Steveston Kendo Club’s 53rd Tournament was held on Saturday. Feb. 14th in Richmond,

Canada. 7 of us participated and did well but no one came back with trophies. Team

Hawaii came one of top eight teams after winning two matches. Mr. Ray Murao, Head

Instructor of Steveston Kendo Club eulogized Hawaii Sensei’s, late Mr. Arnold Fukutomi

and late Mr. Gerald Matsubayashi in front of 310 participants and mentioned a long,

cordial relationship between Hawaii and Steveston Kendo Club. It was very nice of him

to do that. Let us keep our friendship for many more years through kendo.

 

Tokai University students from Japan are in town. They were at Kenshikan Dojo on

Wednesday, Feb. 25th. They will be with us on Sunday, March 1st at Kaimuki Honbu

Dojo. The delegation top is Kyoshi 8 Dan, Professor Yoshimura. The special starting

time is 8:30AM. Be there and watch if you cannot participate in the practice.

 

Shimada Toshio Sensei, Kyoshi 7 Dan from Chiba, is in Hawaii now. He practiced at

our dojo day of arrival on Wednesday, Feb. 25th, though he might have been very tired

with jet lag. He will come again on Wednesday, Mar. 4th. His dedication to kendo is

amazing. We are learning a lot from him. Come to our dojo and practice with him.

 

Nozawa Haruo Sensei, Hanshi 8 Dan from Saitama, will be in town from March 18th to

22nd. Ken Yu Kai dojo was kind enough to host him, his daughter (4 Dan) and his

granddaughter in Junior High School on Friday, March 20th. The main reason for his

coming was that his granddaughter wanted to practice kendo with Hawaii kenshis. I am

hoping that all young girls make efforts to come and practice and make a friend with her.

 

Hawaii Kendo Federation will have shinpan seminar on Sunday, March 29th at Kaimuki

Honbu Dojo from 8:30AM. President Nekomoto Sensei, urged all 3 dan and above

come and practice shinpan. She will keep attendance record for future references.

 

Team Hawaii is selling T-shirts and patches for World Kendo Championships as a fund

raise. They are selling a T-shirt for $23 and a patch for $5. The Championships will be

held in Tokyo on May 29th, 30th and 31st. Be supportive by getting some.

 

I was a sub-referee in a team match in recent Steveston Tournament. One team member

behind me outside of the court yelled a single Japanese word could be interpreted “Throw him to the floor.” I did not stop the match. After the match ended, I talked to the

captain of the team about the word. This team eventually took the championship. I was

so sorry for their sensei’s who taught them good enough to become champions but the

team had a person who uttered a word to lead to be considered them as a bunch of violent people. Kendo becomes a violent thing if you do not develop respect and honor toward opponents regardless winning or losing.