This year, for the second time, I attended the ceremony of Kagamibiraki at Hombu Dojo.
The ceremony of Kagamibiraki starts in the morning, as I found out last year, with the preparation of the meal made by all the teaching staff and a group of volunteers in the parking lot.
This year, again, I found them on the same spot, as I was going to the 9.30 AM practice . It is a very pleaseant show, not looking at others working while your not, but feeling the happy atmosphere. I don't know when they had arrived and started but they were outside the buillding, preparing everything with great care in spite of the cold weather. As I was going back home, I stayed there for a while and watched the scene again. Kanazawa sensei, who was teaching the 9.00 AM practice, was now there beating the rice.
Unfortunately, in the afternoon, I couldn't get there early enough. So, as I entered the building, I thought sadly : "I will stand in the back of the Dojo again and I will not be able to see properly what will be going on in the front during the exhibition and during the reward ceremony". But this year I really feared I would not be able to reach the third floor. There was a line at the entrance of the men's changing room and we could hardly manage go through and enter the dojo. I sneaked on the opposite side near the door opening on the outside stairs and I knew at once that I would not only have difficulty to see but that I could only overhear the ceremony. So I followed the words of Osawa sensei, the speeches of Doshu and the others speakers and the reward ceremony without seeing the scene. When Doshu performed the exhibition I felt lucky ! A woman in front of me was holding high her mobile phone to take pictures and, thanks to her, I could watch a part of the exhibition ! Afterward, I was wondering how the tables would be arranged with all this crowd, but the students and the senseis posted in every corner of the Dojo finally made it quite easy. I was sitting with a group of people from Yamagata-ken and from Aomori. I was really surprised to find out that people were coming from that far away to attend the ceremony. We had some sake and some o shiruko while chatting in a very pleaseant atmosphere.
At the end of the ceremony the way out on the first floor was monitored by Seki sensei so everyone could get their shoes back easily. As last year, Fujimaki sensei and the students did great. I felt very impressed by how such a great number of people could exit the building in such a short time.
In fact, I'm very impressed by all the efforts made by everyone each year so the ceremony would run so smoothly, from the right beginning until the end. And this is thanks to the students, the volunteers, the senseis... and the spirit of aikido, maybe.
Patricia