PRICE £1.50 英国北西部日英協会 · called “Meifu Shinkage Ryu”. This school comes from a traditional Samurai school which focus on using different objects to protect

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NEW YEAR 2012 NUMBER 31

VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.JSNW.ORG.UK 1

NEWSLETTER

英国北西部日英協会Japan Society North West

PRICE £1.50

Enchanted Afternoonwith Noriko Ogawa

On a cold, stormy afternoon on 4thDecember, the Barbirolli Room at theBridgewater Hall in Manchester was filledwith cosy warmth. The world-renownJapanese pianist, Noriko Ogawa, playedseveral short pieces by Claude Debussy,interspersed with conversation with PeterDavison, artistic consultant to theBridgewater Hall (right, in the photobelow). Noriko spoke of her life as apianist, as well as introducing the series ofexciting events lined up for 2012, named“Reflections on Debussy”, starting from20th January. The events commemoratethe 150th anniversary of Debussy’s birth,and shed some light on the closerelationship between the composer andJapan. (visit www.bridgewater-hall.co.ukfor more details).



Did you attend our Shuriken event in September? The event was organized by David Castan, who is a martial artinstructor, as well as a conflict management and self-defence trainer. In this issue, he shares with us his experienceof learning Martial Arts in Japan from two Grand Masters: Yasuyuki Otsuka and Masaaki Hatsumi. He also introducesus to various Martial Art philosophies that apply so well to our daily lives. He teaches Martial Arts in his studio inManchester city centre. Please visit senkidojo.co.uk for more details.

How was it? 聞かせて！日本の話

Member’s Experience in Japan

What are the reasons that some of us areso intrigued and attracted to the Samurai?I grew up reading books of Knights andSamurai warriors up to the point thatmaybe I have become a modern day “DonQuijote.” The heroic stories of theKnights chivalry and the codes ofconduct of the Samurai; truth, honour,correctness, courage, politeness, loyaltyand benevolence take us to a time wherethe moral behaviour of a person wasmore important that selfishness andgreed.Nowadays we do tend to live busy lives,where our direction can be focused onmaterial gain or ego. Society in itself hasmade us into a state where we alwayshave to think about tomorrow and don’thave any time for the present. These are some of thereasons why I travel to Japan at least once a year. On thisopportunity, I would like to share my personal experienceand thoughts on my last visit, training with two greatJapanese Masters; Grand Master Yasuyuki Otsuka andGrand Master Masaaki Hatsumi.In May 2011 I went to Japan to visit these teachers. Family,friends and students were of course concerned about mysafety after the horrific events of the tsunami and apotential aftermath. However this didn’t stop me fromattending and I have to admit this action was a combinationof “braveness and foolishness.” Admittedly, there werefewer than usual number of students, but there were stillothers like me that attended the training regardless. Also

many people came to Japan includingvolunteers that gave their time andpotentially risked their lives to help others.This still shows that in time of need, themoral values and principles do come to life.On my arrival in Japan I first attended thetraining camp of Yasuyuki Otsuka Sensei,who is the head of the Martial Arts Schoolcalled “Meifu Shinkage Ryu”. This schoolcomes from a traditional Samurai schoolwhich focus on using different objects toprotect yourself in battles, mostly Shuriken(throwing small sword) and Kusari (chainand weight). Shuriken is mostly used todistract the attacker so that you have timeto escape or potentially counter-attack.Kusari is used mostly to strike using theweight in the chain with a swinging motion.I first met Otsuka Sensei back in 2009 in his

Dojo (training hall) where his humbleness and simplicityattracted me to this style of Martial Arts. This feeling ofhumbleness is definitely something that some instructorsin the West should practice.We trained constantly under the guidance of Otsuka Sensei,executing different methods of throwing shurikens. Wepracticed the movements to the point that you just focusprecisely on the moment and nothing else. Mind, body andspirit have to become one in order to achieve a goodtechnique. Through training diligently and with patienceyou come to realise that these three need to be in perfectharmony in order to obtain perfection.Otsuka Sensei demonstrated these skills perfectly to a veryhigh standard. It didn’t seem that he put much powertrying to throw the shurikens but they seemed to flyeffortlessly on their own towards the target.At times it was very hot and it could become difficult tofocus. Also during my training I experienced feelings offrustration and a mild anger towards the target, whichmeant that my shurikens would not hit the target and someof them even bounced back at me potentially hitting me. Itwas only when I calmed down and remembered that OtsukaSensei asked me to focus on the saying of his teacher on aprevious occasion, that I made improvements on mytechnique. This is the saying:“You

David Castan

A bedroom in Dōzen Ryokan

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” by Chikatoshi Someya Sensei

This is “Shin-da” (truly striking, truly pierced)(This was mentioned to me by Otsuka Sensei during theSeminar in Barcelona in November 2010 that was arrangedby the representative and excellent martial artist in Spain,Mr Daniel Esteban.)I have always been a thinker and I was able to translate thissaying on my physical training with shuriken into the dailylife. When we are angry and just think about actingaggressively, we are not in control, making mistakes andpossible negative actions will bounce back at us due to ourresponse. This is very much like Shuriken training. Theshurikens were connected to me and it was only when I hadcontrol of my emotions that I improved on my technique. Itis also very similar to a principle that is used in “ConflictManagement” that I put in practice when teaching SecurityOperatives dealing with aggressive behaviour.At times of rest we stayed in Dōzen Ryokan, a traditional-style Japanese guest house, which has been operating sinceMeiji era (the end of 19th century) in Sasagawa, Chiba

Prefecture. This place is usedvery often for Martial Artstraining groups as it is veryspacious with full ofdifferent rooms with slidingdoors. It did remind me ofthe Samurai movies I usedto watch when I was a child.In the morning beforetraining I relaxed in thegardens of the guest house,observing a large Koi carpfish swim and wonderingwhat it was thinking. I hada feeling that the Koi carpwas actually thinking thesame about me. At night we

all slept in one room with the typical futon mattress whichis just placed on the floor. For the first night I didn’t sleepvery well, because I was used to sleeping on a soft mattress.After the second day my sleep improved and I felt thebenefits of sleeping on a traditional futon mattress. It isvery good for your back.One of the mornings I experienced an aftershock (smallearthquake). This lasted for about five seconds, duringwhich everything moved. Japanese constructions are verywell built for these types of events, but it did still remindme how fragile everything was and of the great power ofnature. I then went to the room where Otsuka Sensei washaving a bath and asked if he was all right. Otsuka Senseismiled as usual and said “all ok!” It did surprise me howrelaxed and calm he was. In Japan people are used to thesetypes of events. It is a strange feeling to know thatsomething might happen anytime unexpectedly and notknowing the outcome. Then again this is a reminder of theimportance of “living in the present”.After the training camp in Sasagawa, I thanked OtsukaSensei and said goodbye to the rest of the students. Someof them came all the way from Europe like me, includingItaly, Germany, Sweden and Finland. I then headed to Noda,in Chiba Prefecture to train with Hatsumi Sensei and carried

on with my Martial Arts training at his Dojo in Noda and theworld famous Martial Arts centre “Budokan” in Tokyo.Hatsumi Sensei is the Grandmaster of nine traditionalschools of Martial Arts including the “Togakure RyuNinjutsu” (School of the Hiding Door). This is a school thatteaches Shinobi skills or the better-known name of “Ninja.”Hatsumi Sensei has been given many awards for his workon sharing Martial Arts by different organisations, bothnational and foreign.Hatsumi Sensei refers to his organisation, “Bujinkan Dojo”(training hall of divine warriors), as an organisation ofpeace. I truly believe this, as at times hundreds of studentsfrom all over the world get together for a common goalwhich is training. It does sound confusing as we practice anart of combat with the ultimate goal of achieving peace.This is very much like Zen. (Continued on page 6)

Otsuka Sensei throwing Shuriken

Training at Otsuka Sensei’s Dojo

David with Otsuka Sensei



Just go out and bearound the people

who like the samethings. You are

usually kept withpeople whodon’t like thesame thing. You

find people wholike the same thing

and it’s soothingand nice, nicefeeling.(at MCM Expo)

I think I can be myself, because Itry to be too serious at

university. At the moment,I’m trying to find a job and

it’s very stressful. I likedoing cosplay just toget away from that all. I

made all of this myself.Took me a month. It’s a

good hobby. Mymother is also into itand likes to buy methe material for the

cosplay. It’s easy to figureout what I want for theChristmas present; lots oflots of fabrics.

(at Doki Doki)

The year 2011 was a big year for Cosplayfans in Manchester, because there weretwo major Cosplay events; MCM Expo inJuly and Doki Doki in November. Both ofthem were held for the first time inManchester. Now, what is Cosplay? It is a“costume play”, where people dress up

What Does Cosplay Mean To You?

You get tobecome thecharacter yougrew up with.The characterwas alwaysthere since Iwas little. It

feels good tobecome that

character. I cameall the way from

Ireland today.(at MCM Expo)

I do it to makefriends, really.

I dressed asfemale today,

because it’smore eye-

catching that way.(at Doki Doki)

It’s just apastime. (at MCM

Expo)

It’s a general hobbythat lots of people do.

(at MCM Expo)

It’s just a chance to besomething that’s not yourself and

release stress and get away fromeveryday life. The wings took about2 weeks to build. Made everything

from scratch. These are cardboard.(at Doki Doki)

It’s a way of showing mylove for Anime, andappreciation for it.

(at MCM Expo)

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It’s totally fun todress up as someone

totally different.(at Doki Doki)

Just fun. It’s fun to goaround and meet peopleand be somebody else

for the day. I made this onmy own. Hand-sewn.(at MCM Expo)

It’s way of playing loose andhaving some fun. It’s a way

to allow a differentpersonality to take

over. In everyday life,you have to behavein a certain way anddo things in a certainway, but when you do

cosplay, it’s not thesame; you put a

costume on, and youbecome a different

person with differentpersonality. So it’s a

lot of fun.(at Doki Doki)

like their favourite character in Animes, video games, andmovies. But why do they do Cosplay? Our Newsletter Editorconducted a survey at both events just to find out WHYthey do what they do. The question was “What doesCosplay mean to you?” So, let’s find out what they had tosay. (Maybe JSNW can include Cosplay in its Japan Days inthe future? )

What Does Cosplay Mean To You?

I like crafts and creatingthings, so for me, it’sabout sewing andpainting. It’s quitestressful making outfitsand trying to find all ofthe right material, but

it’s nice to come outhere and see everyoneelse’s outfits, and

hearing people saynice things about

my outfit.(at MCM Expo)

It’s everything.It gives me

something todo, makes

me morecreative,and it

just mademe moreconfident.(at MCM Expo)

You get tobecome yourfavouritecharacter. It’sfun, becausethey areawesome! Ibought thiscostume. Ipaid extrafor this.(at MCMExpo)

Just a way tobecome anindividual, being

different fromother peoplefor a day. I

made this onmy own. Tookme 3 weeks.(at Doki Doki)



On the first day of training Hatsumi Sensei demonstratedthe use of the rope to protect yourself. He mentioned theprinciple of not focusing too much on having it or using it,as your mind will be set about attacking and not defending,and this is the time when you will get hit. Also if you lostyour weapon, your mind will also be lost with it, notknowing what to do next. He told us that your correctfeelings in dealing with the attacker and body movementare important aspects, instead of being too attached to theweapon.I thought about this principle where in a modern society we

are very attached to material things and detached fromindividuals. An example of this is when we can’t find ourmobile phone or our car is not working. For a while weactually don’t know what to do and potentially we couldlose essential time to find alternatives. We can also get veryupset thus affecting our thought processes and preventingdealing with the situation in the correct manner.I continued to observe Hatsumi Sensei’smovement when executing a technique;he was relaxed and calm but verypowerful at the same time. HatsumiSensei is 80 years old, but age doesn’tseem to matter as skill seemed to bemore important than mere force. I havebeen studying Hatsumi Sensei’smovements for 20 years and I still seenew things.Hatsumi Sensei mentioned about theimportance of understanding theprinciples of the bases including the fiveelements. Chi (earth), Sui (water), Ka(fire), Fu (wind) and Ku (void). He saidthat these universal forces of naturework together and against it constantlyand that you most adapt to yourattacker’s element by using also thecorrect element, in this way you are notactually fighting against it but workingwith the natural laws of nature.

I can put this intoperspective. Whenthere is an argumentbetween two per-sons, one of themmight be shoutingaggressively (fire)and the other onetalking in a calmingvoice having self-control (water). Thesecond person mightbe able to deal withthis threat by apply-ing common senseand giving positivealternatives to theverbal attacks. Now,if the second personalso shouts andbehaves aggressively(fire against fire) it will only be a matter of time where thesituation could escalate to a point of no return, making thesituation worse. This is also a concept of Conflict Manage-ment.My training proceeded for two weeks practicing techniquesand trying to understand different concepts. Before I left,Hatsumi Sensei painted a scroll for me; he likes doing thisat times during the lessons. Hatsumi Sensei is also an artistand likes to write in calligraphy a word that describesMartial Art concept in Kanji (Japanese/Chinese letters).On my last day before returning to England I visited the“Kannon temple” in Asakusa, this is one of the oldesttemples in Tokyo. Before entering the temple you mustwalk through the “gate of thunder” where a warrior god isstanding on each side. These warriors are a representationof protection of the temple to keep away negative forces. Istayed for a few minutes looking at them and

understanding the meaning of thesesculptures.I believe we must do the same withthese traditional Martial Artsconcepts, even in different culturesand traditions. These must beprotected, shared and not distortedso that they are not lost over time, inorder to help individuals and futuregenerations to understand theimportant values of life. After all, the“gate of thunder” is a path to enterand not a barrier to stop individualsfrom moving forward.I left Japan with a feeling ofachievement, looking forward tolearning from my future experiencesgood… and bad.

Hatsumi Sensei doing caligraphy

Ornaments at the Bujinkan Headquarter

Armour at Hatsumi Sensei’s Dojo

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Past Events Report

Good Bye from your EditorFor three and a half years, I have tried my best to bring to you interesting and meaningfulNewsletters. However, due to some changes in my life circumstances, I have finally decided to stepdown. When I took over in 2008, I created three new columns: Focus on Members, Member’sExperience in Japan, and Japan Day In-depth. Through them, I hope I managed to introduce othermembers’ profiles, their unique experiences in Japan, and more details of the Japan Dayparticipants. In this issue, I have created the first “centre-fold”, featuring the increasingly popularpastime of Cosplay. I hope this feature will help you understand why it’s so popular. I would liketo express my sincere gratitude to those who have contributed to creating the Newsletter. If youhave any comments about my Newsletter, please send an email to [email protected]. AlthoughI’m stepping down as editor, I will remain as a Committee member, and continue to hold theconversation evenings in Manchester. I hope to see you soon at one of our events.

Kevin Howes, David Castan, Joan Horley.

BBōōnenkainenkai

Doki DokiDoki DokiKabukiKabuki

Tatton ParkTatton Park

the article on pages 4-5). On 19th November, we hadour first film viewing event. This time, we enjoyedwatching Kabuki, a traditional Japanese play. We areplanning to have more of this in the future. Our annualBonenkai on 10th December was a perfect way to wrapup the year. After we enjoyed the food prepared byTaka, one of our members, John Roberto, entertainedus with his Origami demonstration. Many membersparticipated in our Bonenkai photo contest, with KevinHowes receiving by far the largest number of votes.Members also participated in choosing the design ofour new Society flyer. Look out for the new design inthe new year!

Our Autumn-Winter season was markedby various events. On 16th October, theparticipants in the guided tour of TattonPark Japanese Garden were blessed witha beautiful sunny day. They enjoyed aspecial tour of the garden with TattonPark’s head gardener, Sam Youd.On 13th November, the first Doki Dokievent was held at Sugden Sports Centrein Manchester. This was not a JSNWevent, but JSNW supported it andparticipated in it. The venue was packedwith people in Cosplay costumes (see



Local NewsFocus on MembersIt’s again the time for focusing on our members! This time, we have three group member representatives. Questionsasked were: 1. When did you become a member? 2. Why did you become a member? 3. Is there anything you’d likeus to do as an event? Let’s find out what they have to say!

1. Sept.24th. 2011. 2. Because I wantto get an opportunity to meetforeigners who are interested inJapan. 3. I do Kendo, so somethingto do with Kendo would be nice.

1. July 2011. 2. I lived inJapan for about 2 years,where I studied Japanese andtaught English. Now I amback in the UK, I really want-ed to meet Japanese people,mainly so I could practice mylanguage skills. I am alsoreally interested in Japaneseculture and history and I loveJapanese food. So I want the

opportunity to continue learning about Japan andexperience more Japanese culture in England. 3. I amreally keen to be involved in any event regardinglanguage exchange and anything else to do withJapanese culture.

1. September 2011.2. I have a fascination with Japan from its engineering calibre to it's language, martial arts,history and culture. I would really like to work in Japan after my masters in engineering but Idon't know anyone from there nor do I speak Japanese.But there are a few grant schemes each year for graduates who are willing to stay in Japan forover a year, learn the language and work in a company. I am hoping that experiences with JSNWand other Japan-related Societies will give me a stronger application by showing more initiative.3. Can we do some events at a traditional Japanese house?

1. July, 2011.2. I wanted to understand furtherabout Japanese culture, have theopportunity to gain new skills,make new friends and be able toshare my personal experience onJapanese culture with othermembers. 3. All events that youpromote are good....maybe Zenmeditation workshop?? (I can get amonk!) Members might benefit from it.

1. Sept. 24th, 2011.2. I decided to join the society becauseI now live in the north-west, and thereis little in the way of Japanese people orculture in this part of the UK. I thoughtjoining the group would be a good wayof keeping in touch with Japanese peo-ple, and others interested in culture, aswell as having an opportunity at leaston occasion, to practice speaking Nihongo. 3. Tea ceremony.

1. Lancashire Aikikai becamea group member with theJSNW over five years ago.2. I myself became interestedin the JSNW when I firstattended a talk on theJapanese language and

“Kanji”put on by the JSNW many years back. I’mfortunate that I live in Warrington and therefore closeto a lot of the venues. The JSNW allows us to find outmore about Japanese culture, to share ourexperiences, knowledge, and to meet up with like-minded people. My own personal view is that our twoisland nations have much in common and share similarhistories and “outlooks” but also have differences thatcan be celebrated and embraced and that can betransferred, exchanged and shared which bothenriches our lives and builds friendship andunderstanding. 3. Just keep up the good work. We canoffer to put on a talk or taster session on aikido, onewhich can appeal or include all ages and abilities,especially reaching out to those who wouldn’t normallycome to a martial art club but would be interested infinding out about or trying the experience.

1. Last year, just before Japan Day.2. We learned about JSNW through theads for the Japan Day 2010, so wedecided to become a group member. Imyself have been doing martial art for28 years. It’s just in my blood. 3. JapanDay is good.

Documents

PRICE £1.50 英国北西部日英協会 · called “Meifu Shinkage Ryu”. This school comes from a traditional Samurai school which focus on using different objects to protect