AikiWeb: The Source for Aikido Information AikiWeb's principal purpose is to serve the Internet community as a repository and dissemination point for aikido information.
Hello and thank you for visiting AikiWeb, the
world's most active online Aikido community! This site is home to
over 22,000 aikido practitioners from around the world and covers a
wide range of aikido topics including techniques, philosophy, history,
humor, beginner issues, the marketplace, and more.
If you wish to join in the discussions or use the other advanced
features available, you will need to register first. Registration is
absolutely free and takes only a few minutes to complete so sign up today!
I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;
I'll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I shan't be gone long. - You come too.
I'm going out to fetch the little calf
That's standing by the mother. It's so young,
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I shan't be gone long. - You come too.
Robert Frost
If you're traveling in the north country fair
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Remember me to one who lives there
Bob Dylan, Girl from the North Country
Most of Japan is very, very hot in summer. Tokyo is hot. Kyoto is even hotter. But there is one place that is always cool and comfortable in summer. Hokkaido. Hokkaido is the northern island of Japan. It is a centre for agriculture, especially Hokkaido potatoes and all dairy products. Sapporo is the largest city in Hokkaido. Sapporo ramen is very popular.
Morihei Ueshiba the founder of aikido went to Hokkaido in 1912 when he was twenty-nine. It was there he met Sokaku Takeda and began his studies of Daito-ryu Jujutsu.
Many Japanese schoolchildren know the English phrase: Boys, be ambitious! It was originally said by the American educator William Smith Clark. He established Sapporo Agricultural College which eventually became Hokkaido University. One of the early students at the college was Inazo Nitobe. He wrote Bushido: the Soul of Japan in English to try to explain the Japanese spirit to his American wife.
A number of martial artists were born in Hokkaido. The great sumo yokozuna Chiyonofuji and one of his rivals yokozuna Onokuni both came from Hokkaido. Mixed martial artist Yuki Nakai and many men and women judo champions came from Hokkaido. And aikido teacher Seiichi Sugano Sensei who died in 2010 also came from Hokkaido. He helped to spread aikido in many parts of the world.
Some of the signposts in Wakkanai in the far north of Hokkaido are in Russian. In one of the first acts of the cold war the Soviet Union opportunistically seized the Kuril Islands - Japan's northern territories - at the end of the Second World War as Japan was surrendering. Russia refused to return the islands and so there is still no peace treaty between Russia and Japan.
And now it's time for a cold Sapporo beer. It's one of the best beers in the world.
07-29-2011 07:49 AM 
