As we come to a close of the year, people in the US look back at impactful moments, whether it be positive or negative. This is probably true for other countries as well. There is an interesting practice in Japan called “kotoshi no kanji” (今年の漢字), where a single kanji is selected by the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation that represents the overall impression of the year by the general public. For 2023, the kanji “zei” (税) was chosen, which stands for “taxes”.

The reason for the choice is because of Japan’s financial burdens due to increase in taxes in essentials such as gas and food, as well as budget cuts by policymakers. These topics are covered through news outlets on a daily basis, and can weigh greatly on people’s minds. This is relatable, for in the US we hear lots of talk regard inflation impacting prices of everyday goods, as well as the pending recession.

Taking a page from the kotoshi no kanji idea, I can summarize the year of 2023 for myself on a personal level. Looking back at how the year played out, I would choose the kanji “iku” (育), which means “growth” or “raise up”. Common words in Japanese that uses this kanji include sodatsu (育つ, to raise), and kyōiku (教育, education or culture), this is a general kanji that is used in conversations that bear the general topic of growth. The reasons for choosing this kanji to summarize 2023 the following: career, and martial arts.

First, let me talk a little about my career. This being the 2nd year after switching career paths to the Tech field, I’ve been given the opportunity for personal growth at my new company. I’ve been allowed to take numerous courses to further my knowledge, and gain licenses as proof of my advancement. This is greatly encouraged by my manager not just to me, but to my team mates as well. For the majority of the year, I’ve done just that, alongside participating in projects that open the door to new tools to learn, as well as responsibilities. I am grateful for the opportunity to work in a company that is supportive of their employees’ career growth. While all positives, the only negative is losing a lot of time for working on this blog, doing Japanese research, and finishing up translation projects.

Fear not, for since my Japanese research and translation projects have no deadlines, I work on them whenever free time is at hand. These also correlate with Light in the Clouds blog, so content will always be present (albeit slower than intended). I’ve had to streamline my list of planned content to write about, so for this year it’s mainly been on the White Rabbit of Inaba (from the Kojiki), and the Tenga Goken series. For 2024 I should have more available time to write more, for I intend to slow down abit with further career learning, as I actually need to put into practice what I’ve been studying through personal projects.

As for martial arts, Along with running my group’s training curriculum, I’ve spent this year improving my jujutsu by studying a different style from what I’ve learned over the years. I welcome the chance to learn something new, as I enjoy martial arts as a whole, and have gotten to a level where self expression goes being just sticking to one style. It’s important to always strive to learn new skills and improve, for being a teacher/instructor doesn’t mean one’s journey is over. My personal growth in jujutsu has been fulfilling, as what I’m studying is supplementing my overall knowledge greatly, especially since I have others tow work with and put it to the test.

This is my overall experience in 2023, which leads to my summary of the year as a time of growth. Coincidentally, it matches up with the yearly theme based on the Zodiac sign, which I spoke about here. I hope the same can be said for everyone as well. Best wishes that you all end the year on a good note, and prepare to start the new year giving your all!

Happy New Year everyone!

Hope everything is off to a good start for all as the world transitions into a period where we can have a fresh start with new endeavors, as well as prepare to tackle our normal actives revitalized after some rest during the holiday festivities. I, too, have been working on my schedule for 2022, which I will to share in this post.

BLOG

This being my 6th year running Light in the Clouds blog, things will continue in the same fashion, along with some additions. Sticking with the intentions for running this blog, topics will contiue to focus on certain Japanese-centric historical themes, from famous individuals to familiar events. Of course, more effort will be put into not-so-well-known pieces of information. Will also try to finish up some on-going projects (yes, you haven’t been forgotten Takigawa Kazumasu), as well as catch up on some topics that were mentioned briefly and have articles in the works. Much of this has to be balanced with real life, however, especially with the new line of work in the tech field I have recently switched to.

TRANSLATIONS

Still playing catch-up on various translation works that have been started, but not quite ready for public release. Mostly due to balancing my time with a better schedule. Some of these works include a break down on select military manuals and mythical tales. As for the few projects that are slated to be released as books, they are in still in the works, although slightly side railed due to facing spme real life changes caused by the Pandemic. This setback also includes endorsements I was intending to get during a planned trip to Japan since 2020. With certain things currently out of reach, I may consider releasing one or two of the books in a different fashion. Time will tell.

KOBUDŌ

With everyone being vaccinated, as well as receiving their booster shots, everyone who participates in kobudō training at Chikushin group made great progress in 2021. Our curriculum focused on an older form of taijutsu (hand-tp-hand), as well as kenjutsu that covers principles more related battlefield tactics from Sengoku period. To continue with this momentum, we will stick with the same curriculum, while reviewing past training materials during our open sessions or monthly Theme weeks. Some schedule changes are about to be implemented, however, to supplement martial arts & Japanese studies in a more accessible fashion. The new schedule will be up on the official Chikushin group website once that is updated in the next upcoming days.

These are the goals set to happen this new year. Hope to accomplish this, and more, in good health. Hope the same for everyone with their own plans for 2022!

Here’s a quick announcement that the Translations section has been updated. Here’s what’s been added:

• Pages 3 & 4 of “Kōyō Gunkan no Naigunpō no Maki” have been added. As a description, this work is a translation of borrowed sections from the military-centric documentation called Kōyō Gunkan found in the Ueno Tamaki Kabunsho. Some points are also compared between the original documentation and the copied version.
  
• 2 new entries are added to “Many Ways of Utilizing the Zodiac Signs”. Following the topic of of the 12 Zodiac signs played a role in general Japanese society in the past, one of the entries show how they were used in compasses, while the other is a list of how they were used to represent each month.

You can access these through the Translation tab above.

As March comes to a close, I’ve managed to roll out a few new entries in the Translations sections. Here’s what you can find:

• Page 2 of “Kōyō Gunkan no Naigunpō no Maki” is out. Page 3 should be out shortly, which will complete this topic.
• New topic “Many Ways of Utilizing the Zodiac Signs” is up. This topic will cover the different ways in which the Zodiac signs have been used throughout the ages. The first entry covers the old clock system from Edo period called “wadokei”.
• New topic “Lore of the Dashi (Mountain-Like Floats)”. This is a followup of two articles on the same topic, this one is a translation of a lore regarding the dashi found in the same book used as a resource for the other two articles.

Happy to have these released this March. Here’s looking to do the same and have some new translation works done by April.

Here’s a quick announcement on what’s new on my plate, in relations to the blog as well as other matters:

1) Translations section has been updated with both a new entry in the Buki Sode Kagami page, and a new project called “Kōyō Gunkan no naigunpō no maki”. The latter is about the famous documentation on military-related matters called Koyo Gunkan, and how it compares to another manual that contains entries from it called “Ueno Tamaki Kabunsho”. This one is an ongoing project, so look out for updates coming soon. A few other translation projects will also be following suit as I finish putting them together.

2) This year my agenda is to release more articles on historical figures, similar to my format a few years ago. Targeting less known/less spoken about individuals just for the sake of variety. The 1st article which will be out shortly this week will be on Takigawa Kazumasu, a military commander who had many years of success under warlords such as Oda Nobunaga.

Outside of this, some updates to the site made for the sake of better user interface. Specifically, the menu bar has been tweaked where subpages no longer show when the cursor highlights the Translations tab.

3) Chikushin Group continues to train and keep up our yearly theme. Due to regulations in NYC, we do not meet indoors. Instead, all classes are officially outdoor for the time being. Safety measures include the use of hand sanitizers and gloves. More about this can be found on the Chikushin Arts Facebook page.

4) Recently I made a collaboration with Kazuyo Matsuda to have two of my articles featured on her website “Fine Ladies Kendo Worldwide”. Kazuyo and a few others who specialize in kendo join together to create a website that highlights many talented women who make strives in the kendo community, as well as discuss topics related to their respective training. They also have a magazine for subscribers who want to gain access to premium content.

The articles that are featured on Kazuyo’s website are the ones about Chiba Sana due to her history in gekiken. Along with this, she not only translated these articles into Japanese, but was gracious enough to provide some updates to the original articles with some research she did on her end, which have been implemented on my blog. A special thank you goes out to Paul Budden, who spent time corresponding with me to make this collaboration happen.

Please check out Kazuyo’s new site below. For those who want to support them, you can also subscribe for a monthly membership access more exclusive content.

Fine Ladies Kendo Worldwide

As I close the year with this last post, I look back at what has transpired around the world. What sticks out the most is how a pandemic has changed the lifestyle for everyone. Countless lives have been lost, travel and social activites have nearly ceased, jobs have downsized or ceased, and the economy for many countries have been affected greatly. We’ve all been affected personally in one way or another. The negatives of 2020 will linger greatly in many people’s minds possibly for some time.

Yet, this doesn’t mean that there haven’t been any positive moments in 2020. In times of of turmoil we’ve seen people work together to help one another. Many who work in the hospitals around the world worked tirelessly to save the lives of those inflicted by the pandemic. We’ve seen innovation used to keep society from screeching to a halt through making work spaces safe or to interact remotely from one’s homes. Families could spend more time safely to strengthen their bonds and continue to move forward, and so on. These may pale in comparison to the negatives, but in reality we must look for the silver lining in the clouds in order to strengthen our spirit and find the will to move forward.

There is a popular Japanese proverb that goes “nanakorobi yaoki” (七転び八起き). It means even if you fall down seven times, you get back up eight times. Countless people around the world have gone through some tough moments personally due to the pandemic. Yet, we all need to keep going forward into the new year with a positive attitude. This resolve will make us stronger, and hopefully overcome a history we hope to never revisit. We all can return back to a state of normalcy, and from there continue to aim further for great success in the years to come.

Here’s wishing everyone a Happy New Year, and a fruitful 2021!

Just a quick announcement, there are new updates being added to the Translations page. For starters, both “Kai Kokushi” and “Bukijutsus Zusetsu” have new entries added today. There will be another update in a few days as well. On top of this, a new translation entry will be added soon, possibly at the ending of this week. Just like blog entries, there will not be a shortage of translation works present on this site.

Speaking of which, one of the nice things about doing translation work is some of the new & interesting topics that pop up from them. For example, I’ve spent some time on & off working on the entry under “Kai Kokushi”, which covers several military commanders who held the prestigious title of “Hayato”. Since it covers inheritance, family genealogy through arranged marraige, and the like, I needed to do a lot of research on different individuals and family lines. This also encouraged me to read certain older novels in Japanese, as these were referenced as well. While this entry mainly focuses on the Hara family of Kai Province, the Sanada family are also mentioned abit…including the famous Sanada Yukimura.

Considering the popularity of the Sanada clan, one would think that it’d be easy to get information as needed. However, this is not the case when a great deal of their fame, especially due in part of Sanada Yukimura, is through fictional novels and artworks. Lotsa fact-checking is required in cases like this to understand what’s real and what’s fiction. So, thanks to the translation work on the Hara family and the Hayato title, I will be releasing a post on Sanada Yukimura this week.

Stay tuned!

Over the weekend, I made some decisions with the blog which will hopefully bring more quality to the contents being provided here. For a few years Light in the Clouds was run under a free account, meaning internal and external upgrades were vastly limited. As the topics I research and write about continue to expand in the form of articles, stories, and translations, I felt it was time to invest in them financially. As of yesterday, Light in the Clouds has been has been upgraded to a more premium account.

What does this mean? For starters, the “wordpress” in the address has been removed, and my site can stand on its own. This will help for establishing my contents as a brand, which will prove vital with current and future projects. Also, I have the options of adding plugins and other customization to this site. This is something I wanted to do for the longest. Although it will be a learning process as I experiment with various add-ons and such, in the long run they should help to further how content is delivered, appearance of the site, and the like.

Another important part is available space. Originally I had to be mindful of what was stored on my site. While images do not take up much space, sound clips and videos do. Now, through this upgrade, I will have much more space to work with, and should be able to post articles with videos. On top of this, all works found in the Translations section have been reconstructed and are now stored on this site. For the longest I had been using a 2nd site for storage purposes, but can finally cut this process out. This will make performing maintenance much easier.

Just wanted to share the good news. The new address is <https://lightinthecloudsblog.com/>. The old address still works, but for how long I do not long. Stay tuned and be on the look out for the new changes this site update will bring.

I’ve managed to put some time in on a few of my translation projects. Didn’t quite meet my quota, but still made some headway nonetheless.

• Updated “Heiho Yukan” with the remaining pages
• Updated “Topics Related to the Lunar Calendar” with a new entry, entitled “Months of the Old Calendar”
• New topic open under “Kai Kokushi”, which contains the 1st part of the entry on Hara Hayato Sa Masatane

These can be accessed through “Translations” in the menu above. Although my schedule is still pretty tight, hoping to have another update soon, especially more entries for Buki Sode Kagami.

Stay tuned!