Last week I went to the Kodokan to practice judo 4 times in a row (Monday through Thursday) so I am pretty happy for that. Although, after Thursday, my body felt pretty sore and tired because I am still not used to all the throwing in judo. It is difficult to throw someone since it requires a lot of upper body strength and then during practice when you are thrown by the other guy over his shoulder and on to the mat, it is not pleasant either. Hopefully I will improve my fall so that it will not hurt as much during practice when I get thrown.
Today I was planning on going to the Kodokan but I ended up deciding to meet up with Ayaka and eventually got a hamburger in Shinjuku for dinner.
This turned out to be a lucky move because I found out later that today is a national holiday and the Kodokan is not open on national holidays so I would have likely gone all the way there to find out that it was closed!
Actually the national holiday was yesterday but in Japan if a national holiday falls on a Sunday, the next day (Monday) is a day off for everyone.
So, this time the national holiday was the Vernal Equinox which according to Wikipedia: “This national holiday was established in 1948 as a day for the admiration of nature and the love of living things. Prior to 1948, the vernal equinox was an imperial ancestor worship festival called Shunki kōrei-sai (春季皇霊祭)”.
It is somewhat humorous to hear that a holiday was changed from an imperial ancestor worship festival to a holiday for “the admiration of nature and the love of living things”. The imperial ancestor worship festival sounds much more significant. This also seems to be another example of a holiday that got watered down after the Japanese empire collapsed.
I spoke with my sister today since she was over at the house and I had to speak to my Mom about sending money through Western Union to someone I am working with in Pakistan. My sister is off to India for three months tonight so I wish her a fun and safe trip!
It is getting late and I am trying to correct my sleeping schedule again so I am off to bed now. I will try to write more often soon… I think some exciting things are coming my way in terms of work.