It has been too long since we have made it to Japan for summer training, and many of us are getting nostalgic because the training is so amazingly hot and hard, but also because the country is so welcoming.
But...Covid-19 is still around and the Japanese have been very protective of their own population by limiting who they allow into the country. Currently, other than Japanese citizens, only fully vaccinated foreign students studying there and business travelers are allowed in. There is speculation that these restrictions may ease after the national elections in July, but we are training there during previous national elections, because the Omagari Daisen city uses the Budokan (Martial Training Hall) as a polling location and we get bumped to other locations for several days.
We are currently trying to solve this situation by applying as business travelers, since that is what we are. We travel to Japan to train and learn so we can take what we learn back to our own country to our students. As members of both the Japan Karate Federation Goju-Kai and also Seiwakai International, we are in fact branches of Japanese business and the cultural art of Karate-do. Our businesses support their businesses, and vice-versa.
Stay tuned. We hope to have good news about this soon. We are acting proactively because July will be here in no time.
Meanwhile, we will continue to train hard -- chop wood, carry water.
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