Like every year, Yokohama AikiDojo took the opportunity of its last class of the year to celebrate its bonenkai, which is a very popular Japanese end-of-year party where people drink and celebrate with friends and coworkers. This year however, the date coincided with a major event, the anniversary of the birth of the founder of Aikido, Ueshiba Morihei Sensei, who was born on December 14th 1883.
For the occasion, the shomen of the dojo was fitted in a special way, displaying a picture of O Sensei taken by one of Guillaume Sensei's late teacher Henry Kono, who spent three years studying at the old Hombu Dojo while O Sensei was alive. Above that picture stood a particularly special artefact, a keikogi vest that was given by O Sensei to André Nocquet, the very first foreign live-in student of the founder. Guillaume Sensei started Aikido in France in the group headed by Nocquet and many years later, he became the custodian of the French master's artefacts. The full story behind this keikogi can be read here.
After a dynamic children's class, the kids were led to the adjacent room to enjoy a Christmas themed movie while the adults class took place. The dojo is very lucky to count among its members people of many different levels and origins, bringing a wonderful diversity to the practice. Once the adults class wrapped, twenty seven of us moved up to the Cougar Café for a mouth-watering pot luck lunch with delicacies brought by our members from Japan, France, Sweden, America, and even La Réunion Island!
This year seems to have gone in a blink of an eye, and we are already looking forward to the coming year, which promises to be full of events, starting with the Kagamibiraki at Hombu Dojo, the dan and kyu grading examinations that will take place in our dojo in late January, and many other events, such as the All Japan Aikido Demonstration in May. As a bit of a teaser, we will also receive the visit of a prominent Aikido teacher from Europe on January 11th, so stay tuned!
