Tip #1 to begin preparations for a journey where the signposts are unfamiliar, where the new worlds you see reveal elements in yourself that you never knew existed.
Honeybees, I've observed have four gears, four speeds.
First gear is "overnight" the slowest movement, just enough to keep their hive warm and cozy.
Second gear is normal daytime activity that includes hive brood maintainance.
Third gear is nectar speed older sister field bees return to the hive and transfer nectar to their younger sibling hive bees.
Fourth gear is a kind of a bee hyper speed overdrive when the oldest super pollen carrier big sisters have returned home with bulging loads of pollen to unload. Their younger "tween" sisters pack the pollen away in a kind of rainbow over the brood nursery honey comb.
Before I started teaching, I had a pretty standard image of the classic classroom: rows of desks facing the podium in front of the room. Later came the typical college style lecture hall. At best, uninspiring institutional architecture.
Then I took my first class with Dr. Barbara Clark in Martin Luther King Memodrial Hall, California State University Los Angeles. Her’s was a wide departure from the norm:
I walked into a large room covered by a brightly colored area carpet, soft furniture including students seated in bean bag chairs, others on the carpeted floor in a circle. Inspirational posters on the walls but not a single desk in the room. It felt like we were meeting in Barbara’s home or in a traditional Japanese home instead of an institution.
I learned from Barbara that teachers were in the wonderful and unusual position of being able to redesign their classrooms to be student centered. Now this was an environment that felt like a good place to learn.
Over the years, I realized that I was unconsciously following the same code of conduct that my samurai ancestors did historically.
My teacher code of conduct is the same as the 7 samurai virtues:
1. Respect
2. Sincerity
3. Honesty
4. Honor
5. Loyalty
6. Justice
7. The Courage to conduct your life by the first principles.
8. 良い例 Some say there might be an 8th Virtue:To set a good example.
Popular media portrays samurai as loyal and fierce warriors, but according to everything I’ve read, samurai spent less than 3% of their time in warrior mode. Most of their duties were administrative, building community, taking care of those needing help. In fact the word samurai means servant.
Two ways of writing the word samurai in Japanese.
The word samurai is composed of two component kanji radicals:
a man on the left, on the right a temple.
It comes from the word “saburai” rooted in the verb “saburau” meaning “to serve”.
Yagyu Munenori lived from 1571 to 1646 and served as the sword master and a key leader in the Tokagawa Shogunate (essentially serving as the director of intelligence and the author of a key book on swordsmanship called the Heiho Kadensho, one of the most influential martial arts books ever written.
Munenori established the idea of a “killing sword” and a “life-giving sword.” Using the life-giving sword, a martial artist does not lose but also does not strive to win.
One of the strongest principles Yagyu Munenori instilled in his students was the idea that swordsmanship was not a skill learned to kill but rather to fully realize one’s true self.
At this point, after 9 visits to Japan I sense that while popular media has focused on the "life-taking”sword, setsunin-to, the essence of sword resonates with the... “life-giving sword, katsujin-ken --Toby Manzanares
Bushido. Samurai Virtues.
At their peak, Samurai numbered less than 10% of Japan's population yet their teachings can still be found today in everyday life.
In 1274 and 1281 Mongols and Chinese mounted great military expeditions to cross the sea and attack Japan but each time typhoons destroyed their fleets and doomed theinvasions. The only times the Great Kubla Khan was defeated. These great invasion attempts unified the many Japanese clans against the threat of external invasion for the first time in their history.
While samurai were trained in strategy and the martial arts, a measure of how they spent their time shows they were administrators, leaders, teachers for more that 99% of their duties.They employed their training and were dedicated to the arts of helping people. Take a look at the code of bushido. All 8 virtues are community centered.
As a sensei, a teacher we have the same code of virtues.
人 PEOPLE
“Your great grandfatherKobayakawa was Samurai.” -- Tamaki Patricia Ishihara to her son.
His code of conduct:
Benevolence and compassion in taking care of and protecting people.
1. Respect
2. Justice
3. Honesty
4. Honor
5. Loyalty
6. Sincerity
7. The Courage to conduct your life by the first principles.
8. 良い例 Some say there might be an 8th Virtue:To set a good example.
http://www.thebushidocode.com/loyalty.html
BUSHIDO: originally... to serve
Following Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan drew on its strong sense of honor, discipline and devotion to community–in order to rebuild itself and reemerge as one of the world’s greatest economic and industrial powers. https://www.history.com/topics/japan/samurai-and-bushido
The unwritten Samurai code of conduct, known as Bushido, held that the true warrior must hold that loyalty, courage, veracity, compassion, and honor as important, above all else. An appreciation and respect of life was also imperative, as it added balance to the warrior character of the Samurai.
Though some scholars have criticized Nitobe’s work as romanticized yearning for a non- existent age of chivalry, there’s no question that his work builds on extraordinary thousand-year-old precepts of manhood that originated in chivalrous behavior on the part of some, though certainly not all, samurai. What today’s readers may find most enlightening about Bushido is the emphasis on compassion, benevolence, and the other non-martial qualities of true masculinity.
Here are Bushido’s Eight Virtues as explicated by Nitobe:
I. Justice
Bushido refers personal justice, is one of it’s central virtues, one’s power to decide upon a course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering. Without justice neither talent nor learning can make samurai.’
II. Courage
Bushido distinguishes between bravery and courage: Courage is worthy of being counted among virtues only if it’s exercised in the cause of Justice. Confucius said: ‘Perceiving what is right and doing it not reveals a lack of Courage.’ In short, ‘Courage is doing what is right.’
III. Benevolence or Mercy
Love, magnanimity, affection for others, sympathy and pity, are traits of Benevolence, the highest attribute of the human soul. Both Confucius and Mencius would have said the highest requirement of a teacher is Benevolence.
IV. Politeness
Courtesy is rooted in benevolence: Courtesy and good manners have been noticed by every foreign tourist as distinctive Japanese traits. But Politeness should be the expression of a benevolent regard for the feelings of others.The highest form Politeness approaches love.
V. Honesty and Sincerity
Bushido encouraged thrift, not for economical reasons so much as for the exercise of abstinence. Luxury was thought the greatest menace, and severe simplicity was required of samurai.
VI. Honor
The sense of Honor, a vivid consciousness of personal dignity and worth, characterized the samurai, who were born and bred to value the duties and privileges of their profession. Fear of disgrace hung like a sword over the head of every samurai ... True patience means bearing the unbearable.’
VII. Loyalty
Only in the code of chivalrous Honor does Loyalty assume paramount importance.
VIII. Character and Inner Discipline
Bushido teaches that we should behave according to the highest moral standard, those that transcends logic. It is our obligation to teach children moral standards through the model of our own behavior: The first objective of samurai education was to build up Character. The subtler faculties
of prudence, intelligence, and dialectics were less important. Intellectual superiority was esteemed, but knowledge is nothing without action. Choosing compassion over confrontation, and benevolence over belligerence, teachers, samurai demonstrate ageless qualities.
Tim Clark blogs at Soul Shelter with novelist Mark Cunningham and is the author of The Swordless Samurai. https://acelebrationofwomen.org/2017/03/the-bushido-code-the-eight-virtues-of-the- samurai/
Master sword smith Gassan Sadatoshi at 5:36
This presentation on Kendo: The Principles of the Sword by Tusha Buntin contains the best perspective of Gassan Sadatoshi forging a samurai sword.
"Since ancient times, wood has been contemplated with reverence in Japan. Even after being cut, it’s been seen as a living being. Shinto, the country’s original religion, viewed trees as divine, a means by which the gods descended to earth. Later, Buddhism taught that the Buddha attained enlightenment outdoors, beneath a tree.”--Corinne Kennedy
George Nakashima's home: "One of the most iconic designers and craftsmen of the 20th century, George Nakashima (1905 - 1990) left a significant mark on modern design. In fact, the Japanese-American woodworker’s influence can be seen everywhere today. (The popular live-edge tables? That’s him.)
His hallmark was reusing parts of trees, sometimes leaving whole logs virtually intact. His belief was that when you made furniture, you created a new life for a tree." --by GOODEE (on Instagram). This Nakashima article contributed by Patricia Vining.
The last time we were in Tokyo Patricia and I took our friend Jim Reed to Isetan, our primier Tokyo department store where we saw a large "live edge” table top made extra beautiful by the "butterfly" inserts. It was a perfect example of Wabi sabi. See the video:
Patricia Vining and Jim Reed talk about Shabui and wabi sabi in Shinjuku Tokyo.
We found that table so appealing that when we returned home, Patricia was able to commission Brian Benham, a craftsman to make our "living edge” floating butsudan.
You can find Brian at... https://www.benhamdesignconcepts.com/
The beauty, as in wasabi comes from the imperfections that bring us closer to nature. George Nakashima learned about wabi sabi from Gentauro Hikogawa while they were imprisoned at Minidoka in Idaho during World War II. Let's find out how Brian Benham learned about "live edge”and “butterflies" along the arc of his journey. Stay tuned.
Floating “living edge” butsudon commissioned by Patricia Vining.
We found that table so appealing that when we returned, Patricia was able to commission Brian Benham, a craftsman to make our "living edge” floating butsudan (see above). https://www.benhamdesignconcepts.com/ The beauty, as in wasabi comes from the imperfections that bring us closer to nature.
"The object created can live forever,” Nakashima wrote in his 1981 autobiography, The Soul of a Tree. “The tree lives on in its new form. The object cannot follow a transitory ‘style’, here for a moment, discarded the next. Its appeal must be universal.”
Butterfly wedge photos by: Toby Manzanares
photo credit: Toby Manzanares
Most people from the west would see a "cracked or flawed" slab of wood, but the Japanese have a word for this type of beauty: wabi sabi. the imperfections that bring out the nature in all things. --tnm
Originally, Nakashima did it out of economic necessity as this meant he could use the cheaper cuts of wood available at lumberyards that nobody wanted. That resourcefulness — a result of the time he spent in an Idaho internment camp with his wife and newborn daughter during World War II — laid the groundwork for a prolific practice in New Hope, Pennsylvania, where he built a workshop and home in 1947. [The site was officially designated a National Historic Landmark in 2014.] Working first with scrap wood and then with offcuts, Nakashima developed a style that embraced nature’s imperfections.
What was unprecedented when he started out — incorporating the natural edge of burled, knotted, or salvaged wood in a design — is now trending along with other eco-friendly furnishings. "The respect for the natural form of wood is very Japanese," his daughter Mira Nakashima explained. "Dad said that he thought he was a Japanese Druid. Druids worshipped the trees. But the Japanese Shinto tradition is very similar — that very deep respect for the things of nature and the forms of nature. Dad thought it was in his blood."
Today, following in her father’s footsteps as a woodworker, Mira runs the Nakashima studio and lives with her husband in a house that her father built on the family’s plot of land, surrounded by his creations. “Dad thought wood had a story to tell, even when it has been made into a table, it speaks to you.” credit: GOODEE on Instagram.
My second home stay was with Takako and Yuji Tanaka and their family.
Yuji had a genius idea and created a geneaology document for me to use in finding my Japanese ancestors. Turns out that introductory document made it so much easier to explain why I was in Japan. It was a stroke of genius. INCLUDE LINK HERE.
It was during this discussion that I learned Yuji has every DVD episode of Little House on the Prarie. So I'm creating this page for Yuji to experience spending a few days in the little town where that series of books was inspired.
In Japan, the older you are, the more highly regarded you become.
“That’s the way life ought to be.” --tnm
A potent respect for the elderly stands ubiquitous behind the silent fabric of Japanese life. The Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese are widely admired for the degree to which they respect their elders.
Over time, this reverence for the elderly becomes quietly visible. It can be seen in many ways but here are five channels this respect for their elders can be brought to light.
One
Sakiko Miyazaki is a close friend of Alex Bentz, who writes for the Beacon. How older adults are viewed in America and Japan has been an interesting exploration for these two friends. Sakiko writes:
Japan has been influenced heavily by China where respect for the elderly is viewed as something all children should have. Teens respect elders.
“Many teens go through a rebellious phase,” Sakiko admits, chuckling, “but I feel like when it comes to the elderly they take a step back.
“The unconscious action [of treating our elders with respect] has been ingrained into us from a young age as we watch our parents and others in our community. So, doing things out of respect for the elderly is almost in our blood.”
Two
Butsudan. A butsudan is household shrine, an elemental feature in the life of a traditional Japanese family, the center of respect for remembering ancestors. 60 percent of city dwelling families in Japan possess a butsudan, that rises to 90% in rural areas.
Standing before his butsudan in Niimi, my friend Yuji introduced me to his ancestors. He called it a kind of alter. Click HERE to see video inside Yuji’s butsudan. (skip to 10:17) He reached inside and withdrew a small and very old book called
Three
Photo Credit: matcha-jp.com
Of the top three major Japanese Holiday Seasons, the Obon FestivalAugust 13-16, people commemorate their ancestors, whose spirits return to this world to visit their families.
And it’s the time of year where people travel back home to be with loved ones past and present.
Four
Respect for the Aged Day(敬老の日,Keirō no Hi) is a public holiday celebrated to honor elderly citizens where the Japanese government gives a commemorative silver sake cup tothose who reach 100 years of age. People return home on this day to pay respect to their elders.
The young people of Tokyo know to head for Harajuku for the latest fashions. Those over 65 head for Sugamo Jizo-dori, affectionately known as “Grandma’s Harajuku”.
Photo Credit: DigJapan
This Jizo-dori is a flat 800 meter long traditional shopping street, nicknamed Obāchan no Harajuku, “Harajuku for old ladies”. The street is lined with textured slip preventing bricks. The shops are largely barrier free, with wheelchair ramps. The shopkeepers seem extra friendly and willing to speak slowly. The 200 shops present a wide range of restaurants, cafes, grocery and clothing stores catering to senior citizens. Many are Mom-and-Pop shops that forgot to change with the times. A perfect place for a day out with the Grannies to pay respect at Koganji, the healing temple.
Photo Credit: thesoulofjapan.blogspot
Those with a sore shoulder for example will stop at “Arai Kannon” the legendary washing diety, purchase a small white hand towel, rinse the statue’s shoulder with holy water, wipe it down with the towel and your pain will go away.
Shugendo to Gassan Sadatoshi: There be wild animals on Mount Gassan.
800 years ago in the mountains of Yamagata the Gassan family made swords for Shugendo monks who used them for protection from wild animals as they treaded the steep ridges and valleys of Mount Gassan. In the 1820’s the family moved to Osaka. From there they moved to Sakurai City, Nara where they can be found today.
Photo credit: Gassan Sadatoshi (from his website)
Following our visit to Gassan Sadatoshi at his home in Sakurai ... his words began to slip into the microscopic spaces between the cells of my mind.
“Swords are not for fighting.”
Words that echo in a whisper when I think of him or see a Japanese sword.
“Swords are not for fighting.”
Yawarakai-Te (柔らかい手, "Tender Hands"), is the name
of a sword made by the legendaryGorō Nyūdō Masamune circa 1264-1343, recognized as one of Japan’s greatest swordsmiths. Also a priest he named the sword:
Photo credit: http://gassan.info/ 4 photos on this page.
Like the Shugendo monks 800 years ago, Gassan Sadatoshi crafts swords to not for fighting, but to protect family and the innocent. I don’t think Sadatoshi used the term Samurai Sword at all during our visit. I imagine this term conjures the sword fighting that does not reflect the mindful philosophy of his work.
Gassan Sadatoshi’s father made the sword for the newborn who would one day be Emperor Of Japan to protect the emperor’s family, the people of Japan and to guide the emperor in his duties as head of state.
How to visit Gassan Sadatochi’sSword Studio
... and if the planets align, you might shake the hand of the swordmaker, the same hand that crafts three million dollar swords. Make sure to take Akiko with you. See below. Once each week Gassan Sadatoshi opens his Tsukiyama Japanese Sword Training Memorial House to visitors 10am- 4pm Saturdays from March to November. (closed in August).
Next time I visit Gassan Sadatoshi I plan to walk the ancient road Yamanobe no Michi, connecting Omiwa Shrine to Gassan’s Memorial House via Sai Shrine.
The Shugendo monks trekked Mount Gassan, we can walk the Yamanobe no Michi trail to Gassan’s home.
400 years later comes the Legend of Masamune, one of the three peerless sword makers of Japanese history.
Once or twice a year there are round trip flights from LAX to Narita International for as little as $500. From your country of origin, fly into Osaka, Japan and board a train to Nara Station. I’ve stayed at the affordable Nikko Nara Hotel at Nara Station and invite my family and friends to stay there as well. Last we were there, we had dinner at each of it’s three most excellent restaurants. From Nikko Nara it is 42 minutes to Gassan, including the 15 minute walk.
Here is the short walk from Miwa Station. Yes you can enlist a taxi to get to Gassan, but in the spirit of the Shugendo monks, hike the ancient trail.
So inspired by the people we have met in Japan that Patricia and I have just placed a busudan in our home.
A butsudan is an elemental feature in the life of a traditional Japanese family, it is the center of respect for remembering our ancestors. 60 percent of city dwelling families in Japan possess a busudan. The rate of possession rises to 90% farther away from cities.
is a sword made by the legendaryGorō Nyūdō Masamune circa 1264-1343, who is recognized as one of Japan’s greatest swordsmiths. Also a priest he named the sword:
Yawarakai-Te, meaning ”Tender Hands"),
What do we make of a sword named “Tender Hands”?
Photo credit Wiki commons
The legend begins with a swordsmith named Muramasa, a challenger to Masamune, the greatest sword maker in Japan. Accepting the challenge the two master swordsmiths worked without letting up to see who would make the finer sword.
After months the swords were to be tested by suspending them in a small creek, the cutting edges facing upstream.
Photo credit Wiki commons
Muramasa’s sword: (Juuchi Yosamu 十千夜寒, "10,000 Cold Nights") cut through passing leaves, fish, everything floating down the stream, “even the very air that blew on it.”
Masamune, highly impressed with Muramasa’s work lowered his sword into the current. Patiently they watched Yawarakai-Te (柔らかい手, "Tender Hands")... only leaves were cut. Later, a fish swam up, the air hissed as the fish floated by the blade. As the shadows lengthened, Masamune smile, pulled his sword from the stream, dried and sheathed it.
Impatient, Muramasa scoffed at his master’s lack of skill in the making of his sword heckling Muramasa for his sword’s inability to cut anything but leaves.
One of the monks witnessing the challenge walked over, bowed to the two sword masters and described what he saw to the other monks.
“The first of the swords was by all accounts a fine sword, however it is a blood thirsty blade which does not descriminate as to who or what it will cut. It may just as well be cutting down butterflies or severing heads. The second was by far the finer of the two, as it does not needlessly cut that which is innocent and undeserving.”
When the legends of Gassan Sadatoshi’s sword making are written, they will end with what he said to me in 2015:
“Swords are not for fighting.”
... and you’ll hear the sound of air hissing by the blade
When I visited Gassan Sadatoshi he invided our group to sit with him for tea. We had a wonderful chat during which I began to know his purpose in life.
Click on the video below, sit with us for tea in Gassan Sadatoshi’s home.
