Jason in Japan

Hey guys, Jason here. These are some of the photos I took while in Japan. Tokyo is actually a conglomerate of "wards", or mini-cities, that are all bunched together. It's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. I didn't get alot of photos of actual training because, well, we were all training. The bujinkan makes a dvd of each daikomyosai, so I'll be able to get video of the training. I might even be in one of the crowd shots.

The Daikomyosai party was pretty cool. It's a chance for everybody to dress up and mix it up. I decided to go in a formal kimono and hakama that I bought a few years ago on ebay. I was the only guy in kimono, but there were a couple of the Japanese girls there in kimono. Alot of the Japanese coplimented me on my kimono. It was cool. Hey, when in Rome...

I had an interesting experience with the Word of Wisdom during this trip. After the boat dropped us off at the Tokugawa falconry park, we went to a traditional tea house at the park. I've always wanted to see a cha-no-yu, the Japanese tea ceremony. However, the tea ceremony is very formal with certain rules of etiquette for the tea master as well as the guests. We actually had to go through a short orientation before going into the tea house. They gave us instructions in english on how to act and perform during the taking of the tea. What was cool was all the guys in my group knew I was Mormon and did not drink tea. So at the part when we all had to drink the tea, Rey, who was sitting beside me, quickly drained his cup and switched cups with me when the tea server wasn't looking so I wouldn't brake protocal and offend the tea server. I got to talk alot with the guys about the Church on this trip. It was a good experience.

As you can see from the photos, I had a really good time with my bujinkan friends. It was a very rewarding experience. Ever since I was a kid in karate watching ninja movies I've dreamed of going to Japan. This was a dream come true for me. It was everything I'd hoped it would be. More photos to come