Day 166 of writing every day.
The day started off early waking up before six in the morning. I think that it’s just a regular morning wake up time for some people, but I tend to sleep in a little longer. I had to take the shinkansen (known as bullet trains in English) to get from Osaka to Tokyo before noon. The fastest train takes about two and a half hours from Shin-Osaka Station to Tokyo Station.
Once in Tokyo, I’ll have to get to the Nippon Budokan where the demonstration is held and open to the public. The past few years had made the event a bit more low-key because of COVID, but this year it is back to normal without any mask requirements or max participant limit from any dojo.
It’s been a couple years since I last made a trip to Tokyo, so I think it’ll be a stimulating experience. I don’t see myself moving to Tokyo ever, even if it’s to find a job, but a weekend trip can be rewarding despite the costs. If the trip went any longer, then I’d have to ask my landlord or someone else to see if they can feed my fish once a day to keep them alive and well while I’m away.
The Aikido Hombu Dojo in Tokyo, headed by descendants of Aikido founder Ueshiba Morihei, reported that it’s been packed the past couple of days with temporary guests from across the country and overseas who had arrived in Tokyo specifically for the demonstration. I personally wouldn’t want to practice with a crowd of over 100 on a regular basis, but the enthusiasm people have seems good for Aikido.
Perhaps this weekend will help me refresh my mind and I’ll be more engaged in my Aikido practice, job hunting, and studying programming.
At the end of today, I found it quite refreshing to practice at a different dojo and listen to stories from a shihan who had deep ties with my dojo. The excitement of a trip focused on training has me looking forward to picking things where I left off after I get back to Osaka late Sunday night. There’s so much that the people I meet here have to share in terms of experience, and it’s fascinating stuff to hear that I don’t get the opportunity to in my daily life at home studying programming.
It’s making me feel like life still has a lot more to offer and that I need to get myself back into things by building new connections and meeting new people.
Thanks for reading!
One Chance Works 