The Sojourn to Japan:
Although Sensei Ramon Lawrence has been to Japan many times, this trip along with 14 selected participants was the first for him as Head of Tamiya Ryu Iaijutsu Australia. I’m sure most people would agree that organising a holiday anywhere takes some effort, so organising 14 people two of whom came from Tasmania, and two from Geraldton can become a little bit tricky. Needless to say, coordinating all the fine details while communicating with Japan becomes a Herculean task and Sensei Ramon deserves a round of applause for all his hard work. His wife Norma deserves a medal for her endless patience. The following is an account of the event plus some tips, tricks and advice for anyone wishing to visit and train in Japan.
On to the said trip revisited
on a day to day basis:
DAY 1 SUNDAY 21-3-04
The West Australians arrived
at Perth airport intact replete with all accessories including swords.
One wife in particular had a job convincing her spouse that it would be
cold in Japan, as he appeared to be ready to land in the Gold Coast to
do a bit of surfing.
Sensei had duly advised
us prior to arriving, to place our swords within a 90-100mm poly pipe which
gave the check in ladies reason to make interesting inquiries. However
we all managed to board our flight and take off at about 22:10pm.
DAY 2 MONDAY 22-3-04
We arrived at Narita airport
at approximately 08:30 to find it was 6 degrees and after having one or
two swords checked through customs, and collecting the Taswegians (Les
and Christine) we caught the train to Tokyo.
We only had 13 minutes
to find the train to Shin Yokohama and after a getting directions we found
the platform and the train waiting for us. (Shinkansen Kodama 457)
# tip No.1 – Always book a seat before hand on the Shinkansen in a “No Smoking” carriage as you could cut the air with your sword in the smoking carriages.
# tip No.2 – Find the spot on the platform for your carriage number, (Yes, the trains always stop in the same spot), and be prepared to board very quickly as you only have what seems to be about a minute to get on. At the rear of the carriages is a small space that you can squeeze your luggage into, then find your seat, - the train will be moving by the time you sit down.
Usually young people are
the first ones to engage in conversation with foreigners as Jason discovered.
A particular young lady from Guam thought he looked like Bruce Willis,
so from then on he became Jason “Bruce” Anstey.
At Shin Yokohama we met
up with Sensei Ogawa (Kendo) who dutifully organised us and after walking
in the rain we booked into Maruyo – Inn Hotel.
# tip No.3 – Having one case with wheels is the way to go, as you can often find yourself walking a few blocks with all your gear. A small backpack is also a good idea.
Sensei Ramon and Jeri James did a “recce” with Ogawa San to see where the Dojo was and the rest of us recovered from the flight. Later in the day, those of us with the energy went off to Kamakura in an interesting circuitous route. We seemed to enjoy the station at Higashi – Kanagawa so we visited it “3 times”. In the end after changing trains at Ofuna we managed to arrive at Kamakura. It was extremely cold and wet so it was decided to make this visit short. This was the only time I was glad the yanks had built a McDonalds so near to the famous Kamakura tourist area, as my bladder and a few others would not have survived, - let’s not go there!
Many of us enjoy Japanese
food, but it always amazes me that you could find yourself eating spicy
Indian food cooked by Indian chefs speaking Japanese, and served by Japanese
waitresses while listening to Jazz music, as many of us found that first
night. It struck me as being somewhat incongruous. As Les often said, “Don’t
think black and white as something unexpected will always turn up”.
DAY 3 TUESDAY 23-3-04
This was the second free
day to do some sight seeing etc before the training started. The Asakusa
markets are an obligatory stop. It is here that you can purchase Obi, Yukata,
(a robe you find on the hotel beds), Kimono tops, and even the odd antique
like jitte or Tsuba. Be prepared to spend some time and Yen here. There
are eateries in and around the area and you can always find a subway nearby
to get home. Someone said there are about 270 subway stations just in Tokyo!
Sensei Ramon and Jeri
James as we all know enjoy buying books, and in Japan the only place to
buy the said books is in an English Book shop, or at least a book shop
that has an English section in it.
“Isn’t there a Tuttle
Book shop in Tokyo?” I heard someone say.
Those first timers in Japan and now Tokyo itself were about to find out how big the city was. After a “short jaunt” around the streets we found the repository of English martial arts books, whereupon Sensei found he could purchase one or two new books for his bookshelf in his office at home.
During the course of the morning Christine discovered a new use for stairs in the subways. She decided that because there were so many she should have a closer look. She accomplished this in the time honoured way by spraining her ankle and then sitting down to have a closer inspection.
Ian found a chemist and
a strange substance was procured and applied which then enabled Christine
to hobble along bravely with the rest of us. Lunch was had near the Kanda
Station and most of us arrived back at the hotel via the Nozomi Bullet
train. This is not covered by the J R Train pass, but we sneaked on anyway
and no one noticed.
DAY 4 WEDNESDAY 24-3-04
Mark and Kamil greeted everyone this morning after a rather bizzare evening. Mark went to bed earlyish and Kamil after a bit of socialising went to bed a little later. As Mark had left a courtesy light on for him to see, he dutifully turned the “light” off. They both awoke at 00:45 in stifling conditions. Mark in a confused state rang the switchboard and after a number of attempts in broken Japanese mixed with English a solution was arrived at. The desk advised that if it was too hot, simply open the window. After many frustrated attempts and by now very awake the window was opened. In the morning it was discovered that a certain room mate in an effort to be quiet made two attempts to turn off the light. The first of which was actually the heating control, - enough said!
Our actual awake time was 0630 to prepare for the first training day. Everyone left the hotel at 0800 and after travelling one train stop (Kikine-Shoen 200 yen) arrived at the Dojo early.
In an effort to impress Ueno and Shoji Sensei by being early, our attempt was curtailed by one grumpy Dojo attendant who was very keen to stick to the rules, because our booked time was 0900 and that was that!
Eventually the gate was
opened and we entered the foyer of the dojo area. This involved placing
umbrellas in a rack, removing shoes and placing them in a numbered pigeon
hole. From there one found a pair of plastic type slippers, (or toe shoes
because our feet are too big), and proceeded to the change rooms. This
particular one had coin operated lockers, - 100 yen refundable coin.
If you needed to go to the loo, you had to wear the first slippers to the entrance door and change into plastic loo slippers, and then reverse the procedure on exit. Be warned there are still a number of places that have the “Traditional squat” toilet system.
Ueno Sensei had arrived and found us in the change rooms. He greeted each one personally and then we caught up with him in the Dojo.
Warm up exercises were taken by Jeri James with instruction from Ramon Sensei and after a short time Ueno Sensei took over. After completing kata 1-5 Shoji Sensei also instructed us. During the course of the first training day we completed kata 1-11. Ueno Sensei seemed very happy with us.
The ladies were treated to shopping, sight seeing, lunch and foot massage courtesy of Mrs Fujii.
Training finished at 15:45 and after the return journey to the hotel Shoji Sensei invited all of us to tea in our hotel restaurant. Lot’s of fun and conversation was had including delicious food and beverages. Kamil and Mark were particularly taken, or was that distracted, by the table next to them. It seems that the young attractive ladies were celebrating the fact that one of their number was leaving her employer. Introductions were made and a number of photos taken. This was explained to Shoji San who immediately jumped up and took a good look at the girls in question. She then proceeded to have a long conversation with her friend (Ms Taniguchi), not sure what was going on there?
The Geraldton contingent
(Hanns and Cyd), enjoyed themselves being at the top of the table and as
it turned out seemed to be in that position throughout the trip, - who
did they pay off?
DAY 5 THURSDAY 25-3-04
Training again with Ueno and Shoji Sensei, and a little later with number two swordsman Ono Sensei (Hatchi dan – Kyoshi). He had a similar approach to Nagayama Sensei, - very free with information and always relating techniques to the “old times”. Ono San, is a policeman and has an engaging personality. He seemed to get on with us all without any trouble and we all warmed to him pretty quickly. He was impressed with our training so much so that he said he would review his personal training in light of what we did.
Our contingent now had two injured parties. Jason with a wrist injury and Christine who stoically continued training with her sprained ankle.
We were fortunate to have
Joshua (from Saratoga USA) who interpreted for us, although Ueno Sensei
seemed reluctant for him to catch up on occasions.
After completing all 11 Kata we were treated to an Embu by Ono Sensei. This included kata from the next scroll of Tamiya Ryu. Ueno Sensei also participated with an additional special kata that demonstrated the Shinto rite of cleansing or purifying an area in preparation for building.
We finished the day with
a special meal once again in our hotel restaurant provided by Shoji Sensei
for Ueno Sensei.
Norma arrived resplendent
in a Kimono made by Shoji Sensei and “wowed” us all. This was another enjoyable
evening.
# Tip No 4 – It’s worth
remembering that in the course of training, travelling, socialising and
eating people all react differently to tiredness. The dynamic of a large
group can change depending on how individuals react to events. Keep in
mind that there should be a lot of give rather than take to make things
run smoothly. If a situation develops take time to discuss this and arrive
at a mutual solution early rather than let the problem fester.
DAY NO.6 FRIDAY 26-3-04
Nagayama Sensei arrived and joined in with our training instruction. The ladies again like the day before, had free time. The main emphasis was to train for the Shinza (grading) so we all spent a great deal of time working on the finer points. Mark was concerned that his sageo would knot itself so Ono Sensei encouraged him by insisting that he did Reiho “eye balling” (using Metsuke) him at all times. It seemed Mark had less chance to worry about the sageo when he had the number two swordsman ensuring he didn’t lose his concentration!
In the evening the Fujii family took us all to China Town in Yokohama where we enjoyed a great meal and said farewell to Joshua.
Jerry Yee played mum at
our table and generally looked after Mark who decided that Jerry’s place
at the table had to be washed occasionally. (Amazingly he doesn’t drink
so what’s his excuse!)
Later we were treated
to a tour of the Chinese Museum, in what seemed to be a hexagonal building,
showing old clocks, photos, Kanji etc.
The ladies were able to
“dress up” in a traditional Chinese wedding dress!
DAY 7 SATURDAY 27-3-04
This was the day of our
Mount Fuji tour organised by Ogawa San accompanied by Yoko, Yoshimi, and
Yoshimi’s dad.
The first stop was at
the Gotemba Farm Tourist Resort at the base of Mount Fuji. There are some
amazing old thatch roof buildings, (containing some old swords and armour)
as well as tame koi fish in the lake. As you walk around the area you can
also buy all kinds of food including snacks, as well as clothing etc.
Then on to Lake Kawaguchi
to Robata Yaki, a type of open pit BBQ for lunch. There was a great deal
of smoke but the food was delicious, including trout, chicken, quail, corn,
udon (wide) noodles and vegetables.
Those of us who had been
before were hanging out for the Onsen (hot spring baths) and we were not
disappointed. What could be better than sitting in a hot spring looking
out over Mount Fuji in pristine weather? I’m sure Ogawa San organised the
magnificent conditions.
Kamil was very excited and in the carpark managed to make a credible snow-samurai.
This was not the end of our tour. We were delighted to visit the Shiraito Falls (white thread falls). This was an extremely picturesque location with a very wide high water fall cascading into a rather deep blue “pond”.
On the way back Yoko San was cornered by the lads (Jeri and Ian) in the back of the bus and Kamil was dismayed that he was not included in the conversations. Oh well better luck next time Kamil!
DAY 8 SUNDAY 28-3-04
The big Shinza day.
Shoji San arranged for
us to catch the early train to Odawara and then into 4 taxis to the Dojo.
Training commenced at
1000 with a break for lunch at 1200.
Initially we did individual training but later after a general get together where some officials talked to us we trained with Soke’s son, Kazuo Sensei 7th Dan. A certain American woman who shall remain nameless, (Dianne wife of Michael Alexanian of Michigan Tamiya Ryu) was so annoying that we agreed she would be on our hit list, - also had some input into our training. Eventually she realised we knew more than we were letting on and backed off.
After lunch there was a bit more training, then we were numbered and put into rows for the grading. At the completion of the grading procedure it appears that a number of Japanese Sensei were impressed with our skill levels and understanding of ettiquete. Two Sensei we had not met before came and congratulated us.
Ueno, Shoji and Ono Sensei acknowledged our efforts and indicated that we had all passed Shodan, and Ramon Sensei had passed his Yon dan.
After another “short Jaunt” (the ladies had “apparently” found a “short cut”) we located the train station.
# tip No 5 - Always
remember to be aware in the grading Dojo that other people you have not
met are looking at your behaviour and performance not just in Iaido, as
this will then reflect on your Sensei.
On arriving back in Shin
Yokohama we had a farewell meal with Shoji and Nagayama Sensei and along
with Shoji’s student Toma we saw them off to the station. Yes, even the
Japanese can get confused with the ticket system as Nagayama Sensei found
out after buying the wrong tickets, much to the embarrassment of Shoji
Sensei.
DAY 9 MONDAY 29-3-04
Our next appointment was for the train to Himeji and the only tickets we could get were in a smoking carriage. After an attempt to board an unreserved no smoking carriage we all gave up and with gear everywhere most of us managed to find seats all over the place. Actually it’s not that bad standing inbetween carriages for a little while as the conversations and experiences can be enjoyable.
# tip No 6 - Always keep your rail Pass and tickets handy as the inspector will always catch up with you and check them. Also keep them handy when you make your way through the check points within the stations. Often you can just flash them and make your way around with some speed.
Arriving in Himeji we located the Sunroute Hotel much to the bemusement of the Taxi director. “Why do you want a taxi, it’s just around the corner!”
After a short recovery time Mr Terada from Koei Bogudo invited us to his store. We engaged three taxis and after much discussion we couldn’t quite find it. A few of us cornered various unsuspecting individuals and eventually found the establishment. If you are into Kendo this is the place, but if not you can still purchase very good hakama and Iaidogi.
Three taxis later we were back in Himeji CBD. All of us at this point went our separate ways, including walks, tea, train bookings and finding an Internet cafe. Jillian and Peter were always keen to catch up with the news from home and to see if everyone was behaving.
# tip No 7 - If you want your name in kanji make sure you get someone you can trust to ensure your name is put into Kanji correctly. The shop will literally do as you ask as Peter found out. He wanted his name on his hakama and that is what they did, - but in English.
# tip No 8 - It is possible
to locate an internet cafe by asking at the desk of the hotel. Some cafes
require membership which doesn’t cost a lot. They usually ask to see your
passport as I.D. and where you are staying. Some divide the booths into
smoking and no smoking but generally the smoke goes everywhere.
You can also burn discs
at these places which is useful if you have down-loaded your digital pics
at the local photographic shop and you want to give someone a copy.
DAY 10 TUESDAY 30-3-04
Those of us who were keen to sight see set off early to Hiroshima station and then by suburban rail to Miyajima Island. It was unfortunately wet all day but it was still worth the visit. It was another very beautiful place with the cherry blossoms in full bloom and the deer being , - well, deer.
In amongst the temples we happened across a wedding which was a very formal occasion with all the main players looking very serious. Fortunately the bridesmaids leapt at the chance to be photographed by the good looking Gaigin.
Mark convinced Kamil, Jillian and Peter to be adventurous and they hiked up to a small Pagoda which overlooked the main tourist area giving full view to the Tori gate in the bay.
Somehow Les and Christine
were the only ones to be individuals and they went left when the rest of
us went right and by the time we left the island they couldn’t be found.
They had come all the way from Tasmania so we knew they wouldn’t get lost!
Although by the time we arrived in Hiroshima again we were a bit concerned.
The Hiroshima park, Peace
Dome and Museum are well worth a visit, if for nothing else but a very
sobering experience.
Some of us enjoyed Tea
at the Caspian, a Persian (Iraq / Iran) Restaurant. A pleasant time was
had by all.