Bujinkan Namiryu Dojo

Last week, we were lucky to be in Japan at the same time as an unusual religious and cultural festival – the Katori Jingu Jinkosai.

This is held in the Katori and Sawara areas of Chiba once every 12 years during the year of the horse. It’s a serious spectacle, with thousands of people in period dress, and hundreds in suits of samurai armour, reenacting a parade that’s supposed to have taken place with the guardian diety of the Katori shrine was first enshrined around 1,000 years ago. It was quite the thing to witness.

In particular there were a very large number of members of the Katori Shinto Ryu school of martial arts in attendance, so well done to everyone involved in that. It looked like it took a lot of organisation.

As we were in the area we also went to the Katori shrine and then afterwards to the Kashima shrine. Both are significant in the history of martial arts in Japan, and it's normal to see kakejiku (hanging scrolls) from these shrines displayed in budo dojo of all kinds in Japan.

A real pleasure to be able to spend some time with Paul Martin over coffee in tokyo last week.

Paul is an extremely knowledgable guy when it comes to Japanese sword, and a real treasure trove for anyone interested in sword collecting, appreciating or appraising. If you’re into swords and you’re not following him here on Facebook you’re missing a trick.

Thanks Paul!

Back home from another successful trip to Japan. Really nice to catch up with old friends and make some new ones. See you next time!

Regarding monthly workshops.

We usually hold a workshop on the first Saturday of each month, something we've been doing for over 15 years. The date is occasionally shifted to the second Saturday if there's a bank holiday that coincides, but not always. Next Saturday is a case in point. That event is going ahead despite it being Easter Weekend.

These workshops are mostly for people training at the Harold's Cross Dojo, or at one of the dojo affiliated with us, but really they're open to anyone. It's a good opportunity to immerse yourself in some aspect of training for anyone who can't make it regularly to weekly classes, maybe because they live outside Dublin.

But sometimes people get in touch to say they'd like more notice to be able to attend these events. The important detail is they're held EVERY month. Just because there isn't an event notice on Facebook doesn't mean something isn't happening.

It can just mean I'm really busy and didn't get around to posting about it. But you can pretty much presume something is happening each month, just get in touch to confirm.

Alex

There are number of excellent training opportunities coming up in 2026 around Europe and the World.

MAY
The Bujinkan Austria Nagato Taikai 2026 is being held on May 1, 2 & 3 with Nagato Toshiro Soke
https://www.bujinkan-taikai.com

JULY
The Gyokushin Ryu Ninpo Taikai Japan is being held on July 4 & 5 with Kan Junichi Soke
https://kan-dojo.com

The Someya Taikai Finland is being held on July 10, 11 & 12 with Someya Kenichi Dai Shihan
https://www.someyataikai.fi

Shiraishi Taikai USA is being held on Jul 24, 25 & 26 with Shiraishi Isamu Dai Shihan
https://shiraish*taikaiseattle.org

AUGUST
The Gyokushin Ryu Ninpo Taikai Ireland is being held on August 15 & 16 with Kan Junichi Soke
https://kangalway.com

Bujinkan Taikai Canada is being held on August 28, 29 & 30 with Furuta Koji Soke
https://www.ninpokaicanada.com

SEPTEMBER
Noguchi Taikai Belgium is being held om September 4, 5 & 6 with Noguchi Yukio Soke.
https://taikaibelgium.be

OCTOBER
Noguchi Taikai Argentina is being held on October 23, 24 & 25 with Noguchi Yukio Soke
https://taikainoguchi.com.ar

NOVEMBER
Nagato Soke Taikai Tasmania is being held on November 13, 14 & 15 with Nagato Toshiro Soke
https://www.nagatotaikai2026-tasmania.com.au

(Apologies if we’ve missed any!)

Very happy to lend our dojo to host this year's Women in Sport martial arts event with the Irish Martial Arts Commission last weekend. Female practitioners of seven different martial arts came together to share, including Bujinkan.

Well done everyone who helped put this together.

Home from a fantastic weekend in Detroit at the Taikai with Noguchi Sensei. Huge thanks to Sean, Kei, Andrew, Jason, Christian, Mark Lithgow and all the Taikai team -- it takes a lot of work to organise such events and a lot of that work isn't visible to participants. There are a thousand and one things going on in the background, and it's not an easy thing to do.

It was really nice to meet up with so many buyu from the US and further afield - we really are lucky to train in an art that attracts some excellent people. Great training, and fascinating conversations afterwards over drinks.

Noguchi Sensei as always was inspirational and gave a huge amount over three days. If you get a chance to attend an event like this, it's 100 per cent worth it.

You can condense a lot into a few short days - I'll be working and thinking about what I learned this weekend for quite some time.

This morning, I had the privilege of visiting the Capuchin Day Centre on Bow Street in Dublin City Centre, along with Tom Clements, to meet Fr Kevin Kiernan and to hand over a cheque for more than €2,000, raised from the raffle and Christmas party we held last weekend.

This did not come from my dojo alone. Contributions also came from Tom Clements’ Jishin Dojo in Dublin, Shaun Martin’s Shishu Dojo in Clare, Alex Martinez’s Kerry Dojo, and others who make up the loosely organised Namikai group.

This year, we chose to support the Capuchin Day Centre, a charity operating in Dublin city centre that prepares and serves an enormous number of free hot meals every day to people experiencing homelessness and severe hardship. When we visited shortly before midday, the centre had already been open since 5am, yet there were still long queues stretching down the street and around the corner.

The work carried out there is extraordinary, and I was genuinely humbled to be able to contribute in even a small way. At this time of year especially, many people are struggling, and if you are fortunate enough not to be, even a modest donation can make a meaningful difference. To put that into context, the centre provides breakfast at a cost of around €2 per person and main meals for approximately €5, so €20 or €50 goes much further than many might expect.

It is a sobering place to visit, and the people working there are truly impressive. I was delighted that we were able to help in some small way, and I know Tom feels the same. Thank you to everyone involved, and have a great weekend.

There will be a taikai in Galway next summer, led by Kan Junichi Sensei, Soke of Gyokushin Ryu Ninpo Taijutsu. This is the first time Kan Sensei has offered training outside Japan, so it's a really good opportunity to train with one of Hatsumi Sensei's oldest students.

Great to see more training opportunities like this one start to appear. Full website at: https://kangalway.com

Reposting this because I found some better pictures. This is a set of ‘fuchi-kashira’ - the pommel piece and grip collar of a katana hilt - inscribed with the kanji ‘Bu Jin’.

These were made in 2013 by a special person, the noted tosogu artist Ford Hallam. Ford had the distinction of being the first foreigner to really gain acclaim in Japan for his work in the tradition of Japanese metalwork.

He was the first foreigner to take the gold prize in 2010 at the Nihon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai (NBSK) Shinsaku competition for one of his tsuba. This set is a minor piece, something he did as a technique exercise, at my request.

I was lucky to catch him at the right time and to have this set made by him, and I feel the world lost someone great when Ford passed away in August 2024.