In the latest issue of ‘The Token-kai’ newsletter, there is an article of mine featured which I was asked to write a while back. The article has been translated and you’ll find the text below.
Upon asking permission from Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi to write about his school, when I visited his house in mid June, I also had the distinct pleasure of being shown his private collection of swords and antique items, which was a moment of both insight and honor for me, and left me with a very warm feeling in my heart. I would like to express my deep gratitude for this rare opportunity.
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‘Home town pride’ Noda city.
‘World famous martial arts Dojo’ –Yoshiyuki Matsumoto-
My birthplace is Noda city, the northern most city of Chiba prefecture, bordering Ibaraki and Saitama prefecture.
To the east runs Tone River and to the west Edo River flows. During the Edo era, these water ways were used for shipping purposes by the booming Soy sauce industry to supply Edo with the much demanded delicacy. Nowadays, the international Kikkoman corp. and the local Kinoene corp. supplies one third of Japan’s Soy, making Noda city the biggest Soy production city in Japan.
During my childhood, eating habits were slightly different compared with today, and recently, we are told to be more careful since Soy sauce contains a lot of salt. However, I personally still love to use Soy sauce on my cabbage and on my Aji-fry.
Lately, Noda city has also being frequently featured on TV as a place visited by large groups of foreigners from all corners of the earth. They arrive on the Tobu Noda line, getting off at the closest station, Atago, heading for the Bujinkan Honbu Dojo.
The Bujinkan was organized in the 1970’s by Hatsumi Masaaki, who is the grandmaster of the school and still keeps going strong at the age of 83. This martial art has become famous for its practicality when teaching traditional skills such as unarmed fighting, sword etc. Hatsumi sensei’s students are not only martial artists, but some of them are specialists in different areas of law-enforcement, military special ops and so on. I have been told that there are over 100,000 members from more than 50 countries around the world, and sometimes there are more than 100 students visiting the Dojo at the same time.
Some of these students have been friends of my father’s for more than 20 years, with an interest in Japanese swords. Many of them come to visit us when they are in Japan for a while. My father, who doesn’t speak English at all, has great respect for his foreign customers and has never once experienced any problems. Sometimes a sword has been paid for the next time the buyer comes to Japan. At one point, a customer tragically died, but before passing on, he asked his students to bring the remaining amount to Japan on their next trip.
This spirit of honesty and loyalty is one reason, I am so very proud of my home town and the relationships that are formed here.
