Dojo Blog

Omiyage

I thought I would write a little note to explain the Japanese custom of gift giving to the students, particularly how it affects relationship building.

Omiyage is a souvenir gift from a trip and it is customary to give these gifts in Japanese popular culture, gift giving is a very common part of Japanese culture.

Congratulations to those who passed their Dan gradings during our 2015 UK Taikai!

• Marian Bennun - Sandan
• Chris Wilcox - Sandan
• Damian Leece - Nidan
• Andy Vaughan - Shodan
• Dean Ireland - Shodan

The blog image for this post is the Japanese kanji for 'Fudoshin' and this example was written by Yasumoto Soke.

It means imperturbability, steadfastness. The usual translation is keeping a cool head in an emergency, or keeping calm (e.g. during a fight).