Preparation

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I'm sitting at home and finally got my blog running. The decision was made to write it in english in order to make it available for everybody. My Parents have a capable translator at home and for the parents in law it is a challenge i like to pose. They try to improve their english at the moment, so this should be good practice. Tomorrow we head to Japan. My girlfriend will stay for 3 and I for 5 weeks. Why is she leaving earlier? She has to attend university classes and I'm going to engage in lots of kendo for the last two weeks in Fukuoka, which were organised by Shinsuke Murakami, who helps me very patiently to improve my kendo.

Our emotions switch between pleasant anticipation and nervousness. This time I'm the only one who knows a little japanese and we are going to meet a lot of people who speak this language predominantely. Well I have to use the little I know as best as I can. Hopefully I'm not going to make to many awkward mistakes. But I'm sure the people I will meet, will have some sympathy.

Our trip is going to take us from Tokyo, through Kyoto and Osaka to Kagoshima. From there we had back north through Kumamoto, Hiroshima and maybe one or two other places before we are back in Tokyo on the 2nd of November. My girlfriend will leave on the 3rd and I'm going to watch the All Japan Kendo Championships live, which I'm looking forward to it. On the 4th I will go back to Fukuoka, but make a stop in Mishima to visit Haga-sensei, who was in Innsbruck this september for a gasshuku. In Fukuoka I will stay until the 18th before I had back to Tokyo and then home to Innsbruck.

Important trips:

Ibaraki Sojikan dojo with Otsuka-sensei organised; by Isoyama-san (also very patient with me 😉

Nara with Midori Minohara

Osaka and Kobe with Maeno-sensei and Okamoto-sensei

Kagoshima were I meet Sueno-sensei once again; organised by Kamemoto-sensei (very very patient)

Kumamoto to meet Nogutchi-sensei

The rest is not fixed yet but I will keep you updated through this blog.

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