Justin in Japan

I suffered a bit of reverse culture shock having returned from Japan. I got off the plane at my transfer in Copenhagen and, upon entering the airport, my first thoughts were how tall everyone looked and how ‘strange’ they all looked. For the first week of my return I would wake up at 5am regardless of what time I’d gone to bed, not just wake up, but completely awake to the point that I just had to get up and do something. I’d also fall asleep at all times of the afternoon and evening, and it took me over a week to get into a remotely normal sleeping pattern. As I tried to reflect on the last three months, I began to feel like I’d been abducted by aliens for a long happy dream and then dropped back down to earth, where I was left wandering around a bit aimlessly. My aikido quota has dropped from 3 times a day to 3 times a week, which hasn’t yet hit me as hard as I thought it would, but I think that’s partly because I’m not sure if this isn’t the alien abduction and Japan was the reality. The imminence of Christmas added to the surreality of my surroundings, and things are now just beginning to come into focus. Although I miss the frequency of practice, I feel very refreshed and clear of mind, and looking forward to starting my new job in a couple of weeks’ time, with all the changes that will bring.

During my last few days in Japan, I wrote a piece for the Kobayashi Dojos Newsletter to try and sum up my experiences as an Uchideshi (included this below). There is so much I could have written and so many memories I will take with me, but the thing that really made the whole experience so enjoyable for me (on and off the mat), is the people I met, who were so welcoming, kind and friendly.
I will miss a lot of things about Japan; the opportunity to practice endless aikido, day in day out, with great Uke’s and Senseis is an obvious one, but also the shop and restaurant staff singing out their welcomes, the 100 yen shops, great food, hyper efficient transport system,.. (the train ticketing particularly), hot baths, really convenient convenience stores, laundrettes with massage chairs, space age toilets, ‘Book off’, drink and food dispensers ‘everywhere’, tins of hot chocolate from the drink dispensers, endless electronic gadget and shoe shops (all my christmasses come at once), a general lack of cars compared to London and the priority of the bicycle, a city of 10 million people who get up at 5am to sweep outside their houses, go to bed late and all fall asleep on the train, the whole ‘community’ culture, the overall efficiency, quirkiness, and general ‘Japaneseness’ of everything.
Most of all I will miss the people, and I look forward to seeing my new friends again, either when they visit the UK, or in a couple of years when I hope to return to Japan.

Justins Deshi Experience
Having spoken many times with Jeff Mills about his experience as an Uchideshi, my main preconception of Uchideshi life was that it would involve a lot of cleaning and early mornings.

My heavy workload, right up to the point of departure from the UK, meant that I was unable to do much preparation for my trip, so apart from buying my flight, insurance, Japanese yen and language books, it was a leap of faith. I knew that it would be a complete and sudden change of everything in my life, so my best approach was to try and keep an open mind and make the most of every experience.

It wasn’t until I reached the gates of the airport departure lounge that I realised quite the step I’d taken. For a brief moment I thought ‘what have I let myself in for’, after which the excitement of the impending adventure took over.

I have experienced so much during my 3 months in Japan, there is so much to describe, the Aikido practice, the change in cultural environment, the change in lifestyle, not to mention all the places I have visited, and most importantly, the people I have met.

In terms of aikido practice, I am used to training hard aerobically, so I could cope with the hours of Keiko, but the biggest (and unanticipated) effect on me initially was that of the long days and short nights, leaving me with a feeling of permanent sleep depravation. The Keiko timetable looks like there should be time to rest, relax and recover, but once you’ve allowed for Dojo cleaning before class, tea and extra Keiko after class, not to mention folding 3000 Kobayashi Dojo Shinbun, shrink wrapping 100 DVD’s or making breakfast for 10 Sensei’s you find yourself very busy, with little time to yourself. Even on our day off, we were up by 7.30am to clean the dojo.

The dojo becomes your life for the time that you are an uchideshi. You quickly realise that your duty is first to the Dojo, Sensei and club members, and lastly to yourself.

There is however, something very satisfying about the devotion of self to the service of others, and in no way do I begrudge the lack of sleep or control over my own life that the uchideshi lifestyle resulted in. On the contrary, feeling a part of something that is providing happiness to so many people has been very fulfilling, and ultimately, it is these people’s kindness and friendliness that have made my stay here so enjoyable.

Kobayashi Sensei and Hiroaki sensei have been the ultimate hosts, ensuring that my timetable has been packed with highly enjoyable training, and fun and interesting things to do. No two weeks have been alike. Kasahara has made sure that my stay has been as comfortable as possible, looking after my everyday needs. And then there are all the Sensei’s, fellow uchideshis and dojo members that I’ve had the opportunity to practice with, not only at Tokorozawa and Kodaira dojos, but also on the IWAI camp, in Tsumagoi, Hashimoto, Kurobe, Fuchu, Tanashi, Tachikawa, Soka, and Itabashi to name but a few. Everywhere I’ve been I feel that I have made new friends, on and off the mat, the Keiko has been fun and I have learnt lots.

The dojo life is a unique experience, and I feel very privileged to have lived it for these past months. I feel that I’ve seen a ‘real’ side of Japanese life and culture that most other westerners living here do not.

I am writing this on my last day in Japan, and I feel very at home here after 3 months, so I anticipate a bit of `reverse culture shock` when I get back to the UK. I have a few weeks holiday before starting a new job, so my world is still `all change`, but suffice to say that if I did not have a job to return for, I would be very happy to spend longer in Japan.

I will miss the Aikido Keiko, Japanese food, hot baths, trains running on time, machines that dispense hot tins of cocoa, riding bicycle with an umbrella, the very polite shop staff, and of course all my new friends. Hopefully it will not be too long before I return, and I intend to keep up my Japanese lessons in anticipation of seeing everyone again.

On my last day, I rose at 5am and Hiroaki sensei drove me and my baggage to Tokorozawa station, where I took the 6:10am bus to Narita airport.

Here is a photo of my last view of the rising sun in the land of the rising sun….. until next time

My last day:
My last Tuesday night was to be my farewell party, but unfortunately a migraine struck, before my last class (but after we’d finished cleaning curiously), and I spent the whole evening sleeping upstairs on the third floor of the Dojo. So no party, but worse still, I was unable to say goodbye to a number of my friends . Luckily the migraine was not too powerful, and no vomiting (great!), so I was able to get up at 5:30 for morning practice on my last day.

Last Morning Practice

Kasahara and Justin in Thumb war

Justin and Uchino San

Justin and Obayashi San

After Morning practice we went to Kodaira Dojo for Suizen kai and the Suizen Kai bonen kai.

With a couple of hours then free in the afternoon, Ukai and I went back to Kanda Sensei’s house, where they showed my pictures of their visits to England and Wales, including Windsor (just down the road from my last house in Maidenhead) and Chepstow (near my parents house, and where my sister in law runs her hairdressers). It is a small world. We were also kindly fed with some fantastic home grown fruit (from Mrs Kandas farm), European style brown bread (my first taste in 3 months), and home made jam and marmalade. I was given a jar of the delicious rhubarb jam to bring home, but unfortunately left it in the Tokorozawa dojo during my 5:30am dash to pack and get the 6am bus to the airport. I hope Ukai is enjoying it!

Justin with Mr&Mrs Kanda

That afternoon, I attended my last Kodaira kids class…..

….. and finally my last class in Japan for this visit. I forgot to get a group photo after class, so took some of the post training tea party.

I finally said goodbye to Kodaira dojo,….. for this visit at least….

During my final days, I saw this, which exemplified Japan for me. Someone has found a lost glove and not ignored it, binned it, kicked it around, nicked it, or even placed it on a nearby wall, but placed it in a plastic bag to protect it, and tied it in a highly visible position at the side of the street, should it’s owner come looking for it.