Despite being a small town in rural Japan, Iwama is a special place in the world of aikido. Not only did the founder, Ueshiba Morihei O’sensei, retire there to focus on farming and refining his martial technique, but he also established the Aiki Jinja as a focal point of spiritual practice.
Upon the founder’s passing in April of1969, longtime student Saito Morihiro Shihan served as the caretaker of the Aiki Jinja until his death in May of 2002.
Saito Shihan attracted a broad international student base due to his seminars, books, and videos explaining the systematic and logical approach to aikido training unique to what became known as the Iwama Style.
For some time during the 1980s, the land on which the Aikikai’s Ibaraki branch dojo sits was a candidate site for relocating the Iwama city hall. To ensure continuity, Saito Shihan took out a bank loan to construct the Shin Dojo (new dojo) across the street from the Aiki Jinja on the property he received as a gift from O’sensei.
After a sudden drop in real estate prices, following Japan’s bubble economy crashing, the land sale plans were cancelled and the Aikikai’s Ibaraki branch dojo continued to operate. Still, the Shin Dojo became a hub for hosting the constant stream of live-in students (uchi-deshi / 内弟子) from all over the world that came to study Iwama Style aikido under Saito Shihan.
The Shin Dojo also facilitated many parties and social events, as it does today for the Shin Shin Aiki Shurenkai, operated by Morhihiro Shihan’s son and technical successor, Saito Hitohira Kaicho.
While socializing in the Shin Dojo, Morihiro Shihan customarily sat at the street-side entrance with his back to the door. Students and guests would fill in on either side of the long tables that extend rectangularly inward toward the wood-burning stove and the stairs to the upper levels of the building.
This seating arrangement was quite unusual, and an occasional cause of confusion, yet there was deep significance behind it.
Japanese culture is famous for being extremely polite and characterized by detailed forms of etiquette. Many of these behavioral norms derive from Japan’s warrior traditions and have practical significance.
For example, the Kojiki (古事記), Record of Ancient Matters, describes how Japan’s legendary first emperor, Jinmu (神武天皇), eliminated his political rivals by inviting them to a feast and then had the wait staff hack them to death with swords when he gave the attack signal, his singing of a particular song.
Japan’s long history of conflict, competing warlords, shifting alliances, and betrayals is filled with similar surprise attacks. Informed by these experiences, refined methods of expressing courtesy (礼法 / reihou) convey more than mere politeness and are, in actuality, demonstrations of security and signals of conflict avoidance.
Therefore, it is customary in Japan to offer guests seating with a view of the entrance so that they can see who enters the room. Similarly, strangers, newcomers, and those of lower rank are seated farthest away from leaders and higher ranked members of a group.
Even in business meetings or other social events, and especially in gatherings of martial artists, great care is taken in seating arrangements (席次/ sekiji). High-status people are afforded seats that convey respect (上座/ kamiza) and an advantaged field of view, usually with their back to the deepest wall in the room. Seats for lower status people are known as shimoza (下座) and are typically near the entrance of the room.
Yet, in contravention of standard Japanese etiquette practices, Saito Morhiro Shihan sat with his back to the entrance of the Shin Dojo when socializing with students in Iwama.
During one of his many international seminars, Saito Shihan was hosted by a student that had grown accustomed to seeing him seated with his back to the entrance of the Shin Dojo and, therefore, situated him similarly for the evening banquet. This led to an unexpected scalding.
Saito Shihan explained that the key difference is the presence of the Aiki Shrine. When outside of Iwama, aikido students should afford a ranking guest a seat of honor that follows the traditional rules of etiquette.
While in Iwama, as the responsible caretaker of O’sensei’s legacy, Saito Shihan aligned himself to look over the assembled students from the point of view of the Aiki Shrine. He surrendered the security of standard etiquette and put his back to the door with faith in the Spirit of Aiki to guide and protect his actions.
It remains important for aikido students to know rules of etiquette, the martial significance behind them, and to discern the correct way to apply them in various circumstances. Being considerate, attentive, and extending energy into the environment (気配り / kikubari) is also an important part of aikido training.
Despite no longer being responsible for the Aiki Jinja, the Saito family continues to honor Morihiro Shihan’s alignment with the spirit enshrined there by making food and drink offerings at his special seat of honor.
-This article was written by Tim Haffner