I travelled with my Sensei of 30 years, Yoshi Iwasaki who is a 7th Dan in Wado-Ryu and Yoshin-Ryu Jujitsu. He is also highly graded in Daito-Ryu Jujitsu under Noburo Suzuki Sensei. Although I had visited Japan over 20 years ago, I did not have such an impressive ‘guide’ as Sensei Iwasaki.

The JAL Flight was very long and I was carrying a back injury sustained from repetitive practice of Seishan so the 15 hours flight certainly did not help. Then there was the one hour standing in line at immigration where I met the Italian team, who high in spirits did not seem to mind the long delay. Shiomitsu Sensei, (8th Dan Chief Instructor of the Wado-Ryu Academy in Europe) was waiting uneasily outside for them. He hates waiting!

The problem with my back was further exasperated by another two and a half hour bus journey from Narita Airport to Yokohama – Iwasaki Sensei’s home-town where his brother, Nobuhide, was waiting to collect us from the station. I was not surprised to meet a tall, slim and distinctly Samurai looking gentleman when we got off the bus. Nobuhide is a 5th Dan Wado-Kai and teaches in the main Yokohama YMCA. He is a year younger than Sensei making him 55. Yokohama is a bustling metropolis, second largest city in Japan. With the impressively tall glass towers and wide boulevards, you would get no sense of being in Japan, apart from the undecipherable road signs. I scanned the entire area looking for something in English, but nothing. Nobuhide drove us back to the Iwasaki family home in his suped-up Mitsubishi, fully loaded and equipped with on-board GIS screen and satellite navigation. He is a rally driver in his spare time and so the trip back to their home was probably done in half the normal time. I was too tired to worry.

The men of the Iwasaki family: left to right, sensei Iwasaki, Mr Iwasaki Senior, Nobuhide Iwasaki.

Nobuhide’s wife had prepared a lovely meal of Sushi and beer. And after being re-introduced to the now very senior Mr Iwasaki (94 years) their father, we settled down in their formal, western style livingroom to eat and drink. The endless supply of Asahi beer finds willing consumers at the table and helps get over the language barrier. I speak no Japanese and although Nobuhide has a little English, Mr Iwasaki has none at all and insists on talking to me in Japanese even though I am completely at sea for a response. So I just smile and nod my head. Sensei laughs and occasionally tells me what he is saying. He very old, and so does not always make sense.

After our meal and drink, Nobuhide catapults us in that Mitsubishi of his to our hotel about 10 minutes away. Soon, I am soaking my aching back in a traditional Japanese hot-tub equipped with Jacuzzi style jets. Afterwards, I watched the evening news in Japanese. There was a big typhoon on the way, number 13 of the season which I thought auspicious since we had travelled on the 13th!


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