This article was written for posterity and translated for Akamine sensei. It was posted to the Matsumura Seito Karate-do Hozonkai homepage.
September 13, 2019 / Friday
It’s important to know that there are peaceful moves in the kata; the beginning of kusanku is raising your hands in apology, to show you aren't a threat before bringing your hands together in a mudra similar to the buddha. You then acknowledge your opponents to the sides with a gentle kamae, but it's not till the the 5th...
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This article was originally posted to The Matsumura Seito Karate-do Hozonkai Homepage.
September 12, 2019 / Thursday
Well, today is my birthday. I should probably do something to celebrate. Work and train like normal? Sure why not. The ride into the dojo has been getting quicker, I'm down to 30-40 minutes now that I found the right route. Got to the dojo and changed. Kōya, sensei’s tall grandson, was playing around upstairs. I asked about his training, and he'd been doing it for seven...
September 11, 2019 / Wednesday
I arrived a little early and Akamine Sensei showed me some of his photos. Some were of his students that visited, some of himself and Soken Sensei, including a photo of Sensei when he came to Akamine's wedding; clearly the men shared a deep bond and Akamine Sensei has a great affection for his teacher he carries long after his master passed away back in 1982, at the age of 93. I realized that much like how my friend Hiro means his wife when he uses "she" or...
Karate Training with Akamine Sensei - Okinawa 2019
Below are my notes from a month of training with Shihan Yoshimatsu Akamine, a direct student of Sensei Hohan Soken and head of the Shorinryu Matsumura Seito Karate-do Hozon-kai Honbu. September 10 to October 5, 2019. I hope they prove to be of benefit, and inspiration for every karateka interested in the hidden roots of Shorin-ryu...
Yesterday, @Maciamo and I met up on Ginza to revisit the Marunouchi District. Both of us hadn't been there in many years. It is quite amazing how many extraordinary places you can see and visit within the radius of just two kilometres!
Unfortunately, I had only my iPhone 6 to shoot photos. A few impressions below:
The Hermès building in Marunouchi. There used to be a Sony building adjacent to it, which has obviously been replaced with some underground art space or gallery.
The Tokyo...
Myōjin-ga-take (明神ヶ岳) is a wonderful one-day hike in the Hakone region west of Tokyo that covers a distance of roughly 10 kilometres and offers stunning vistas, a venerable temple surrounded by old cedar forests and a friendly onsen resort to regenerate from your hike.
Maciamo and I had been planning this hike for a quite a while, and on 3 November (Culture Day) we climbed aboard a train that would take us to Odawara.
How to get to Myōjin-ga-take:From JR Shinagawa Station take any JR...
So on the 11th of Nov. 2019, we went to Mojiko in Kita Kyushu. There was a big flea market there, but I can't locate the pictures on my phone, but here are a few with my camera at Mojiko Station.
Mojiko Station
She looks happy!
First time I ever drank coffee at Starbucks, and it sucked. 290 yen for muddy water. I also think it took away the real history of this train station. You won't find a Kentucky Fried Chicken or a McDonald's here.
The front of the station looks like it had a...
Biwako Terrace (びわ湖テラス) is located in Biwako Valley (びわ湖バレイ), a mountain resort in Ōtsu City, Shiga Prefecture.
The terrace café lies in the Hira Mountains (比良山地), on Mount Uchimi, at an altitude of 1,103 metres and offers a spectacular view over Lake Biwa. Visitors can access Biwako Valley by taking a glass-covered cable car from Kido (木戸市) on the western shore of Biwako, close to Shiga Station (志賀駅) on the Kosei Line (湖西線).
The café consists of "The Main" building with two terraces...
I'll first start by saying I came to Okinawa via the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War. I was stationed at Kadena Air Base and then after some time was transferred to Yokota Air Base outside of Tachikawa, at least I always thought so. Didn't have a map at that time.
When getting my assignment to go over seas, I knew it would be an adventure, well, not really if I were to be going to South Vietnam. I did get to Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan and of course, Okinawa.
I'd like to...
The Father of Japanese Capitalism
Shibusawa Eiichi. entrepreneur and business leader during the Meiji and Taishō periods
Shibusawa Eiichi (渋沢 栄一, 1840-1931) was born in the village of Chiaraijima in modern-day Saitama Prefecture. Although Shibusawa's family consisted of small farmers with only a few hectares of land, his father became the wealthiest man in the village by dealing in indigo and silk. Influenced by Confucianism, he provided Eichii with a better education than usual for a man...
Japan is home to some of the world's most interesting alcoholic beverages—from traditional Sake and Shochu to Japanese whisky, beer, wine and cocktails that are winning global acclaim and awards.
In this comprehensive survey of Japanese drinks, experts Stephen Lyman and Chris Bunting cover all the main types of beverages found in Japanese bars and restaurants, as well as supermarkets and liquor stores around the world. The book has chapters on Sake, Shochu, whisky, wine, beer, Awamori (a...
Eihei-ji (永平寺), the "Temple of Eternal Peace", officially known as Daihonzan Eihei-ji (大本山永平寺), is located in Fukui Prefecture, about 15 km east of Fukui City. It is one of the two main temples (大本山 daihonzan) of the Sōtō School (曹洞宗 Sōtō-shū) of Zen Buddhism. The other head temple is Sōji-ji (總持寺) in Tsurumi, Yokohama.
View of Chūjakumon with Sanmon (the Main Gate) in the background
Eihei-ji was founded in 1244 by Dōgen Zenji (道元禅師, 1200-1253), formerly a Buddhist priest of the Tendai...
Amanohashidate (天橋立, "Bridge to Heaven") is a sand spit at the northern tip of Kyoto Prefecture. Located in Miyazu in the western part of Wakasa Bay, it is one of Japan's three top scenic views--along with Matsushima north of Sendai and Miyajima near Hiroshima. Amanohashidate is part of Tango-Amanohashidate-Ōeyama Quasi-National Park (丹後天橋立大江山国定公園 Tango-Amanohashidate-Ōeyama Kokutei Kōen).
The sandbar measures about 3.6km in length and between 36 and 110 metres in width, separating the...
Almost two weeks ago, @Maciamo and I ventured into the city of Kamakura, south of Tokyo. Kamakura has been the de facto capital of Japan from 1192 to 1333 and the seat of the first shogunate founded by Minamoto no Yoritomo during what has been coined - no surprise here - the Kamakura Period. Visitors, whether foreign tourists or residents, usually spend a day or just an afternoon there, shuttling between the city's most famous sites, the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, Hase-dera with its golden...
Gōtokuji (豪徳寺), officially Daikeizan Gōtokuji, is a Sōtō Zen Buddhist temple located in Setagaya in western Tōkyō. It is the ancestral temple of the Ii family; some 300 members of their clan, including Ii Naosuke, are buried there. Legend has it that Gōtokuji is also the birthplace of the Japanese "Beckoning Cat", the maneki neko (招き猫).
History
The original temple was built near the former Setagaya Castle. In 1480, Kira Masayoshi (吉良政忠) erected a small temple for his aunt and called it...
The Miho Museum (ミホ ミュージアム) is located near Shigaraki City in the mountainous hills of southern Shiga Prefecture. It was designed by star architect I.M. Pei and holds the private collection of artworks accumulated by Mihoko Koyama and her daughter Hiroko.
In 1970, Mihoko Koyama founded Shinji Shūmeikai (神慈秀明会), a new religion with about 300,000 followers worldwide that "pursues beauty through art, appreciation of nature and natural agriculture." Shumei is based on the teachings of Mokichi...
Haniwa (埴輪) is a collective term for the unglazed earthenware cylinders and hollow sculptures that decorated the surface of the great mounded tombs (kofun) built for the Japanese elite during the fourth to seventh centuries. Haniwa (埴輪) statues were as tall as 1.5 metres and were made in various forms: houses, human figures, animals, and many military, ceremonial, and household objects. But the primary and most common shape was the simple cylinder, averaging 40-50 centimetres in diameter and...
Taira no Masakado, a member of the Kanmu Taira clan, was the son of Taira no Yoshimasa, a provincial lord in the Kantō region. In 939, Masakado organised a rebellion and attacked the government post in Hitachi (modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture), capturing the province's governor. In the same year, his rebel army conquered the provinces of Shimotsuke and Kozuke (in present-day Tochigi and Gunma prefectures) and claimed the title of "new emperor". After killing his uncle Taira no Kunika, he was...
The Kamakura Period (鎌倉時代 Kamakura jidai, 1185-1333) is the historical period that corresponds to the rule of the Kamakura shōgun. It is named after Kamakura, where the shogunal government was located.
While 1333 - the year in which the Kamakura shogunate was destroyed - is the undisputed end of the period, historians have suggested different dates for its beginning: either 1185, the year in which Minamoto Yoritomo's brother Yoshitsune finally defeated the Taira in the sea battle of...
The Ashikaga Shogunate
The Muromachi shogunate (1338-1573) was the second of Japan's three military regimes (幕府, bakufu), following the Kamakura shogunate (1192-1333) and preceding the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867). Established by Ashikaga Takauji (足利尊氏, 1305-1358), its name derives from the Muromachi district of Kyōto, where the shogunal palace and administrative headquarters were located after 1378. It is also known as the "Ashikaga shogunate," referring to its ruling family. Under the...
The Later Hōjō clan (後北条氏 Go-Hōjō-shi) were powerful regional lords at the end of the Muromachi Period (1333-1568) and in the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1568-1600) and must not be confused with the warrior family by the same name who were hereditary regents (執権 shikken) of the Kamakura shogunate in the Kamakura Period (1185-1333). Founded by Hōjō Sōun, the family was based in Odawara (modern-day Kanagawa Prefecture) and ruled as Sengoku daimyō over the provinces of Sagami and Musashi until...
Terje Solum is the author of the series "Saga of the Samurai". Over the past 14 years, he has published six volumes on the Kai Takeda clan. He will release his next volume dedicated to the Ōmi Gamō in late autumn. We interviewed Terje in August 2017.
Q: Tell us a bit more about your background, preferably some details we cannot find on the covers of your books.
Yes, well, my background; I was growing up in a little town called Skotfoss, near present Skien in Norway. I got interested in...
Fukui Prefecture (福井県 Fukui-ken) is located on the Sea of Japan in central Honshū and bounded by Ishikawa Prefecture on the north, Gifu Prefecture on the east, Shiga and Kyōto prefectures on the south, and the Sea of Japan on the west. It is geographically divided into the northern districts, corresponding to the southern part of the former province of Echizen (越前国 Echizen-no-kuni), and the southern districts, formerly Wakasa (若狭国 Wakasa-no-kuni).
The northern district consists mostly of...
Toyooka (豊岡市) is located in northern Hyōgo Prefecture in the centre of the San'in Kaigan Geopark (山陰海岸ジオパーク). While the city stretches over 700 square kilometres after its merger with the surrounding towns of Hidaka, Izushi, Kinosaki, Takeno, and Tantō in 2005, the actual town centre is relatively easy to explore.
Kinosaki Onsen
The first sight to see close to Toyooka Station is the morning market. The Aozora Ichiba (青空市場, "open-air market") offers rice and local produce under the roof of...
Tōjinbō (東尋坊) is a scenic spot in Fukui Prefecture along the Sea of Japan coast known for its pillarlike joints of pyroxene andesite thrust up twenty-five metres high from the sea. It is part of the Echizen-Kaga Kaigan Quasi-National Park (越前加賀海岸国定公園 Echizen-Kaga Kaigan Kokutei Kōen).
The area of Tōjinbō is located on an 80-metre high plateau named Jingaoka (陣ケ岡) that was formed some 500,000 years ago. The plateau and the surrounding cliffs consist of sedimentary layers of mudstone...
Located in northern Hyōgo Prefecture, Izushi (出石) is also known as the "Little Kyōto of Tajima". The small castle town - merged into Toyooka in 2005 - is famous for its nostalgic atmosphere, its traditional Japanese architecture, and its very own kind of buckwheat noodles: Izushi-soba.
History
In the Sengoku Period, Tajima Province (但馬国 Tajima no Kuni) was ruled by the Yamana clan. They were based in Konosumi Castle on top of Arikoyama (有子山). Toyotomi Hideyoshi, then a general of Oda...
Maruoka Castle (丸岡城 Maruoka-jō) is a hilltop castle located in Sakai City, Fukui Prefecture. It is famous for its wooden main keep, one of Japan's oldest original castle towers.
When Oda Nobunaga captured the nearby temple of Hakusan Hougenji in 1575 to thwart further uprisings of the Ikkō Ikki in Echizen, he ordered Shibata Katsutoyo (柴田勝豊, 1556-1583) to build a castle in Toyohara. Katsutoyo was the nephew and the adopted son of Shibata Katsuie, a retainer of Oda Nobukatsu, Oda...
Lake Miyagase (宮ヶ瀬湖 Miyagase-ko) is a water reservoir located in Kanagawa Prefecture, west of Machida and Atsugi and north of the Tanzawa Mountains. It is not only a human-made lake that provides Tokyo and Yokohama with drinking water but also a popular tourist destination for one-day trips from Tokyo and Yokohama.
Visitors on public transportation will most likely arrive at Toriibara Fureai Shop (鳥居原ふれあいの館) on the northern shore of the lake. The visitor centre offers maps of the hiking...
"Tokyo hit by heaviest snow since 2014" - whenever the first snowfall hits Tokyo, the city sinks into inescapable chaos. Traffic chaos, that is, not so much caused by the weather itself, but by an ever-swelling tsunami of frantic commuters heeding the advice of companies and authorities to hasten home as soon as possible. When I left work at 17:30 tonight, I expected slightly more traffic than usual, but of course that thought turned out to be hopelessly naive: when I reached Shibuya...
This year’s summer trip will bring us from Kanazawa to Shimane and back to Kobe via Ako and Himeji. It’s the first time for me to travel along the western Sea of Japan. My brother and his wife are with us, and we’re excited to explore terra incognita. This blog will present a random collection of impressions and photos, and more thorough descriptions will later be posted to our Travel section in the Articles.
We started out on Friday and decided to avoid the highways as much as possible...