Tokyo, Japan - 2005

It's strange to think of my first trip to Tokyo as a business trip, but that is essentially what the trip was. I traveled to Tokyo with a specific goal in mind: to pass, after two weeks intensive training, the black-belt exam in the Iaido style Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu Iaido. Intensive training is the key phrase. I flew in on a Sunday morning, and I would fly out nine days later, on a Monday morning. Sunday I might have for sightseeing, which I did, but Monday through Friday I would engage in exhaustive martial arts training for the test.

The training methods of Japan are radically different than those we find here in America. For one thing, in Japan, they use hard wood floors, as opposed to mats. The obvious consequence is that falls are much more brutal and damaging, but this is actually not a serious issue because most martial artists at higher levels have mastered ukemi, the breakfall, to the point of proficiency on even a concrete surface. This was especially true in my case, due to training in L'Parkour. The not-so-obvious consequence of the floors is that seiza, the formal sitting position so common in ancient Japanese martial arts, is far more difficult, and indeed outright painful. It is difficult on the feet and the ankles, which tend to fall asleep. It is especially hard on the knees as well, which absorb all of the shock of the wood. Even with knee-pads, which were universally worn, it was strenuous, and indeed I sprained my toe early in the week.

Training began at 7 AM on Monday - Friday, and that really meant we had to be up and on the train by 5:30 AM. There were roughly five hours of training, running until around noon, after which we usually enjoyed a short breakfast somewhere in the outskirts of Tokyo. In addition, Tuesday and Thursday night featured even classes in the Hiken Musu Ryu Iaijutsu, and that really left, for sightseeing, just Sunday and Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings. Sunday was dominated by a visit to the Meiji Shrine, one of the most beautiful sights in all Japan. A massive shinto shrine at the heart of Tokyo, the Meiji Shrine is a beautiful work of Japanese history, culture and natural religion.

Monday night I had the pleasure to visit Akihabara, the electric city of lights, located at the heart of Tokyo. Akihabara is something of a Mecca for electronic culture, for it is a several-block square section of Tokyo dominated by electronic shops, anime/manga retailers, video stores, internet cafe's, arcades and cheap restaraunts. I had the pleasure to meet Aaron, owner of AIJ, in Akihabara, and to observe his flawless and fluent Japanese. For a rough sketch of Akihabara, think a diminuitive version of Times Square crossed with a the dealer's room at Anime Expo.

Wednesday night I had the pleasure of visiting a number of districts in Tokyo, including Shibuya (pictured above), Shinjuku and Times Square Tokyo. I didn't get much of a chance to explore the districts, which is definitely something I plan to do on my next trip (especially at night) because I was so exhausted from training. I did get to see that the main districts of Tokyo are every bit as exciting as Midtown in Manhattan (well, maybe not every bit). Training was becoming more intense, and Friday night I stayed in and studied, unfortunately missing a nice trip to Kamakura. I took the exam on Saturday morning.

The exam was very difficult, in part because I had to modify one of my kata on the fly to get around my sprained toe. Nevertheless, I passed the exam with a grade of 8.33, where 8+ is roughly a passing score. That earned my Shodan (1st Degree Black-Belt) in the Muso-Jikiden Eishen Ryu. I had earned the degree I came to Japan for, and Saturday night we celebrated with a trip to a fancy Okinawan restaraunt and with Aoimori, a rare (and very pure) alcohol that was older than the United States. Sunday morning it was time to pack up and fly out of Narita airport, back home to America.

I accomplished what I came to: I earned my first-dan. In the winter of 2006 I would earn my second-dan, and first-dan in Hiken Musu Ryu. What I did not do was get in much sight-seeing around Tokyo. Hopefully in the summer of 2008, when I return to Japan for a longer and more relaxed trip, I will have an oppertunity to better explore both Tokyo and Kyoto. The martial arts will keep bringing me back to Japan, and there are few places I'd rather be drawn to.