I was fortunate to have been in Japan long enough to have enjoyed a couple of New Year’s eve and New Year’s day celebrations there. One year was with friends and the other was with friends in the dojo. New Year’s eve practice (Toshikoshi Keiko) at the dojo is one of my most cherished memories of my time in Japan.
The budokan was open from around 11:00 on New Year’s eve. Practice started around 11:30 and went until someone started beating vigorously on the dojo’s drum, calling us to stop. Sweating like crazy, we bowed out and lined up in seiza. The dojo was cold and since we were all hot, our men and kote (and the rest of us) was steaming as we took off our equipment. Then, from around 11:59, we meditated. What people meditated on, I don’t really know, but I took the opportunity to think about my gratitude for having this great kendo experience in Japan, what I had learned and what I wanted to accomplish in the New Year.
At midnight, with the windows open in the dojo, we could hear the peal of the bells from the temples across the city ringing in the New Year. We meditated for perhaps a minute more. Then, with “mokuso yame”, the spell was broken, and we put on our (now cold and wet) men and kote and went back into jigeiko for another 15 minutes or so.
When practice was over, I went out with a few friends and visited the city’s main shrine to make New Year’s wishes, then met up with some non-kendo friends and hit the local onsen (hot spring) for some relaxation, food and drink. Around 4:00 a.m., I met up with some mountain biking buddies and we rode up one of the nearby mountains to get to a good place to watch the New Year’s sunrise, before heading home for a very long hot bath and some sleep.
It was a fantastic experience that I hope to repeat one of these years.
In the meantime, if anyone’s interested in having a Toshikoshi Keiko this year, please let me know.