February 14th, AIU President Dr. Mineo Nakajima passed away at the age of 76. A fellow student snapped this photo just before the memorial service.
Clicking the image will direct you to the official announcement and photos of the service.
Photography by Phil Nguyen
I just survived my first training session with AIU’s Aikido Club. Although I was too busy trying to catch my breath to take any pictures, I do happen to have a fantastic shot in the archives from AIU’s 2012 Summer Program.
Photography by Simon Chua
According to Ōsensei (lit. Great Teacher) and founder of Aikido,
Morihei Ueshiba 「植芝盛平」
“Aiki is the way of the Kami and was born of the will of the Kami.
Rise early in the morning to greet the sun. Inhale the breath of heaven and let the cosmos inside. Next breath up the rich vibrance of the earth. Blend these breaths with your own breath and become the breath of life itself. Your mind and body will be gladdened, heartache and disappointment will dissipate and you will be filled with gratitude.
The movements of Aikido which unite human being with great nature are all given by Sarutahiko-no-Ōkami. Aikido is Misogi..a purification of ourselves…the way of the universe.”
Although Japan seems to be synonymous with futuristic gadgets and assembly lines, much of it’s tradition is preserved even today, like this carpenter in Oga.
Photography by Greg Stoll
秋空に黄色輝く稲穂かな
Under autumn sky
their yellow color is shining
ears of rice
収穫に稲穂傾く黄色かな
For harvest
ears of rice bending down
how yellow!
金色の稲穂に感謝秋の空
A lot of thanks
for golden ears of rice
autumn sky
秋の風黄色の海原稲実る
Autumn wind
rice ripen in fields
like a yellow sea
| — | Teijun Itoh 「伊藤貞順」 |
The Earth has just reached its autumnal equinox 「秋」. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than to resume posting photos of my adventures through Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, and, of course, the exchange program here at AIU.
秋 has a very special meaning here in Akita. In Japanese Akita is written as 秋田. Notice anything? The characters for Akita represent autumn 「秋」 and rice fields 「田」. Akita is well known for it’s rice and one of these day’s I should really take a photo of the fields. As Akita is also a rural region that takes pride in its lush forests and strong cedar trees, I am sure this will be the most awe inspiring autumn I will ever witness.
Note: The photo above is actually of a tree in the gardens of Kinkaku-ji located in northern Kyoto.
I was able to catch up just in time to travel to Kakunodate this Friday and enjoy the architecture and scenery of a well-preserved edo-period samurai town. While I filter through all these photos, please enjoy this scene of a beautiful blue hydrangea (ajisai) with a quite large little-friend. This is a common sight during the rainy season.
Photography by Patrick Culp
