DH

Hi Marc
If it ever does get published...cough...there might be some interesting stories there as well. I think this supports the points I hade made. Your opening comment from your teacher was "when he stayed in Tokyo...." Go back and read the interviews of all the people who had these personal one-on-ones with him either stated or implied as "everyday" when it was after he retired. It's no big deal to me just another talking point. These unverified stories, (I'm not calling your teacher a liar, it's just that it is, after all, just his story), and the interviews and events that actually do verify things, call into question statements that contradict many of the more popular stories. When we add in lousy translations, myth making from the aikikai, banning and rewriting of history, there isn't much to really hang your hat on.

While I do indeed find all of this interesting, in a culture like Japan, I don't trust much of what people say or do. Frankly the entire history of the system of aiki from Takeda to the modern era seems rather bizarre and weird. I don't invest much in the information offered; either from lineage or the personalities involved either way.
Cheers
Dan