the evening, we had a tour of [url=http://www.saintclares.org/services/MaternalChild/KatenaProducts.asp]St. Clare’s maternity ward[/url]. It’s a small hospital that just opened a new maternity area. The rooms were beautiful and quite large. The staff was very helpful in explaining where to go and what to do when the time comes. The whole event made us both more excited and the reality of the situation become a bit more clear. The babies were kicking during the “lecture” part of the tour, so they must have been excited, too!

Today was Monday, May 22nd. Once again, I awoke early – even after being rather tired from the adventure of the day before. I lounged around in my room until it was time to leave for Shiraishi sensei’s class at 9am. The day was sunny and quite warm as I walked with Jay Zimmerman and his “crew” over to Honbu. I worked once again with the guy who was hanging out with Jay – I wish I could remember his name, but I just don’t remember!

After training, I went back to the inn and showered in order to meet Mark O and a few other folks at a small pub-style restaurant near Jusco at 1pm. I was the first to arrive and when I mentioned that I was meeting Mark there, they ushered me into one of the tatami rooms to wait. I was surprised to see SS (you can figure this out…go on…give it a try!) arrive shortly after, followed closely by Cathy, Paul, Greg and Paul’s student Glenn and then Mark. We sat, chatted and ate a tasty, inexpensive lunch.

After saying my goodbyes to Mark, I made the short walk to Mr Donut to meet Roger and Lauren. From there we spent a couple of hours wandering around Jusco. I picked up a few more gifts and another shirt or two until I had to leave to head to Umesatou to meet Ted for dinner before the evening’s training.

I hopped the train for one stop south and waited for Ted at the station. While waiting, I observed a gaggle of high school girls who were also waiting for some cohorts. I found it interesting to see that four of the five were wearing their school uniforms while the fifth wore her “normal” clothes. I put that in quotes because she was dressed quite provocatively and had that strange makeup that many of the girls were wearing now. The look consists of some kind of silvery stuff applied to the bridge of the nose as well as other bright eye makeup on top of her tanned face and wild, highlighted hair. I guess it’s a take-off on the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganguro]ganguro[/url] thing from a few years ago.

Ted showed up after a bit and we walked down to a Chinese restaurant that he had never tried before. It was a nice place, not at all like most Chinese restaurants here in the States. This was more like a Denny’s or Friendly’s or something like that. Very clean and restaurant-like. We ordered what we could figure out on the menu and chatted about life in Japan, training, etc. The food was great. Probably closer to real Chinese dishes than we can get here. Having plenty of time before we needed to leave to get to Someya sensei’s class, we talked a lot and had some dessert as well.

After arriving at the Someya dojo and getting changed, we were greeted by Jay and his crew and the Croation group again. There was also a guy named Larry who had been living in Japan for 10+ years who seemed to be a regular at Someya’s classes and acted as the translator for the evening. Class began and we went through the series of basic ukemi with which Someya likes to begin. All rolls were done on the hardwood floor (the mats had been stacked away in the corner just the week before for summer) and I was reminded of the weaknesses of my ukemi. Sensei then had us work on a different way of getting up from our rolls in order to dodge an incoming shinai. That was fun and enlightening as well. Then we moved on to [i]san shin no kata[/i] and [i]kihon happou[/i] done with a partner. From there, we worked on [i]Musan[/i] from SFR for the majority of the evening. The night ended with some [i]kenjutsu[/i]. After we got changed, we all sat down for some tea while getting a chance to chat and look around the doujou. I spoke with Larry until it was time to go. Larry was nice enough to give several of us a lift back to the station in his brand new minivan.

I hopped the train back to Noda-shi. Called and spoke with Robyn for a while and then went to the inn and hit the sack.

We had another ultrasound today. Everything with the babies looked great. They were both now head-down (no longer in breech position) which is good news. That could always change, but it’s better to be there than head-up. Both babies were growing as normal and it was estimated that they weight about 1.5 pounds each or so. They’re probably about 12 inches long already.

Unfortunately, they were both facing towards Robyn’s back, so it was impossible to get any good “pictures” with the ultrasound. The tech was able to see everything that she needed to, but no great photo opps! Oh well! We did see them kicking at each other during the ultrasound though. Maybe we have two little future ninja in there! It’s amazing to watch them. They’re very active, even though Robyn does not always feel them move.

Besides the babies, they also check out Robyn’s situation. Her cervix was a bit shortened, so they are going to keep an eye on it. If it gets any shorter, they may prescribe bed rest. We have to go back in two weeks to get that checked out.

Today was Sunday, May 21st. Another early morning! I spent my time before walking to over to Honbu reading and stretching. Arriving at the dojo, I changed, paid for class and began talking to Lauren and Roger who showed up soon after I did. As we were chatting, I spied Ted walking in and we exchanged greetings. Peter Crocoll had invited me to train with him for Nagatou sensei’s class and Cathy joined in as well.

Nagatou began class by saying that Souke had asked him to continue last year’s theme by teaching Gyokko ryuu. He laughed as he explained that there is “some connection” between Gyokko ryuu and Shinden Fudou ryuu, but he wasn’t clear on exactly what the connection is. So, we jumped into training right away with Kettou from Gyokko ryuu. The basic form was followed by variation after variation and the class was over in no time!

Hatsumi sensei’s class was next. In the break between classes, I met Craig, Duncan and Danny and sat for a bit to talk with Ted about his experiences living in Japan over the past few months. I was shown the spot where Stephen Hayes’s name plaque had hung on the wall until the week before I arrived and spent some time looking for names I recognized. Souke’s class was actually quite simple – first focusing on striking naturally and then on a fairly straightforward movement to avoid the uke’s punch and control.

After class, Ted and I made plans to meet on Monday for dinner and Someya sensei’s class. Lauren and Roger and I then walked back to Azusa, cleaned up and hopped on a train to Kashiwa in order to go down to Asakusa for the day. Negotiating the train stations and numerous different lines seemed easier this time around. Maybe I was more sure of myself or maybe I recognized more kanji than on my first visit. I impressed myself with my recall of the language while asking some fairly complicated questions about how late the trains ran and the like.

There was a lot to see in Asakusa due to today being the last day of the spring festival. In addition to a large number really drunk people, Tokyo’s largest temple, Sensou-ji, resides here. Our first order of business was to find some food. We eventually settled on a [i]kaitenzushi[/i] (“rotating sushi”) place that looked good. This is the kind of place where the customers sit at a kind of square “bar” wrapped around the guys making the sushi. Small plates of one or two pieces of sushi are placed on a conveyor belt that moved around the bar. As a plate of sushi comes by that looks appetizing comes by, you pull it down and enjoy. The color of each plate corresponds to a price displayed on the wall. At the end of the meal, the waitress counts up your plates and totals your bill. My first plate was some of the best tuna sushi I’d ever had. From there, I chose lower priced items as it would have been an expensive meal if I had eaten more.

After having some lunch, Lauren, Roger and I headed down towards Sensou-ji where the majority of the action seemed to be going on. Between the large main gate and the main hall on the temple grounds is a long, narrow street lined with small shops selling every kind of trinket that a tourist (Japanese or non-Japanese) might want. We perused the shops while making our way down the crowded street. It was a great place to pick up small gifts to take home to friends and family.

Once we got through the tourist traps, we approached the main hall. We were greeted by a huge crowd standing on the steps leading up to the doors. They all stood facing back down from where we had just come like they were expecting some important diety, or more likely, a movie star to follow us onto the grounds. I assumed that these were all folks who had arrived early enough to secure good “seats” for the coming festival-ending parade – but I weren’t sure. With our curiosity piqued, we followed the line of people off to the left side. After climbing under and through the barriers that had been set up to keep people from going this way, we found that this was the “entrance” to the rest of the temple grounds.

We spent the next couple hours wandering around and taking in the sights, sounds and fragrances of the festival vendors. There were games for kids and adults, plenty of places selling alcohol, and almost every kind of food imaginable. I was a little bummed out that we had just eaten because some of the stalls were selling these HUGE [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okonomiyaki]okonomiyaki[/url] that looked really tasty. I promised myself that I would stop somewhere along the way and get one, but that chance never materialized. There was too much to see and it was a very cool experience.

As the sun went down, more and more people started to head back towards the front of the main hall where the crowd was hanging out on the stairs. Taking their cue, we did the same and we found the main street that we had come in on was now fenced off and police were making sure no one got into that area. It was now obvious that there was going to be some kind of performance or parade or something. As we stood along with the rest of the crowd, waiting for something to happen, we started to talk to the (mostly Japanese…d’uh!) people around us. Some people were curious and said hello while others sort of kept their distance from the three of us. As more and more people showed up, space got tight and we were standing closer and closer to people. Eventually, we started talking with a Japanese guy in his late 20s. He asked us where we were from and where we were staying and we asked him where he lived. Turns out the guy was from Asakusa, but his friend was from Kashiwa. Once the people around us found out we were from the NY/NJ area, they started saying “Yankees” and “Matsui-san”. It was pretty cool. Our new friend also explained all about what was going on at the temple that day – how the old shrine would be taken out and the new shrine would be marched around and brought into the main hall of the temple. He explained that the people carrying the shrine shout “wash-oi wash-oi!” as they hoist it. He was very helpful and friendly (even if he did say that I looked a bit like Akebono!) and I wish I could remember his name now!

We caught glimpses of the shrine as it made it’s way around the far side of the temple grounds, but it never seemed to come close to where we were. Eventually, the three of us decided that it was time to start heading back to the train station to avoid the rush once the festivities were over. So, we bid our new friend goodbye and started looking for the train station. We continued to walk around the area until we finally found the station after asking a few people along the way.

The ride back was uneventful and quiet as we were all tired from walking around and the day’s earlier training. We met up with some Bujinkan guys from Croatia on the train back to Noda, but we didn’t say much as they weren’t speaking English and we were drifting in and out of sleep. Once back in Noda, I called Robyn and then went back to Azusa and hit the sack.

I felt the babies kick for the first time tonight.

We were sitting on the couch watching TV and Robyn gave an excited “wooh!” as one of the babies moved around. Her hand went to her stomach and she said “I think I just felt the babies move from the outside!” I quickly reached over and placed by palm on her abdomen and waited. Within a few seconds, her whole belly trembled and we looked at each other in surprise and began to giggle.

Amazing!

Today was Saturday, May 20th. I awoke early and laid in bed reading and watching Japanese TV for a while. Eventually, I went downstairs and took a bath and went to the [i]conbini[/i] (convenience store) down the street to get some coffee and something for breakfast. After returning to the inn, I ate and prepared my stuff for Senou sensei’s class at 11am. I met up with Eric and we walked over to Honbu. It was a very sunny and very warm and humid day. I broke a sweat just getting to training! I was happy to see far fewer people at the dojo this morning as that would allow us to actually take our training partners down to the ground.

Senou sensei’s class was good. Eric and I worked together as it would be our last chance before he left Noda-shi to head to Tokyo for the remainder of his stay in Japan. I was a bit surprised that Senou did not seem very interested in actually helping anyone out. He would show the particular technique and give some insights, but not specifically address anyone. It was still excellent training! There was no designated interpreter at this class so I found myself in the position of helping to determine what Senou sensei was trying to get across to us all from time to time. It was fun and I found that my Japanese was actually quite serviceable.

After class, Eric and I walked back to Azusa, stopping along the way to get some well deserved drinks (a bottle of Aquarius is an excellent post-training drink!). I needed to grab an extra shirt for Oguri sensei’s class at 2pm, so we said our goodbyes and I left to go back to Honbu.

Oguri sensei’s class was very enjoyable. He seemed much more interested in helping us out and was very free about demonstrating his techniques on each of the students in attendance. I worked with an Australian gentleman named Ian who was an excellent uke. As the end of the class approached, I found I was getting really tired and dehydrated so I decided not to attend an additional class in the evening. After class, I chatted for a bit with Peter Crocoll and we made plans to train together at Nagatou sensei’s class the next day. I also met Richard Malouf and talked for a bit about his translations and training.

I walked back to Azusa in the downpour that began just as I crossed the tracks by Atago station and took another bath and a short nap. After a while, the rain stopped and the clouds seemed to break a bit so I walked over to Jusco to look for some gifts to take home and to get some food.

There were some cool, inexpensive t-shirts with great non-sensical phrases in English. I was laughing out loud at some of the weirdness on these shirts. I picked up a few as gifts and one great t-shirt for myself. Of course, the Japanese LL size corresponds to about a medium here in the States, so I wasn’t sure if my “totemo happy” (very happy) shirt would fit me or not. I bought it knowing that I could always give it as a gift. I stopped at the food court and got an order of curry rice and then an order of gyouza (dumplings) on my way out.

I spent then night at the inn taking notes, watching TV and relaxing. I fell asleep around 9pm and then got up around 10 to walk to the station so I could call Robyn. It was a chilly, clear night so the short walk back was enjoyable.

The sun rises very early this time of the year in Japan. Since there is no daylight savings time, the sun was coming up at about 4:30 AM. Having forgotten to close my room-darkening curtains, I awoke early and was up and moving around by about 7:30. I watched some television and then got ready to go out. Eric and I walked over to the Mr. Donut behind Jusco and had coffee and donuts for our first breakfast in Japan. I highly recommend Mr. Donut’s donuts as they are light and much tastier than the typical donut fare in the States. From there, we headed out into the misty morning air to look around town.

Our first stop was the D2 home center store. It’s a great place to purchase jika tabi (rubber-soled split toe “shoes” that we wear for outdoor training). They have all kinds – even the steel reinforced toe! I quickly picked up a pair of Riki-O tabi for 1,550 yen as Eric looked at the huge selection of shoes made with gardening and outdoor use in mind. We perused the rest of the store admiring the large selection of interesting tools and home products. I could have dropped some serious cash in that place, but I held back and just picked up a slightly larger pair of indoor slippers for use at Azusa (the ones provided by the inn – and most other public places in Japan – are waaaay too small for my feet) for a couple hundred yen.

From there, we headed over to an electronics store not unlike Circuit City here in the US so that Eric could look for a replacement for the headphones for his MP3 player. There was nothing particularly unusual in the store besides a huge assortment of rice cookers. They came in all shapes and sizes with varying levels of automation and prices from 8,000 yen to 39,999. From what I could tell, the shape of a grain of cooked rice is very important to the Japanese consumer. I was also surprised by the number of health-related items that were available. There were tons of little gadgets designed to monitor your heartrate, temperature, nutrient levels, weight, body fat, etc, etc. Some of them seemed kind of cool, but they were all expensive.

Eric purchased his new headphones and we walked back toward Atago station via the main road in Noda. It was pretty busy and the rain was starting to fall a little harder so we turned back towards the hotel. As we walked along, we ran into the Toys R Us and Sports Authority that cohabitate in a single building just up the street from Jusco. We walked around the Sports Authority for a while looking for high quality toe socks and Japan-specific sportswear. Amazingly, the US baseball teams seem to sell a LOT more gear in Japanese Sports Authority stores than do Japanese teams. I wasn’t able to find any interesting Japanese team hats. Eric, however, was intrigued by the exapnsive offerings in the camping section – especially the collapsible titanium chopsticks! Very 007.

After returning to our rooms, we exchanged our heavier and now slightly soggy clothing for more appropriate to the now mostly sunny skies. Once again, we left the hotel and walked to Eric’s favorite soba (noodle) shop near Hatsumi sensei’s office. On the way, I had Eric take the obligatory photo of me in front of the building.

The [url=http://japanesefood.about.com/od/beef/a/aboutsukiyaki.htm]sukiyaki[/url] at the sobaya came well recommended and was indeed very tasty! When we first entered the establishment (“irrashaimase!”), there were no western-style tables available, so we were seated on the raised tatami area. Unfortunately, we had to sit cross-legged with our legs under the table. After the previous day’s long flight and walking around town all morning, this was not the most comfortable seat in the house. Luckily, soon after we sat, one of the other customers left and I asked the waitress if we could move to a table where we could better enjoy our luch.

From there, we stopped at a stationary store to pick up some calligraphy paper in hopes that Sensei would be offering his art at class. Then it was on to the famous tabi shop just down the street. I could spend a lot of cash in this place, but I held myself in check and got only what I needed – some 30cm tabi for myself and a pair of size 26 for Geo. They also carried some very cute children’s [i]jikatabi[/i] that I was tempted to pick up for our unborn twins, but the thought of trying to jam their little feet into these tabi made me think better of it.

Next stop was [url=http://simonf.fotopic.net/c270087.html]Atago shrine[/url] (click the link for someone else’s photos) in the center of Noda to look around and take some photos. It’s a nice temple/shrine, but I found that it looked a little run down and unkept. I guess maybe it’s not as well supported as it has been in the past. I am pretty sure that Stephen Hayes used to suit up in his training uniform and take photos around this temple because a lot of the spaces looked familiar to me the first time I came here in ’97.

After paying our respects, we walked back to Azusa and both Eric and I decided that we needed some sleep. I cranked up the air conditioning and sacked out for a couple of hours until it was time to get my stuff together for training with Hatsumi sensei at the Honbu dojo. Later, we walked over to Jusco to grab some food and then back to the inn where we dined outside. The weather had turned drier with a nice breeze and the sky cleared.

Soon, we were on our way over to the dojo. There were, of course, a large number of people in attendance mainly due to a group of about 20 people from Italy who sat in seiza along one entire side of the dojo. I recognized and said hello to a few people and chatted with [url=http://www.arizonabujinkan.org]Peter Crocoll[/url] (from Arizona) for a bit before settling in and stretching out a bit. As 7pm approached, I started to feel a bit ill (maybe that dinner was too much?) and the closeness and heat of the dojo didn’t seem to help much, but as Sensei entered and class began, I felt okay.

Souke started off with some [i]suwariwaza[/i] (seated techniques) from Shinden Fudou Ryuu and I found myself training with a Spanish gentleman who didn’t seem to speak any English, so our communication was in Japanese! heheheheh. Of course, within the first 15 minutes of class, we had done 3 or 4 different techniques. Now my stomach was starting to hurt again….The only thing running through my mind was “I have to get to the bathroom…stat!” And then my thoughts turned to the fact that I didn’t want to stink up the bathroom at Honbu or miss a bunch of Souke’s class. Once Hatsumi sensei had shown his next point and shouted “Play!” I excused myself from my training partner and made my way through the crowd (past Oguri sensei, Noguchi sensei, Shiraishi sensei, Pedro Fleitas, etc) and to the small bathroom. I did my business in the most ninja-like fashion (quietly) and timed my flushes to the noise outside in the dojo.

Feeling much better, I emerged (how could a small dojo packed with 80 people feel so much cooler than that bathroom?), washed my hands and quietly headed back to training. I found my training partner and we continued with class. I was much more focused on training now. The rest of the class went quickly and was thoroughly enjoyable.

Towards the end of training, Souke had Senou sensei demonstrate a series of movements. First empty-handed, then with [i]shukou[/i] (hand claws) and finally Sensei handed Senou a tea cup and said “now do it with this.” The shihan did the same movement with the cup as a weapon and Hatsumi sensei said “okay” and took the cup back. As he was talking about being able to use anything as a weapon, he deftly rolled the cup down his arm, popped it up off of his elbow and back into his hand like he had spent hours practicing this. In addition, he showed how one could hold the cup to easily spray one’s opponent with hot liquid. Continuing to talk as he faced the entrance to the dojo, Souke suddenly threw the cup behind him towards one of the seated students in the rear corner of the dojo. As the cup spun on its seemingly missile-like trajectory towards this guy’s face, it was caught by Yabunaka-san less than two feet before striking its target.

Yabunaka-san looked very surprised that he had managed to catch the cup in time and the dojo fell silent for a few seconds before erupting into laughs. I think there was certainly a lesson in both the throw and the catch.

After class, I called Robyn from the payphone at Atago station and walked back to Azusa. After taking a bath and trying to jot down some notes, I quickly fell asleep.

Geo showed up early and drove me to the airport. Got to EWR more than two hours before my flight and since I had done the whole electronic check in on the web the night before, there was no delay in checking my bag. I grabbed some breakfast from one of the many places in the Continental terminal and sat by the window to watch the ground crews ready the huge Boeing 777 for the long trip.

After about an hour or so, boarding began and after I made call to Robyn and my mom, we were off. The flight was fully booked, so I was sitting next to someone. I’m very glad I made the choice of an aisle seat as I needed to get up a few times for bathroom breaks and to walk around and stretch my legs over the course of the long flight. Luckily, there are plenty of entertainment options available to passengers on the 777, so I was never really bored. The last couple of hours dragged by because my ass felt like a lead sheet by this time.

We landed in Narita on time and were greeted with low visibility and rain. After disembarking, all the passengers were funneled through immigration, then baggage claim and finally customs. I changed the majority of my dollars to yen and I was off to find a phone to call Robyn and let her know I had arrived safely. I was glad to find that the MoshiMoshi card that Joe had given me still had a few minutes available and was easy to use from any of the public airport phones. After speaking with a sleepy Robyn, I lugged my stuff downstairs to the transportation area of the airport.

I had printed out Darren Horvath’s directions to get from Narita to Noda-shi, but there was some kind of issue with the local trains from Narita airport to Narita station so I ended up getting on the wrong train at first. One stop up, then one back to where I was and some very confused non-English-speaking transit police with the aid of a very nice English-speaking Japanese woman, pointed me in the direction of the right train. At Narita station, it’s a bit of a walk over the JR station to pick up the train from there to Abiko – especially dragging my suitcase, training bag and backpack.

Oh yeah…did I mention that I overpacked?

Hopped on the JR Noda Line train at Narita and relaxed for the ride through the countryside. It’s quite rural in this part of Japan. Lots of rice fields and large farm houses interspersed with the sights of modern Japan – 7-11s, Lawsons and Sports Authority. It would be interesting to spend some time in those small towns. I wish I had taken some photos from the train. It was easy to imagine that this area had seen little change in the last 100 years or so.

After arriving at Abiko, I transferred to one more train to stop at Kashiwa where I met Eric as I was purchasing the ticket for my last hop up to Noda-shi. I had emailed once or twice with Eric per Lauren’s suggestion as we would be arriving on the same day and about the same time. I guess we foreigners stand out in a crowd as Eric just walked up behind me and said “Are you Don?”. We chatted during the train ride from Kashiwa and walked together from the station to the Azusa ryokan. Luckily, Eric had been in Japan late last year, so he knew the route for our short walk.

As we passed one of the small intersections just before the inn, I heard someone call my name. I turned to see Mark O. We chatted for a couple of minutes and made some loose plans to get together over the next few days. I marvelled at what a truly small world we live in as Eric and I continued on to the hotel and checked in. Once we were shown to our rooms, I did a little unpacking and we decided to head out to get some food and groceries for the stay.

The rain had mostly stopped so the walk to Jusco was pleasant. Memories of my last visit surfaced as we walked the familiar road past the now fenced off wooded area adjacent to the Jusco department store. I noticed that a Sports Authority and a Toys R Us were just down the street as well. We first perused the ready made foods and then made a trip to the food court to get some dinner. I had my favorite – gyuudon (shredded beef and onions over rice) while Eric had the katsu curry that he had missed since his last trip. After that, we each purchased some groceries and headed back to the hotel to get ready for Noguchi sensei’s class at 8pm at the Hombu.

Last time I was in Japan, the Hombu Dojo had not yet been built. I was amazed at just how small the building is. Once inside, one can imagine how crowded Souke’s classes must get! More than anything, I was taken with how comfortable the dojo feels. It’s not an austere building with museum pieces hanging from the walls (although some of the yari mounted above the training area do appear to be museum quality), instead there is a feeling of a well used gymnasium where each item is meant to be used. People freely grab training weapons from the walls and piles in each corner of the room as others volunteer to help light the many candles on the kamiza in front of the training area.

Noguchi sensei’s class was a great, somewhat frustrating re-introduction to training in Japan. We must have done 10 or 15 different movements that night. Some were seemingly unrelated, while others were obviously variations on the same theme. I’m glad that I managed to take some notes after returning to my room that night and before falling into a deep sleep.