But the reason I went was this. I needed a change, a self-prescribed kick in the butt. A chance to do something totally different with one year of my life. And different was what I got. In spades. Japan is about as different a place as I have ever seen. The layers of different go far and deep and to someone like me who likes to understand his surroundings, can leave you a little baffled at times.
So instead of talking about all things I don't understand about the last year of my life, I'm going to talk about the only thing I'm sure about.
I think it was back in February I sat down with Sakurai Sensei to ask him a few questions about his long career with Karate. I asked him about how he got started and the journey that let him to where he is now. I also asked him what he didn't want to talk about. "Politics", was his answer. It made for a short interview because after that, most of the stuff I really wanted to know was off the table for discussion. Thinking back though, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. If Sensei had told me all the really interesting details of his past I doubt very much that you would be reading about it here.
So what then can I pass on to those who may be interested?
Sakurai Sensei originally started Karate when he was 14 years old. He decided to get started because he was finding himself to be a tad rolly polly. Worried about one day getting a girlfriend he needed to take something up to stay in shape.
He joined with a friend of his who was already enrolled. Years later that friend of his would be working traffic as a police officer when he would plowed into by a truck driver moving too quickly. Sensei was devistated by the loss of his friend. But carried on with life and continued his journey down the Karate path.
Sensei often speaks of his Sensei, Oishi Sensei who was his teacher during his time at Kamagawa University. When Sensei was 30 years old, Oishi Sensei chose Canada for him to live in and try to spread the good teachings of Karate. A few years in Montreal, and 14 more in Vancouver, Sensei would eventually have to head home to Japan to look after his family. He left behind a Karate community in both cities that percieved him as the patron of Karate in their organization, NASKA, like disciples waiting for the return of their prophet.
Sensei's greated moments in Karate have not necessarily been his own. He is most proud of the students he has taught and who have accomplished in Karate. Sensei Sharp maybe being the most known in Canada. His worst moments again are not his own, but the losses of friends and students. But Sensei doesn't dwell on regrets. The past is the past he said and he only moves forward.
A teacher only.
A teacher of students great and fabled.
And of students not so great.
But always a great teacher.
Now you may be thinking, "That's it? That's how it ends? Everyone in NASKA already knows this right?".Just gimme a few more moments of your time before you head to the ticket window to ask for your money back. It will be worth your while.
What I offer you, the reader, is another layer. A souvenir of sorts from Japan and Sensei Sakurai's Dojo. You may need to read this a few times to get it, but it is there. Trust me.
Forgetting the past is a path towards pouring your heart into the present. And in the present, in Fujieda, Sensei has built himself quite a house. I say house because dojo is a place for students. A house is for family. For a man who measures success by the successes of his students, who pours so much of himself into one single thing, I think it's fair to say that his students, (not all of them, but many) are family to him. And as a guest in Sensei's house I was treated very well. Not just by him, but by everyone who would become like my family. A family mostly made up of smaller families.
I should have introduced these people to you a long time ago.
This is Watanabe-san and her Sempai (son) Kenta.
Two of Sensei's newest additions. For now their name excapes me.
Adache Sensei and his son.
Chihiro and Kesuke Ito.
Tekumi and Koshi.
The Naruoka's. Mari, Ayumu, Tekumi and Hiro-chan.
The Sugiyama's. Chinatsu, Riintaro and Ikie. Sugiyama-san in the back.
Nagano-san and her ultra talented daughter Shiina.
And the rest of us. A pic from Sensei's visit in April. 
Me and my friend, Osawa Sensei.
Sensei here with me and my friend Taka.
I've never been an overly friendly sort of guy. I play my cards close to my chest. I make friends slowly over time, trust being well established before I show my true self. In the Dojo I was accepted quickly. A favor I wish I could have returned. But I worked hard at my relationships just as I worked hard at my Karate. In a year that, to be honest, wasn't the easiest for me, I found myself sticking mainly for one reason. At the end of training, every night I would drive home in a state of total peace. I new who I was and what was really important. I the hours before I went to bed, I was not and English teacher, not angry, misunderstood or alone. I was just a student. Had I not been treated so well in the house of Sakurai, that may not have been so. 
I went to Japan with all kinds of idea's on how to be successful. One was to work hard and become friends with Sensei. But that idea changed over time. I realized that the very best relationship you can have with your karate Sensei is just to be his student. I did not come home a brown belt because he liked me. I did what I did because I listened and worked hard. I may never know if Sensei considers me friend. Either way he would never tell me. But for a man who judges so much on the successes of his students, I think I did alright by him in the end.The End.
