Saotome Shihan in Japan (O-hisashiburi-desu)

I board the local JR Train from my rural town in northern Hyogo, Japan at 6:50 AM Saturday morning of April 22, 2006. I transfer trains twice; once at the small town of Kinnosaki Onsen and then transfer again in the majestic city of Kyoto. I then board the super express Shinkansen [bullet train] bound for Tokyo. I finally arrive in Tokyo station a good six hours later, hungry and eager to meet Paul Kang Sensei at the Keio Plaza Hotel.

After a few wrong turns in the Shinjuku Station, I finally get reoriented with the location and find Kang Sensei sitting and waiting quietly in the lobby of the Keio Plaza. It's been ten months since we'd said goodbye in a restaurant in New York City. I greet Kang Sensei with a bow, handshake, and that "long time no see" smile that friends exchange.

Kang Sensei helps me get checked into my hotel in East Shinjuku and then we proceed back to Shinjuku Station to find the Limousine Bus Ticket Center where I'm supposed to meet Nick Kiritz who is flying into Tokyo from Washington D.C. for Saotome Shihan's seminar. While we wait the conversation turns to my inquiries about the many people in New York and all of those memories whose, once futuristic thoughts, have materialized here in Japan.

Something catches my attention though. A familiar face, but not the one I'm waiting for. Quentin is another JET living in Kawasaki. We shake hands and I introduce him to Kang Sensei. Quentin's just taken his Judo Shodan test and he's on his way to practice now. What are the odds of me running into him at this moment? His curiosity is sparked by Aikido and he agrees to come to watch the seminar the next day in Nakano.

Another five or ten minutes goes by and I'm starting to worry that I've missed my rendezvous with Nick. My cell phone goes off.

"Hello," I say in Japanese.

"Hello, Zachary, it's Dan Messisco," says the voice in English, "I'm here in Shinjuku Station with Nick." He'd picked him up from the airport.

The four of us make our way through the Shinjuku crowds to an Indian restaurant. We are later joined by another JET, Allison, who trains Aikido in Himeji, Hyogo. The conversation quickly turns to Aikido memories and experiences. After lunch we say our goodbyes to Kang Sensei for the evening and Allison, Nick, Dan, and I make our way back through the Shinjuku night crowds to the hotel.

"You see that walkway with the trees," Dan says pointing across the brightly neon lit street at an obscure walkway with trees. "That's the yellow brick road. You follow that road for twenty minutes and it leads you right to Hombu Dojo." We check in to the hotel and then head back out into the Tokyo nightlife for recreation.

The next day we're up and at em, stopping off at all places Starbucks for the morning coffee. There isn't a Starbucks for a good 4 hours where I live, so a trip to the American coffee shop is always a welcomed change of pace and taste for the matter. We then head off to Shinjuku Station to catch the JR Train to the Nakano Gymnasium for the Saotome Seminar hosted by Koyama Shihan's group.

Upon arrival, we sign in at the registration desk. I do my best with the Japanese that I've acquired in the past ten months to make introductions to Koyama Shihan's students, Nick, and Allison. Luckily, Koyama Shihan's student Keiko, who speaks fluent English, arrives helping to break the ice. I find the changing room and see another familiar face, Ira S., from New York's Bond Street Dojo.

We change into our gi's and get on the mat. One of Koyama Shihan's students leads us through the warm ups. We sit in seiza for a few minutes, then a sliding rice paper door opens and Saotome Shihan enters with Patty Saotome and Koyama Shihan. They are greeted with an enthusiastic round of applause. The first thing out of Saotome Shihan's mouth in Japanese is, "O-hisashiburi-desu [It's been a long time - no see]!" That's when it really hits me, here is Japan, on the mat with Saotome Shihan. It's an honor to say the least.

[Photo with permission from Nakano Aikido Federation.]

The seminar begins with a speech about sitting in seiza and O Sensei, only maybe of which thirty percent I can understand. Then Saotome Shihan leads the class through more warm ups so that our bodies can loosen up again after another ten minutes of seiza.

The first technique is kokyu-ho from seiza. It is a pleasure to be on the mat. I see other familiar faces - some American and some Japanese. Everyone is eager to train and catch the feeling of Saotome Shihan's movement and spirit. After all, he is a legend in his own time and for many Japanese, who have only heard the stories, it is their first time to train in one of his classes.

Occasionally, Saotome Shihan calls up various uke, but primarily it is Nick Kiritz, Saotome Shihan's student of over twenty years, taking the majority of the ukemi as Shihan takes us through basic technique from kokyu-ho to hanmi-handachi and finally to standing techniques. When we finally get to mune-tsuki, Shihan begins to turn it on with his more fanciful and martial looking techniques. It was yet another moment that wowed this already enthusiastic audience and there is no doubt that that they want to see more.

At one point Shihan gave his popular metaphor about your connection to your partner, likening nage and uke to a tree and a bird in the wind, "Is the bird grabbing the tree or is the tree grabbing the bird?" It was another strange irony, for the metaphor was in Japanese, but yet I'd heard him use it before in English. These ironic moments continue to beat me over the head, being an American and having been in Shihan's classes, but yet here is Japan and there is perhaps a stronger connection between Shihan's American visitors than the Japanese students. A reminder of how much Saotome Shihan, and many like him, gave up in coming to the US over thirty years ago. Occasionally, he even unconsciously slips into English during his speeches - catching himself and reminding himself that here is Japan.

After three hours of practice, the keiko comes to a pleasant end. I greet Quentin who has been watching from the sidelines and speaking to Patty Saotome. "Interesting?" I ask.

"I was amazed," he says with a huge grin. "You were right. He's really something else." We look over at Saotome Shihan who is greeting old friends.

After the keiko we head over to the Sun Plaza Hotel. I say goodbye to the two other JET's and head up to the 17th Floor. Dan and Nick are in the corner talking. We are presented with nametags for seating. Several minutes later, our guests of honor (Saotome Shihan and Patty) and Koyama Shihan make a grand entrance. During dinner I do my best to hold my own and carry on conversations in Japanese. In many ways, the party is like any other Aikido party, but again here is Japan. There are many toasts and many speeches, some of which are emotional. For the older Japanese, these are old time friends getting together for the first time in many years. O-hisashiburi-desu.

The strangest feeling for me is speaking English with Saotome Shihan. "How do you like Japan?" he asks.

"It's interesting," I say. "Yeah, I know. It's interesting," he says nodding his head with a mutual understanding of what it is to live internationally, in a culture that is in so many ways radically different from your own.

Later that night, Nick and I make our way back to Starbucks. We sit and talk about everything because that's all there is to talk about; politics, art, spirituality, and what's transpired in the last 24 hours. It's been a long day - a lot to digest.

The next day we walk to Hombu Dojo following the directions that Dan Messisco had given us two days prior. I remembered the landmarks from my previous visit last summer when I first arrived in Japan. "This is it," I say. It turns out to only be a ten minute walk from the hotel, but there's no time to train. We head back toward Shinjuku Station and make our way to the Keio Plaza once again for lunch with Kang Sensei, Koyama Shihan, and Nakano Dojo students. Saotome Shihan and Patty have already departed for Hokkaido to visit areas that O'Sensei had lived in during his formative years. Nick receives an invitation to join practice at the Nakano Dojo throughout the week. The conversation is easy and the food is of course delicious.

After lunch it's time to say goodbye. I thank Koyama Shihan and his students for their hospitality and promise to visit the next time I'm in Tokyo. We walk Kang Sensei back to Shinjuku Station. "It was great seeing you, Sensei. Tell everyone in New York 'hello' for me," I say. We shake hands. I know it will be awhile before we see each other again.

Nick and I head back to the hotel. I gather my bags. Fortunately the weather has been good the entire weekend and it's a bright sunny day for traveling. Nick will stay in Tokyo for another week. It's late in the afternoon and rush hour is starting. It's time for me to return to Kasumi. In the lobby, we shake hands one last time.

"Have fun," I say.

"Yeah, I will. Thanks for all of your help," he says.

"Yeah, it was a good time. Give me a call if you need anything," and with that, I'm off into the rush hour sea of pedestrians. I jump on the Shinkansen and change trains in Kyoto again, just barely making the last train back to northern Hyogo and finally to Kasumi. When I get back to the Kasumi Station, it's 11 P.M. Tomorrow is another day of work, but I do my best to savor the memories of this experience.

Zachary Price is a JET (Assistant Language Teacher) living in Kasumi, Japan and a student of Aikido Schools of Ueshiba.