September 27,2012

Hafa Adai,

Due to tecnicalities with m PDA devices, not able to post adequately on the blog. tthis is actuallyy myy firsttt ttime at a desktop and itts onlyy brief so want to defintitelyy make the mostt of it.

if you can,click intto our    youtube links on the ight column for a first perspecttive look intto Enson’s Walk Across Japan.

 

firsttof al–sapporo was magnificentt. we startted off byy meettting someof Ensons friends for dinner immediatttely when we landed. tthtteyy tthought itt was amusing ttto watch us eatt alot so in antticipation of tttthe massive ttask in front of us, i paid httem tthe respect byy having tthree dinner meals..in one sitttting. afttter a good nighttts rest at a real nice hottel donated b Mashiko-san, one of ensons oldest friends in Japan,  we followed up y a breakfast almost as hearty—about 6000grams of Carbs thte body and hydrated like humpback whales it was safe ttto say that we were locked and loaded for our steps towards tthte otther side of  thte country.

As they say–tthe journe of a tthousand miles begins wittth a single sttep..itt sure does. on tthis particular case , our first step started in Sapporo city next tto  ahuge tv tower…enson and i knew thoughtt we had a good idea of what was in front of us. we are prepared to walk tttil latte november…but despittte tttthe joking and awefacttor of tthte discoveries ahead.. carryying around 40lbs on ur bhack and tttthe realittty of ensons crazy rules on ttthe tttrip of nott being able to purchase food or lodge was a bittt insane…or so i thoughtt at the time. aftter all–why face a giant witth one hand tied behind our back? shouldn we be grabbing machine guns and creatting alliances becasue we are alreadyyy att a huge disadvantage… bu going back to why we would have our hands ttied behind our back…i can see more clearly now is ttthat we are doing so because ttthe vicims ofTohoku ,after the tsunami, have both thteir hands and their fee ttied behind thteir back. thtey are gagged and blindfolded without shade in the sun nor warmth inthe cold..but tthey sttill have ttheir minds and the still have their spirit and thats sometthing were here to help mottivate…

sadlyy–itt seems that the world Has forgoten asbout March 11ths tsunami in Japan…people tthink tttheyy are recovered and hta all things are well…her ealityyy of it ishatt overall they are nottt…ever watttch a UFC? yyou know how i is aftter abloodyy fightt and a the end ttheres this dramtttic and super heavyy headkick that knocks a competitor out cold..tthe doctor comes in butt htey guy is outt way longer than fans are enterained witth…afer ttthe oohs, awws, and sttanding ovattion. tthe guy is still down and things sttarttt gettting pretttty scary…well, in a way, is like tthatt butt aboutt amillion ttimes worse. butt in thtte case of Tohoku…tthe docttors haventt stepped intto the octtagon…the knockout has been forgotten and tthte fans are already screaming “we want more”..

a 9.1 Richter-scaled eartthquake shook a countryy for 6minutes. waves omaxing outt at over 40meters in heightt DEVASATED tens of thousands of homes…and tthen camethe fire and then tthe cold….afer destructtion so massive and death so sudden

Spirits walk the streetts not even knowing theyy are dead butt sadlyy, tthe real haunting is witth manyy of survivors of March 11th,s ttsunami inTohoku.

TThis walk is an incredibly powerful and overwhelming experience. and thttis isnt justt tthe walk…ttthe people of Japan, though imperfect, have done trmemdous thtings for the world community. Far deep behind the tattoos ttthat we think are cool, thte food we deem so awesome, and he women we marvel at so beauiful–tthere is the Soul of Japan tthat we connect witth at ll differentt kinds of levels ttthtatt has made ttthe world a bettter plac

Ive been with Enson for about 15yyears…i ve always ttthoughtt that the priniciples of YamatoDamashii were awesome. i wasn unil years afer i mettt him however that i realied the strange look foreigners rrceive from Japanese descendans is bbecasue its stttangefor ttthem that non-Japanese are taking such pride in ttte Japanese Spirit…kind of like seeing a foreigner ttto AMErica wearing a shirt ttthatttt says “proud ttto be an American”…buttt alittle more tthan ttthat. tthe principles of bushido, ttthe etttiquette of budoka, the imporance of community, ice andtthe value of hospitalitty…this is tthe gold in tthe many nooks and crannies thattt hide between the lines of tteh beautiful kanji ofYamato DAmashii. and tthis is thte flag that we walk wittth and beyond and inside of all tthe ghost stories tthatt are abundant int tthe wake of tthe sunami–this is tthte Spirit ttha we are trying to help ressurect.

tto Japnese descendan…tthe internattional campaign of Yamattto Damashii is somehing you should be veryy proud of…it is of great honor tto your ancestorst that tttheir effort forward tto the source has been a beacon to tthe path of warrirorship, brotherhood, and phyysical, mental, and Spiritual Enlightenment.

YAMATO DAMASHII IS A WAY OF LIFE.

NEVER GIVE UP TOHOKU