We have been invited to go on a trip to Japan. Here are the tentative details. Please let me know if you are interested.

PROJECT PLAN-BUDO Trip to Japan on March 3 Monday through March 17, Monday (tentative)

1. Project Name-BUDO EXPLORATION to Japan

a) Prepared by: SADA HONDA

b) Project Sponsor(s): We will ask for several different KARATE styles and orgs’ leaders to join us in this last (this is the third and last trip-2017, 2019 and 2025 orchestrated by Sada Honda) to visit various traditional Budo Organizations-Judo, Kendo, Aikido, Shorinji Kenpo, Naginata, Kyudo, beside our regular visits and practice with Waseda, Keio Universities-Both Shotokan (sports Karate and traditional Karate).

The objective of the trip is to make sure of knowledge, history and principles, philosophy and techniques of the Art of the 9 Budo of Japan and apply them as we understand them and to create the foundations of American Budo Art. This we hope to inspire and create of the foundation of the Karate based American Budo movement and development. Hopefully as a martial culture the movement will bring up the American cultural and social position of this art, one notch higher.

c) Date: Tentatively from March 3 to March 17, 2025 (REIWA 7 Nen per Japanese Calendar). The first week will be split into two groups-Tour Group and Budo Exploration Group.

The Tour Group explores culture, shopping, history, food, sightseeing of Tokyo and the surrounding areas. On the first day and the following days, we tour around Tokyo city on a bus. This includes the Imperial palace, Japanese Tea house and lunch, Akihabara area- Akihabara Electric Town, Asakusa downtown eatery, temple, and shopping area.

We will further explore the suburbs and neighboring areas of Tokyo including Nikko (w: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikk%c5%8d) in Tochigi, Kamakura

(w: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamakura) in Kanagawa, and Hakone (w: https://www.town.hakone.kanagawa.jp/www/index.html. These neighboring places offer various sightseeing opportunities, shopping, historical sites, events, and local foods and delicacies.

The Budo Exploration Group, spend time at Budokan-Shorinji Kenpo, Kendo, Judo, Waseda (Sports and Traditional Karate), Keio (Traditional Karate) Shotokai, Sumo Dojo in Asakusa (Downtown Area). Meeting with Chancellor Tanaka of Waseda University (He practiced at Karate club at Waseda). We may visit Kokusai Budo Daigaku in Katsuura (about an hour on a train to Chiba). We will get together at some of the Jujitsu schools to learn the roots of the modern day Budo (Aiki was Aiki Jutsu, Judo was Jujitsu…in Edo period (1600 to 1867). At Budokan, we will be giving a presentation to the General Manager of the facility and hear the current projects and the activities schedule of the Pavilion. We will not propose for us to be a part of the Budokan Pavilion. We will ask them to continue to support us in developing our own Budo path in the USA.

We might visit Japan Karate Association-JKA, and Zen Nihon Karatedo Federation-JKF.