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There and Back Again – A Shinpan Bucho Tale

There were no plans to travel to Japan this year.  I had already used the last of my vacation time to support the Orlando Taikai.  Then I was given a title and a task.  The title is Shinpan Bucho of the Zen Bei Batto Do Renmei (Director of Judges for the US Federation of Batto Do).  The task was to create judging guidelines, create a judge training / certification program, and produce a group of impartial competent consistent judges for competitions here in the states.  Not a small task, but to compound that, I only had six months to get judges prepared for the West Coast Taikai.  My first step was to understand the Japanese system, so I contacted Roger, or liaison for the Japanese.  The next judging seminar was only days away and the following one would be after the West Coast Taikai.  We bought tickets on September 5th and left on the 7th.  Not much time to pack, plan, or practice my meager Japanese.  I spent the 6th making arrangements at work to take unpaid time off and Sherry spent the day packing.

Wednesday

Sherry and I were at the airport at 4 AM for what we thought was a 6 AM flight to Atlanta.  We were surprised to hear the flight left at 6 PM and we were schedule to stay overnight in Atlanta.  We had not paid enough attention to the AM/PM and date options on the Delta web site.  It was a bad assumption.  We suddenly had 14 hours to wait for our flight to Atlanta and a 14-hour layover there.  Oops!  The Delta rep did manage to re-book us without paying more (actually they double charged us but Sherry is working that out) and we were off.  There were some frantic calls in the Atlanta airport making sure everyone in Japan knew we would be there a day earlier than the itinerary said.  There is an 11-hour time shift when going to Japan and the sun never went down on the trip there.  We lost a day as we crossed the International Date Line.  The plane was not too full, so Sherry and I had three seats to share.  Neither of us got much sleep and our internal clocks were pretty scrambled when we got there. 

Thursday

We arrived in Japan in the early afternoon (very early in the morning Florida time).  Thing go pretty smoothly through baggage claim and immigration.  Customs is where things always get rough.  You can temporarily bring swords into Japan, but it has to be for a purpose and prearranged.  Enter two foreigners with a large gun case.  There is always a helpful security guard there to politely ask what is in the case.  That is were you got special treatment.  If a magnet sticks to your sword it is considered a “real” sword and is restricted.  You and your swords are moved out of customs to the airport police department.  None of the police spoke or understood much English and after about 45 minutes of discussion indicated they were going to confiscate our swords and would give them back when we left the country.  I finally gave up trying to make them understand the situation and had them call Roger.  Two minutes later everything was cool and they were doing the paperwork to let us bring the swords in.  Hataya Sensei had called but either his mangling of my name or my mangling of his had caused the misunderstanding.  They then wanted to charge us about $300 in duty for bringing the swords into the country.  More mangling of the English and Japanese languages followed.  Sherry finally convinced them the swords were not “new” by comparing them to her watch and wedding ring that they agreed we did not have to pay duty on.  Our swords and us were finally released into Japan.

We bought yen, a phone card, and a bus ticket to Sagami-ono.  Sounds easier than it was, but we figured it all out.  The bus ride through Tokyo was about 2 1/2 hours.  We arrived tired but glad the 24 hours of traveling were done.  We stayed with Roger and Hiromi Browning who graciously put us up at the last minute for a week.  Their two bedroom 1 1/2 bath new home was small, efficient, and a strange mix of traditional and modern Japan.  Rice paper doors with aluminum frames and timbers made of plastic were features of this customized manufactured home.  It was strange to have bathrooms with the latest digital toilets in a brand new house without central air.  Sherry and I both loved the efficency of the house and it was amazing how much was fit into so small of a house.  The 2 1/2 story house sits on a tiny 10m x 10m lot.  They even managed to fit a parking spot in the front yard.  Since you cannot buy a car without first proving you can park it, that is an important feature.  Space is so scarce that cars are stacked in elevators that allow more than one per parking spot.

We got to meet Shimazu Sensei 9th dan in Yagyu Shingan Ryu.  The fellow I was training with that day had a shoulder problem and Hataya Sensei brought him to Shimazu Sensei to fix it.  If you have ever been “fixed” by Hataya Sensei, you will appreciate that Shimazu Sensei taught him what he knows.  This is not a relaxing form of shiatsu massage, but the forceful re-orientation of your body.  I can tell you that it works, but it can be extreamly painful.  Hataya and Shimazu Sensei were fixing him together that day.  Looked more like torture than medicine to me, but I’m sure the fellow now feels much better. 

Hataya Sensei’s daughter Niki-san took us on a trip to Kamakura after class.  Kamakura was the capital of Japan under the rule of Minamoto Yoritomo the first shogun.  We started in Machida on the Odakyu rail line and got on the Enoden Railway at Fujisawa.  The Enoden line was a streetcar like train passing through a series of small towns.  I had the feeling we were going back in time and the train weaved among old building and past small shrines.  Our first stop was the Daibutsu.

At the same stop we visited the Hase Kannon Temple (Hasedera).  Hase Temple is a temple of the Jodo sect, that is most famous for its statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy. The statue shows Kannon with eleven heads, each representing a characteristic of the goddess. The 30 foot tall, gilded wooden statue is regarded as the largest wooden sculpture in Japan, and is in the temple's main building. We visited a series of shrines and temples after that.  I think one of the coolest was in a cave complex beside small pond called Bentenkutsu. It was only about 4 foot tall and water continually dripped from the ceiling.  Inside the cave is Benzaiten one of the seven gods of fortune.  Small candles burned everywhere.  Sherry made a donation and got a very small wooden Buddha statue.  You write your name on the bottom, place it among the thousands there, and make a wish.

The last stop on the Enoden line is Kamakura.  We got a rickshaw tour through the narrow winding streets of the city.  The ride was awesome and made better by sore feet and temperatures in the 90s.  We made a photo stop at Jufukuji. Jufukuji was founded by Minamoto Yoritomo's wife Masako after her husband passed away, and is known for it’s beautiful entrance way.  The rickshaw ride ended at the entrance of the Hachimangu shrine.

Saturday Mukai Sensei drove us around Tokyo with his wife, Yoshiko.  Roger also came along to translate.  Mukai Sensei is police officer in Machida and one of the few Japanese we met who own an SUV.  Our first stop was the Imperial Palace.  It is home to Emperor Heisei and other members of the Japanese Royal Family, the Imperial Palace sits on land that was once occupied by Edo Castle. It became the official imperial residence in 1868, when Emperor Meiji transferred the seat of power from Kyoto to Edo and changed the name of the city to Tokyo.  The Imperial Palace East Gardens (Kokyo Higashi Gyoen) are a part of the inner palace area and the only part open to the public.

Next we drove to Sensoji (also known as Asakusa Kannon Temple).  It is a temple located in Asakusa, a central part of the Shitamachi. Shitamachi ("downtown") is the old town of Tokyo. The legend says that in the year 628, two brothers fished a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, out of the Sumida river, and even though they put the statue back into the river, it always returned to them. Consequently, Sensoji was built there for the goddess of Kannon. The temple was completed in 645, making it Tokyo's oldest temple.

You enter through the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate), the outer gate of the Sensoji and one of the most popular sights of traditional Tokyo. A shopping street of over 200 meters, called Nakamise, leads from the outer gate to the temple's main gate, the Hozomon. The shopping street has a history of several centuries.  Beyond the Hozomon main gate stands the temple's main building and a five storied pagoda. The Asakusa shrine, built in the year 1649 by Tokugawa Lemitsu can be found close by the temple's main building.

Shopping was next on the agenda.  The main stop was the Men’s kimono shop.  I was measured for a new formal uniform.  I thought the last one was expensive at $600, but I got a bit carried away.  The traditional Japanese kimono worn by men is a combination of a montsuki kimono and a short haori overcoat with pleated hakama pants.  Montsuki kimono are used for ceremonies and special occasions which bears the family crest on both the front and back of the kimono. A matching haori overcoat is then worn over the kimono to complete the attire. My custom tailored silk hakama, montsuki kimono and haori cost 310,000 yen.

The day ended with class at Tenmangu.  Sherry got a chance to train and had quite the experience.  We were both falling asleep after going non-stop for days, but it was good to get some practice in.

Sunday

The day of the judging seminar started very early.  We drove about three hours to Ninomiya city in Tochigi prefecture.  The seminar was held in a school gymnasium and consisted of kata in the morning and judging in the afternoon.  The big event of the day was a visit by Ueki Seiji Sensei!  He was one of our instructors and head of the Japanese organization before suffering a stroke earlier this year. His right side is paralyzed and he had lost a lot of weight, but he seemed in good spirits. His voice does not boom anymore, but his presence was felt just the same. I let him know that everyone here wished him the best and that he was missed here in the states.

The certification test was difficult and I'm very glad I don't have to do it again. I have to thank Roger Browning who acted as an interpreter.  I was surprised that none of the Japanese passed, but Hataya Sensei said I was the only one who was prepared and listened.  I noticed that I was the only one to bring pen and paper to write down notes and keep track of the point deduction for each mistake.  There will probably be a few more Japanese candidates with pen and paper next time.  You need to get 10 of 10 right on the test to pass.  Two people cut each time and your judgment is compared to a head judge.  The competitors are told what kind of mistakes they should try to make.  I got 10 of 11 (an extra set was added since one round ended with mixed opinions from the judges about who won).  Two other candidates almost passed but were eliminated on a subtle disqualification of one competitor cutting with the wrong foot forward. 

I think it is harder to judge than compete.  When I was competing I only needed to focus on myself.  If I made a mistake, I lost.  It did not affect anyone but my opponent, and they welcomed my mistakes.  If you make a mistake in judging, it affects everyone in the competition.  I now have the task of making sure there will be fair, consistent, and impartial judgments at the taikai.  That means training, certifying, and monitoring judges here in the states.  It was more fun out there on the floor.  I respect everyone who walks out on the competition floor and tries, but I have to raise the flag and eliminate all but one. 

We managed to get back to Machida before Hataya Sensei fell asleep at the wheel.  We were all tired and glad to be back.

Tuesday Sherry and I got a chance to do some local site-seeing and shopping in Machida and Sagami-ono.  We started with a long walk to Tenmangu (it is not a long walk if you go the right way) to visit the shrine shop.  Next we hit the small shops in Machida.  The shops seem endless and filled with all sorts of strange things.  We ended up at Hataya Sensei’s sword shop.  He has expanded it to twice the size and it is filled with wonderful and extreamly expensive swords, armor, fittings, bows, arrows, and all things samurai.  We were there to pick up a Japanese doll Hataya Sensei gave to us.  It was a bit bigger than I thought and we were starting to worry about getting it back to the states.  We managed to find the train station and got back to Roger’s house totally worn out. Hiromi-san took us shopping in Sagami-ono when she got home.  That included the Hanko shop to get Sherry a personal hanko (signature stamp) and a shopping spree at the 100 yen store.

Wednesday

We took the bus back to Narita airport on the Tokyo Bay Aqualine.  This is a 9.5 mile marine crossing through the middle of Tokyo Bay.  The Aqualine consists of a 6 mile tunnel (the Tokyo Bay Tunnel) and a 3.5 mile bridge from an artificial island. It was quite impressive.  We returned to Narita and went through the whole “what is in the gun case?” routine.  We stopped at McDonalls for a much needed Big Mac fix before getting on the plane.  The plane was full and we were stuck in coach.  Technically we arrived in Atlanta an hour before we left the Narita airport.  Seemed like a lot longer than that.  After a few more “what is in the gun case?” episodes, we were back in the states.