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I just got back from a visit to Kawahara San's place (you really can't
call it a house :) For those of you who weren't at the Kansai Seminar,
Kawahara San is the katana smith we visited, and who let us pound away
on some steel he was working.
I took him some Bass Ale (I introduced him to it, and he loves it, so it
makes an easy visiting gift, and a good one, since it's rather rare in
Japan) to say thank you for putting up with the crowd of us. He spent a
large part of the evening telling me how wonderful it was having us
visit him. He really and truly enjoyed our visit. He said it's very
rare to talk with Japanese who have any real appreciation for what it is
he does, so it was a great joy to talk with so many non-Japanese who
appreciate Japanese budo and swords. I know he was being sincere,
because he even told me that whenever I have a group like that, to
please call him and bring them by. So you are all welcome to visit
him. Peter R., please tell Fujimoto San that this includes him as well.
As a small favor, if any of those of you who visited Kawahara San with
me would send him a brief thank you note (in English or Japanese), I
know he would be thrilled to receive it.
I also asked him what he is making out of our steel, and he says that he
is making a small tool used in shaping and finishing katana. I also
took a a couple of pictures of Kawahara San and Iso San (the gentleman
who was at his house that night) and the little loft where we sat and
eat chips and nuts, drank beer, and looked at new swords, and blades
that are 600 years old, so everyone can see what an intimate time we had
:) (PS if you want to see some pictures of Kawahara San at work, there
are a bunch on my website. Just got to http://www.mugendobudogu.com
and follow the links to "people and places in Japan") I'll be sending
the pictures to Jun to post on aikiweb as soon as I get the second roll
developed.
I want to thank everyone again for helping to make the Kansai Aikido-L
Seminar the great time that it was. I just provided a practice space,
it was the participants who made the seminar the wonderful time that it
was.
Sincerely,
Peter "the Budo Bum" Boylan
--
Mugendo Budogu, LLC.
The Finest Martial Arts Equipment From Japan To You
Peter Boylan
527-0011 Shiga-ken
Youkaichi-shi
Hamano-cho 2-16 Japan PHONE/FAX 81-748-23-8208
peter@mugendobudogu.com
http://www.mugendobudogu.com
Mugendo Budogu, LLC.
Paul LaVigne
6025 S Division Ave
Grand Rapids, MI 49548
USA
Phone 616-534-9800
Fax 616-534-7576
Paul@mugendobudobu.com
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