Author Archives: Andrew

Andrew

About Andrew

I am a graduate student who, while still pursuing his master's in education, is discovering his revitalized talent(s) of writing and martial arts. I've been training in Aikido for the past 3 years and still do on the occasional free weekend. You can follow me at my own blog at: dragonriderone.wordpress.com

Japanese Martial Arts: What is Aikido?
By Andrew

So for those of you who don’t know, on free weekends that I have I train in the Japanese martial art of Aikido. Most of you might have heard of the more popular Karate or Judo, but Aikido is an entirely different family of martial art.

Instead of my telling you what it is or what it does, I’d thought I’d try something different and give you guys three videos of detailing what I’ve believe will give you a good, basic, overall picture of what the martial art is about.

This first one is regarding Yoshinkan Aikido (合気道 養神館). Even though what this Sensei teaches is a different style of Aikido than the one that I am learning, I still appreciate his sincerity of his explanations of the art.

This second video os Morihei Ueshiba (植芝 盛平) O’Sensei (大先生) way back in the day. He is the one in white. Keep in mind he’s only 5 feet tall.

And the last video of a guy who trains not too far away from where I live. Apparently he goes to a school not far from where I train, but here he does some sick moves – and also he displays the general feel of what Aikido is like. Now I want to meet him! Oh and please forgive the music.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tiny window into what I do on my spare time. If any of you wish to ask me any questions regarding Aikido, feel free and I will answer them in the best way I can. Also I was wondering if you guys want a “Japanese Martial Arts” series; where I dedicate one post each week (or two) to a different Japanese martial art. Let me know. Thank you and till next time!

 

Tokyo most expensive city for Expats – CNBC
By Andrew

Just came across two articles where it appears that 3 out of the top 10 most expensive cities to live in for expats are in Japan. I suppose that’s no real surprise for those who have traveled to Japan – the country itself is notorious for its high prices for everything from cars, rent, to even fruits. This study was originally done by the international human resources consulting firm, Mercer.

Several things that struck out to me:

  • The categories for this list: one of the standards used was a “luxury two bedroom apartment”. Honestly, as a possible expat, I will most likely not be living in a luxury two bedroom apartment
  • Some of these cities are in Africa – isn’t Africa still a primarily developing continent? To have some unknown city in Angola be toe to toe with Tokyo is pretty cool yet very “left field”.
  • This doesn’t stop my future aspirations to travel!

Here’s the first article from News on Japan (dot) com. The second being from Yahoo!, who in turn got it from CNBC. Till next time, but for readers’ sake, here are the top 5 most expensive places to live for expats:

  1. Tokyo, Japan
  2. Luanda, Angola
  3. Osaka, Japan
  4. Moscow, Russia
  5. Geneva & Zurich (tied), Switzerland

 

Bunny Cafes
By Andrew

I don’t know about you guys, but this comes off as a little unreal. I’ve heard of the famous cat cafes in Japan, but this takes…fun to a whole new level. I like the one part where the it is discussed that begin around bunnies is a great stress reliever – I remember reading the article here of bunny cafes helping people cope with the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake. My question is: wouldn’t most domesticated animals be sufficient for stress relieve? I apologize, I’m a dog person talking.

My apologies for the long hiatus; since April I’ve been concentrating on my final project for graduate school. Now that I’ve graduated, I’m free! (for the most part). Till next time.

San Jose Japantown – Nikkei Matsuri 2012, April 29.
By Andrew

On the heels of the Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival, I went to the Nikkei Matsuri at San Jose’s Japantown on April 29th.

For those of you who aren’t aware the Japantown in San Jose of the few remaining Japantowns in the United States (one of three: San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles). It’s also one of the oldest – it was more or less established in the late 1880s if I remember correctly. San Jose’s Nihonmachi (日本町 – literally “J-town”) is still the site of great festivals and cultural events that still gather large crowds.

When I arrived in the morning at around 11am the main street was packed! Shops, artisans, what you’d normally see in a large festival was there. Not to mention the food! (because you know, at festivals it’s always about the food). Ended up just scoping out some of the stalls instead of buying – I’m poor, what can I say?

One of the highlights of the festival was the appearance of US Olympic skater Kristi Yamaguchi. You seriously can’t tell from her diminutive stature that she has performed in front of international crowds, won gold medals, and rubbed shoulders with world leaders.  She is seriously a great person to behold.

Without further ado, here are some photos from the festival:

The scene at 11am, great weather!

Shops like these were common among the festival

The scene in front of the iconic Roy's Coffee and Tea Station in J-town.

Just thought this t-shirt was awesome.

The food section...

The food court

Mock Kyudo at the festival

Kristi Yamaguchi signing autographs along with the lovely ladies of Japantown

Last but not least, here’s an excerpt of Ms. Yamaguchi’s speech during the festival. Hope you guys enjoy it. Till next time!

Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival – April 28, 2012
By Andrew

On April 28, 2012 I had the honor of being able to participate in an Aikido demonstration at the blossom festival here in the city of Cupertino, 40 minutes south of San Francisco.

As I mentioned in my bio, I have trained in Aikido for sometime and this is the 3rd time I’ve participated in the demonstration here, since when my dojo first started performing here.

It’s a big festival here. This particular one is in honor of the sister city relationship between Cupertino and Toyokawa (豊川市) and has been going on for a couple of decades. I’ve been living in this area for a while and I’ve never gone to this festival regularly until 3 years ago – and that was because I was a member of the dojo!

Below are a bunch of photos that I took before I had my performance.

There was Taiko

There was the giant duck pond in the park itself

The food area

No Festival is complete without beer and sake!

Arts and Crafts

Traditional music

The Aikido demo at the festival, the one of he right is my Sensei

Some Aikido black belts doing their thing.

Sorry I didn’t get too much of the other events, I just came for my dojo’s demo and I had to go to work an hour later. Nonetheless I hope you guys enjoy my reporting of this festival. Next up, the Nikkei Matsuri!

And as a treat, I present to you my dojo’s Aikido demo: