strange and good kendo days

Interesting and strange and good. Full schedule of work, of course, but along the way some good practices sandwiched in. Wednesday night was a stand-out kendo practice - members of the Ministry Finance Dojo - where I sometimes practice - went to the Ministry of the Economy Something Something Dojo for a shared practice. Konishi Sensei from MinFin and Toda Sensei (METI) together in one room, along with Kurihara Sensei (Japan Energy) and a slew of 7dans all packed into a fairly small dojo...
Tokyo is the center of the government in Japan, and Kasumigaseki is the center of the government in Tokyo. All or most of the government ministries are plastered in a small area, along with quite a few embassies and such. MinFin happens to be across the street from METI, but they are in different worlds in terms of kendo, and very few people train at both on a regular basis. As to why government ministries have kendo dojos in them (and two across the street from each other), and about the closing of the Postal Ministry Dojo (that building is next to METI), see my article in Kendo World, to be posted later.
Anyway, it looked to be an excellent practice. Unfortunately, I was starting a three-day seminar for work and had to haul my shinai, uniform and bogu armor all day in addition to my stuff for work. Quite a heavy load, still humid in Tokyo so I was working up a good sweat on the walk to the station. About midway, I noticed that there seemed to be many more people than usual walking toward the station.
Once close to the station, a disaster was in plain sight. There were people packed outside the station, unable to get in. It was the morning rush, brought to a complete halt. I snuck a peek through the fence and my worst fears were confirmed: no trains were moving. The entire train platform was jammed with people, the stairs to the platform were packed with unmoving people. That meant the entire inside of the station was also packed and they were spilling outside- and more pedestrians and buses and bicycles arriving by the minute.
After hovering outside the station and watching the lines waiting spill out in every direction, down the stairs and along the street, I gave up and hauled my bags to a quiet spot in the shade a hundred meters away and sat down, kicked off my shoes. No way I could make it to work on time, but fortunately someone could cover the first hour for me (damn, I had busted my ass to make an early arrival to have extra prep time....).
I found out later there had been two problems - one way out west, jamming the over-crowded Chuo Line and stalling the trains (thus the masses walking to my station from one station further down the tracks). That would have been bad enough. But then they also had some kind of signal trouble between my station and the next, so it was complete chaos for an hour. Things were not looking good that day...
But they turned out well. Work was fine, yeah. Practice - back in the vaunted Budo Bum days, I trained once or twice a week at METI, but I hadn't been there in over a year. I walked in the door and was greeted by Sensei after Sensei that I knew from METI, MinFIn, Japan Energy...what a wonderful feeling. The place was packed and I only had two sessions, but the second in particular was quite good. Then there was food and drink downstairs and much conversation and encouragement. Maybe the thing that stuck most was to "walk like a bushi" - not plonking the feet down, but powering off the back foot and propelling the hips forward on each step. K Sensei reminded me that since we easily walk over 10,000 steps each day, I could practice all day long without even being in the dojo. Drinking was followed by more drinking at another establishment, which made for a late return home and a long next day at work.
Two days later, I went to my usual Friday night practice at MinFin, still charged from the excitement of Wednesday. A typhoon was blowing in - a big slow-moving one which did much damage way down south but just gave us rain here in Tokyo. Still, it was an unusual day with all the atmospheric tension building.
I arrived earlier than usual and got in practice with a few extra teachers. I was busted right off the bat for straying off the centerline when pulling the sword up, and was reminded at the end to turn on the power only at the instant of striking (vs. my bad habit of lifting up with muscle power, bringing down with muscle power, no focus or snap at the instant of impact). Though disappointed in my own performance, I was also uplifted by the great deal of suggestions for improvement that I was given. We always eat and drink in the dojo after practice, and that offered the usual opportunity for further instruction. I got home quite late but very satisfied.