Mr. Gordon Shoji from Seattle visited our club on May 31st and June 7th. He and his

family took care of our beloved sensei, Mr. James Oka, when he collapsed on dojo floor

and passed away several days later. Mr. Shoji plans to visit us periodically.

 

Shimada Toshio Sensei, Kyoshi 7 Dan, from Chiba visited Hawaii from June 18th

through 29th. He visited our dojo on June 21st and had a wonderful instruction for us.

It was nice to see other sensei’s interpretation of kendo practices. Be open to visiting

senseis’ instructions. You may learn same things with different interpretations.

 

Our club members did well in Leeward Oahu Kendo Tournament on June 25th. Kano

Hashimoto and Jessica Sneed came in 3rd in Women’s Yudansha Division. Shoshi

Hashimoto was 1st and Yoshinori Imagawa was 2nd in Yudansha 1 Dan and 2 Dan

Division. Marvin Acklin was 3rd in Yudansha Masters 45 years and over Division. Also

3rd in this division was Elbert Yoshida, Mililani Kendo Club member, but comes to our

practice regularly. Congratulations to them. I was happy to see that everyone showed

much improvements.

 

Our practice is cancelled on Wednesday, July 5th. The facility is not available for us.

We are very happy to have Inoue Kazuyoshi Sensei, Kyoshi 7 Dan, from Fukuoka visit

us again from July 7th till 17th. He plans to visit some dojos including our dojo on

Wednesday, July 12th. You are invited to join us on July 12th. He is a wonderful

sensei. You can learn a lot from him.

 

Jason Caravalho of Hilo Renshinkan Dojo will be participating in Foreign Kendo

Leaders’ Seminar also known as Summer Camp in Kitamoto City, Japan, from July 21st

through 28th. He will be taught by 1st class senseis of Japan and can make kendo

friends from all over the world. I want everyone to go there someday to experience this

great seminar. If you are eligible to take Dan examination, they have one up to 6 Dan

on the last day of the seminar.

 

Normally I do not contact persons who stop showing up for kendo practices. This was

adopted from my high school teacher, Mr. Mitsusada Inoue’s philosophy, “Kuru mono

wa kobamazu. Saru mono wa owazu,” “Not rejecting persons who come. Not chasing

after persons who leave.” However, when this enthusiastic person who diligently came

to practice disappeared from kendo practices all of a sudden, I got so curious about

why. I contacted him. He told me that he had been taking care of his aging mother. I

told him that I envy him because he still has his mother with him. I continued to tell him

to take care of his mother while he has her. Kendo is a life long thing. He can come

back when time arises. Kendo is good and very important for your wellbeing. But,

families, jobs and schools come before kendo.

2017