Shinshinkan Dojo Japan Trip 2025

This morning (about 25 hours back as I write this), we got up and started packing, cleaning, and organizing the place. Rebekah and Tella headed off to a tea ceremony, and then we all headed out of the Airbnb to an indoor kids' park for Simon with a food court for everyone else. After that, we headed through Haneda and got to our gate. Once there, we gate checked the stroller and explored. Eventually, around 5 PM or 6 PM local time, we boarded our flight and then flew for nine hours, crossing the international dateline. Due to that, it is still the same day we left but now it is 3:20 PM current local time (meaning in a weird way that it is actually before when we hopped on the plane in Haneda). At this exact moment, we are in LAX. Soon we will fly on to Denver and jump over one time zone and then ultimately we will arrive in Hays in our time zone quite late tonight. Thanks to everybody who wanted to read this to keep up with our trip! We look forward to seeing you s...

Day seven started out extremely early with a 4:50 AM departure to get to hombu dojo and train. There were several huge groups visiting when we were there so the mats were even more crowded than usual. One of the groups (the Polish group) was brought by Koyinagi Sensei, so we also enjoyed catching up with him a bit. Afterwards, we headed to the Airbnb to meet those who had slept and watched the boys (the non Aikido crew) and we proceeded to head out for separate adventures. We headed to a special flower festival in a garden near the Tokyo dome, while some others went to Shinjuku for shopping. Most of us met Ben and Naomi at a coffee shop near the Tokyo dome to wish them safe travels. Afterwards, we then went to Shinjuku where we saw Godzilla, went to a Don Quijote, and then we ate at a Japanese restaurant where you order the meat and veggies raw and cook it (unless it's 'sashimi' like the raw horse meat one adventurous member ordered and a few of the rest of us tri...

Sunday Rebekah and I went to a Catholic mass while the rest of the group went to a flea market outside of a shrine. We all caught up for lunch and then went on to Senso-ji. At Senso-ji, we checked out quite a few different historical sites and also had some street vendor food. On the way back, we regrouped and also ate some New York style pizza.

Originally the group was going to go to Nikko, but after checking the travel times and realizing that we may not get to see much at all, we opted to have a day where everyone spread out and did what they wanted. One group went to the post office and then hung out and shopped near the Imperial Palace grounds. Our family headed out to a large park where Simon could play and then pressed further on to a special train restaurant where we were able to enjoy train themed food for Simon and let him play with the models. After the train restaurant, we caught a coffee and cake place on the way back, called Café Minou. then we headed back to the Airbnb for rest. Everyone had various adventures that evening.

After getting around in the morning, most of us headed to the Ikebukuro station to take a special train to Chichibu. Once there, we briefly shopped and ate, and then individuals chose to head out to the flower fields. After a very long walk and enjoying some nature, we came back and caught some temples/shrines. On the way back to the station, we got some hot drinks out of a cold and hot drink vending machine. I originally got a hot chocolate for Simon and cannot remember if I intended to try the mystery drink next to it or to get another hot chocolate, but I ended up with a mystery drink. Claire put the translation app on it and was reading the description and burst out laughing as she found out that it was hot bean juice with whole chunks of beans in it. I actually did not find it too unpleasant as it reminded me of red bean from mochi, but everyone else who tried it found it fairly revolting, and everyone got a good laugh. Afterwards, Morgan enjoyed the onsen, and th...

The third day began with us getting around on our own and taking a big group trip to Tokorozawa. Unfortunately, we had a train delay, and the only fix to make it on time was a brisk 30 minute walk with new train lines at Itadanibashi station (fairly far from us). Tella offered that she and Joyce with the boys in the double stroller could take their time and arrive later. The rest of us hustled and arrived during warm ups to train. After the class, we bought food at the station for a picnic; we then went to the nearby Aviation Museum, park, and tea house (different people went different places) after eating. Next, we went to 'Team Borderless' light art display. After that, some went for food nearby and others headed back to the AirBnb.