@ yoshida's

@ yoshida's, originally uploaded by renfield.

Roadster and The Other Balding White Guy at Yoshida House.

Headed southwest from Shimokitazawa to celebrate at Them Yoshida's place. Saw their killer honeymoon photos taken in Taiwan. Seems the cool thing to do in Taiwan these days is to spend a couple hundred bucks and get an all-day photo shoot, resulting in a heavily photo-shopped and very cool photo album. Also ate massively delicious food, as all of Yoshida's friends from Orange Page can cook something serious!

xmas party

xmas party, originally uploaded by renfield.

KY and The Fish gettin' jiggy wid it.

Scrambled to the dojo and back in time to make the company X-Mas party. Much food, much more wine and bevvies, enough silliness to go around. About 11 we headed to the seedy pit that is Roppongi, packed 200 people into a bar the size of a small couch, wandered down the street to the The Place Downstairs From The Really Sketchy Place, and I managed to get home before 3am. The rest of the crew...?

sword (and mutton) sunday

Met Buenavista early and cruised up to Honbu Dojo for some early morning training. Weather was cold and my shoulder felt stiff so I took it easy.
In the afternoon we headed up to Akihabara for the beginner's seminar. Good turnout with about 30 people. Always fun to teach the beginners; the lack of any preconceived notions means they're not burdened down with what they think they know and therefore they pick things up really quickly. It was a long session but at the very end when I forced several people to test for kyu promotion we were all tired but satisfied. Or at least I was!
Headed back to Honbu and ran through the last part of my 6dan test. Still can't do the kata maegoshi well, and Gosoke chewed me out for that. Then everyone present got to choose one of the forty hyakusokuden (old Japanese poetry) to test me on. Gosoke would say either the first half, and I would have to complete the verse, or he'd say the second half and I would have to provide the opening line. I just barely passed, getting eight of ten correct. The last two I couldn't remember a couple of words, and both of them were when he provided the ending line and I had to remember the opening. That, combined with the stress of sitting in the middle of the floor with everyone watching, and my mind basically blanked.
But anyway even though I couldn't do the most basic of techniques and forgot all kinds of stuff, Gosoke passed me more out of pity than anything else.
Now I can really begin training, finally!

Came home and hiroko and I attempted to recreate the joy that was Genghis Kahn. She bought a rentan

which is different than a shichirin:

Shichirin is wider and shallower and uses charcoal, whereas a rentan is for special charcoal called, well, rentan:

We got the genghis 'helmet' plate:

and used the meat we bought and shipped from Hokkaido.
Unfortunately, the rentan is kind of deep, so the coals were too far away from the plate, but it all worked out in the end. It was cold on the balcony, but we persevered and had some fine eats.
Of course, by the time were done, the coals were a perfect white hot.
So for next time: put a grill or something in the bottom of the rentan to lift the coals up closer to the plate and to allow more airflow, start the coals early and let them burn for an hour until they're all white hot, and don't go outside until it's time to eat, because it's cold!

kimono date

Went to zazen practice in the afternoon, and then hiroko and I went on a kimono date to Ginza.
It was bit cold, so we bundled up. Tried the ginzamusubi style of obi tying:

And yes it is supposed to look kinda...droopy. hiroko was looking stylish as always, especially with her grandma's handmade silk coat.
First we headed to Mitsukoshi Department Store for the Okinawa Special Sale so that hiroko could buy her stinky tofu. We checked out all the local goods, including dragon fruit juice and mango juice

and they even had a demonstration of traditional weaving:

Afterwards we went over to Toyoda and had a fine feast. Hashimoto-san hooked us up the quality eats, and hiroko had some hirezake: warm sake with grilled pufferfish fin in it. Most of the alcohol is burnt off when pouring:

All photos.

mita station

mita station, originally uploaded by renfield.

hiroko's meat

Hiroko blogged about eating luscious meat in Sapporo. A must read for all non-vegetarians.

hokkaido summary

For those who just want the visuals, here's the short version:
Otaru, Sapporo, Hakodate, Moerenuma Park, Kuramure Resort.

grandpa's grave stone

grandpa's grave stone, originally uploaded by renfield.

Grandpa Jerry's grave stone was unveiled last night. Papa took this photo for me. Seems nice enough; not really sure how one is supposed to comment one one's dead grandfather's grave stone unveiling.
Not really thrilled about the big blank space on the left just sort of awaiting grandma's impending death. Nice that at some point in the future they'll be together...but I'd prefer it to be far, FAR in the future.

Hakodate, Hokkaido

Took an express train for several hours down to the southern end of the little bit of Hokkaido that sticks out on the bottom near Aomori. Hakodate is a wee fishing village with some interesting history in that it was a major port and has some of the first foreign buildings like the British Embassy Office and various churches. Again lots of cool late 19th and early 20th century architecture, a cool blend of Western, Japanese, and both.
Also rode about on the trolley, ate some killer seafood, and saw stunningly significant historical landmarks.

sapporo, hokkaido

Took the train from Otaru to Sapporo, grabbed some ramen for lunch, walked a couple blocks downtown and checked into the lovely Okura Hotel. Spending just one night in Sapporo, so we only had two missions:
1) Eat "Ghengis Khan"
2) See the holidy illuminations
Mission Accomplished!
Ah, the taste of fresh lamb cooked over real charcoal in a smoke-filled closet!

Ooh the glitter of lights and holiday cheer!

otaru, hokkaido day two

After a massive breakfast we shuttled down to the train and rode a couple stops to Otaru City proper. First we bussed down to the former villa of the Aoyama family, barons of herring fishing from the turn of the century. Lucky for me I am unable to read the Japanese signs that say "No photography", so I took lots of photos.

Herring fishing was obviously good for the Aoyama clan, because they spent a fortune on this house and the details are stunning, from the ceiling beams made of a single piece of timber (no more trees long enough to make such a thing anymore) to the staircase made of rare wood and put together without nails, the sinks carved out of a single block of marble, and the family heirlooms formerly owned by the Shogun.
We bussed back into town and wandered around the historical section, full of old brick warehouses and glass shops. There are also many brick buildings built at the turn of the century, including the old Bank of Japan branch and former post office.
Getting hungry we stumbled through the backstreets until we found Naruto, Otaru's famous fried chicken.

otaru, hokkaido day one

Landed in New Chitose Airport near Sapporo and hopped on the express train up to Otaru, a wee hot spring resort kind of town on the north/western side of the little southern bit of Hokkaido that sticks out below the big mass of Hokkaido to the north.
Van picked us up and took us to Kuramure. Wow. Awesome blend of modern/traditional Japanese architecture that Hiroko and I do so love. The building looks like a collection of old warehouses, and each room is it's own building; a full suite with bedroom, main room, second room, and a stone bath with hotspring water. There is also a main indoor and outdoor bath for men and for women, awesome common areas including a cool lounge, library with all kinds of old books, and a tea room. Meals were taken in the dining room, in our own private room. The food was, of course, stupendous.

Oh yeah, and ALL drinks, anywhere in the place, at any time, are included in the bill. Too bad Hiroko and I don't drink professionally, but she got to taste some lovely sake and I discovered that sweet white wine gives me a thumping headache and an allergic reaction after the forth glass.

pre-flight boot polish

pre-flight boot polish, originally uploaded by renfield.

kuroda family

kuroda family, originally uploaded by renfield.

KSchan

KSchan, originally uploaded by renfield.

suimoken

suimoken, originally uploaded by renfield.

Friday evening Gosoke sends me an email: "Cutting in the dojo 8pm Sat for tv crew." Huh? Seems the TV show Adomachikku Tengoku was shooting for an episode of the Nihonbashi Muromachi area where our Honbu Dojo is, and they wanted to get some shots of that gaijin doing that sword thing. I soaked a couple of targets and headed to the dojo. TV crew arrived and we explained the place so the director goes "OK start w/a zoom, and when he goes to cut, pull out and get the whole thing" and I tell him "Dude, that's impossible." He kind of looks at me funny and the cameraman goes "It's ok, I'm a pro." I look at him for a moment and realize he doesn't have the faintest clue what's about to happen, so I tell him "When I put my hand on my sword, the cut is over about three-tenths of a second later."
This doesn't seem to register so the director just says "Let's try it once" and so I sit down, he says "Go!" and I cut. The cameraman lowers his camera and stares at me. The lighting girl turns off the light and stares at me. The director stares at me. The dude with all the rolls of duct tape stares at me. Gosoke is off to the side and just laughs and laughs and finally says "A bit faster than you expected?" So the director says "OK...can we try it one more time?"
I end up cutting about five times, and then Hashimoto-san from Toyoda cuts a couple times (though not from the draw) and then the try to take digital photos. Again I remind him that unless he's got rapid-fire on his camera, there's no way he's going to get it. We spend the next ten minutes trying to take a photo of Hashimoto-san just as he's cut the target, and finally get a usable photo.
After the shoot I headed down to Toyoda where Hashimoto-san hooked us up with a fine bottle of Suimoken and some quality eats and we laughed about the shoot and wondered when and how much we'll be on tv.

garden gnome dogs?!

garden gnome dogs?!, originally uploaded by renfield.

dooood! new powerbook!

dooood! new powerbook!, originally uploaded by renfield.

home cookin'

Synth came over for his first home cooked meal in a while. Hiroko whipped up rice, fish, veggies; your basic Japanese food, warm and delicious.
We sat on the warm electric carpet and ate and went through a wee bit of one of Hiroko's sake bottles and spent a couple of hours talking smack and life.
I keep trying to get Synth to write a blog, because his life is marginally interesting and he does marginally interesting things like teach at Todai and hang out with The Man and what not. But being a fiction writer already I guess he can't scrape together the effort to actually write a marginally interesting blog. He's too busy figuring out how to end up in a bungalo in Venice Beach, CA.

click-clack

Only four in class today, and it's getting chilly, so we ran through some warmups and basics and then broke out the sticks. Nothing better than the clickety-clack of wood swords echoing in the dojo night.
First we paired up and worked on some basics: draw and cut, step in and finish. With a partner holding a target and moving backwards, it's much easier to get the feel of extending out, reaching out, not up or down, with the cuts.
Then we did ren, with one person in front and one standing behind. The key is again to extend forwards and then turn and extend forwards again, moving deeply into the enemy's space, taking control and connecting.
I admit to showing off and having a bit of fun. First I did "heavy" cuts; S-chan was standing behind me, her sword held horizontally to receive my second cut, and when I turned and cut I just sank into it, pushing her down into the floor. She kinda freaked a bit wondering how I did it. To be honest I'm not really sure how it works. I'm not actively trying to push down or anything, I just kind of thing "heavy" and then sort of sink through her in more of a downwardly way, but the trajectory of my sword isn't necessarily going down because I'm still extending the distance to reach her.
Then the next time around I cut way WAY out and knock her staggering back a couple meters. Again I'm not actively pushing her, but I'm just trying to cut forwards through her, with less of an impact and more of a continuous drive. It's all in moving from the center, though I'm not entirely able to explain it nor teach it, just something that kind of happens sometimes and that I can do on occasion on purpose. But it sure is fun.
After practice I ate a handful of frosted animal cookies. Nectar. Of. The. Gods. The Senpokan posse brings them for Niina-gosoke, so they pile up in the dojo, assaulting my self-control and my BMI. But so So SO good.