Go! Safecast 3 year Anniversary on March 15-16, 2014 in Tokyo

Safecast Office window, Shibuya, Tokyo. Photo by Michael Glenn

My friend Sean Bonner, a long time Bujinkan student, is organizing the Safecast 3 year Anniversary on March 15-16 in Tokyo. He asked me to extend an invitation to any Bujinkan members who live in Japan, or who will be in Japan on those dates.

Safecast is a volunteer organization started a week after the 3/11 earthquake and resulting tsunami that caused the meltdown at the Fukushima power plant. Since there was a absence of reliable information for residents of Japan that really needed it, Safecast began,

"working to empower people with data, primarily by mapping radiation levels and building a sensor network, enabling people to both contribute and freely use the data collected. After the 3/11 earthquake and resulting nuclear situation at Fukushima Diachi it became clear that people wanted more data than what was available. Through joint efforts with partners such as International Medcom, Keio University, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and GlobalGiving, Safecast has been building a radiation sensor network comprised of static and mobile sensors actively being deployed around Japan – both near the exclusion zone and elsewhere in the country."

Watch a short Safecast documentary: http://vimeo.com/51823402

The 2-day anniversary program will consist of both talks and hands on events, including:

Beginning Saturday evening and running until late Sunday evening we’ll host a global hackathon,
Presentations, discussions, and reception at Tokyo University
a bGeigie Nano workshop. Build your own award-winning radiation detector with assistance from the designers, and learn how to contribute radiation data you’ve collected to our public database.

Here's a great vid (in Japanese and English) about one of these workshops:

http://youtu.be/1vZUg1HEKI4

I know all of us Bujinkan members are hands-on people who take action. This is a great opportunity to do that and connect with other people in Japan and around the world who are already in action making the world a bit safer.

If you'd like to attend, please contact Sean Bonner for more info (you have my permission to punch him when you see him).

Oh, if you're not in Japan, they will probably be live streaming the anniversary activities on safecast.org

Comments

Japan Report One 令和5年

Every Bujinkan trip I make to Japan feels like a gift. And I always share that with you all in my Japan reports. This trip, I decided to video a lot. Like every day. So there will be quite a few of these. The only issue is that it takes me time to edit all of this video, so these Japan reports may spread out into next year. The first video is here: Japan Report One 令和5年 The first day of any Bujinkan trip to Japan starts with a marathon. 20 hours of travel by Plane train, and automobile. Also, a lot of walking with a heavy backpack up and down stairs, through airports and train stations, and of course to the Honbu Dojo! Because I’m crazy, I arrived at the airport and went straight to Noguchi Sensei’s class. The class was smallish, maybe 20 people. I was a little shaky on my feet so I slammed some milk tea to get my energy back up. I partnered with Mario From Croatia. Noguchi began with 中伝之捌型 Chūden no Sabaki Gata from 高木揚心流 Takagi Yoshin Ryū. He put a lot of focus into what the opp...

Japan Report Three 令和5年

Last night Paul Masse invited me and my teacher Peter over to his house in Noda-shi. While we were in the backyard swapping stories, his wife Tomoe invited us inside to a warm dinner of ちゃんこ鍋 chankonabe. She and Paul are very friendly and generous. Paul asked Peter what he found at the antique weapons market. Peter said that he was looking for 矢の根 yanone, which are arrowheads. He also said he bought a tsuba with a giant centipede on it. Paul was curious about this so Peter told us the story behind it. He told us 俵藤太物語 Tawara Tōda monogatari, the legend of Tawara Tōda. I share my version of the story on the video so if you'd like to watch the full video report, you can find it here: https://www.rojodojo.com/japan-report-three-reiwa5/ . But the short of it is that Tawara Tōda killed a giant centipede with a well aimed arrow. We had a wonderful time over dinner while swapping stories. Paul’s young boys were full of energy and were running around like crazy people. Danzo thou...

Japan Report Four 令和5年

I start off my Japan Report Four video going to Hatsumi Sensei’s house and the Bujinkan Honbu office. I do this on every trip because this is how I submit my rank paperwork for my students. In the video I talk about my “secret” route to his house. I also recall past times when I could just visit and have tea with Soke. During my walk to his house, I review some of my notes from old classes with Soke. During one class he said 自分の第六感兼ねあいうち Jibun no dairokkan kane aiuchi. This is when you make your intuition match reality. Or, more directly, your intuition is combined with something concrete such as a strike. Later in that same class, Hatsumi Sensei said 意識をさせない Ishiki o Sasenai. He was telling us not to allow our opponents to sense our intentions. Don’t put out any intention for your opponent to read. I thought it was fascinating to think about dairokkan and the use of intuition while also hiding your intentions. Hatsumi Sensei’s classes were full of subtle lessons lik...

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