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From the Editor's Desk
Welcome to Michi Online--a resource for
everyone interested in Japan's arts and methods of
personal growth as well as the home of perhaps the
world's first electronic journal of the Japanese
cultural arts. We hope you'll enjoy the various
resource features found at this web site. Be sure
to check back with us from time to time to read the
latest issue of Michi Online.
Since this is the inaugural issue of our journal,
and consequently my first editorial, I'd like to
briefly detail how all of this came about. I've
been involved in various Japanese cultural arts
since my childhood, and I'm currently the Director
of the San Francisco Bay Area-based Sennin Foundation
Center for Japanese Cultural Arts, which was established
in 1981. About two years ago, it became clear to me
that no central organization existed in the United
States that promoted all Japanese art forms, and
which could bring practitioners of disparate arts
together in a spirit of friendship.
I mentioned the idea of something akin to an
"umbrella organization," which could link together
followers of Japanese tea ceremony, calligraphy,
flower arrangement, martial arts, ink painting,
and other arts to several people with experience
in this field. Everyone loved the idea. As the result,
Kevin Heard Sensei, Ohsaki Jun Sensei, and I formed
the Sennin Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization
to promote the arts of Japan. (See the
About page for more information on the Board of
Directors and Board of Advisors.)
After much backslapping and congratulations on a job
well done, we now had to actually do something to bring
the above-mentioned lofty ideas to fruition. This resulted
in more than a few vacant stares. We had a non-profit,
and we even obtained a few small grants, but what should
we do with it? This could be tricky . . .
Over the years, I've written about Japanese systems of
yoga, healing arts, martial arts, and fine arts for
various magazines. I'm also the author of a book on
Japanese calligraphy called Brush Meditation: A
Japanese Way to Mind & Body Harmony (Stone Bridge
Press) and Unlocking the Secrets of Aiki-jujutsu
(Masters Press), which offers information about a
traditional Japanese martial art. So I'm able to put
words together in a semi-readable fashion. Heard Sensei
has extensive computer and web site designing experience,
along with a fine background in three different
Japanese arts. (Sensei is a term of respect
applied to teachers of Japanese arts.)
That we should put a web site together seems like a
no-brainer, but it actually took us some time to come
up with this idea. I ran the concept by various friends
like Peter Goodman (editor of Stone Bridge Press, which
specializes in books on Japanese culture), Dave Lowry
(perhaps the world's preeminent living writer on
traditional Japanese martial arts), and Wayne Muromoto
(long-time practitioner of tea ceremony, a journalist
specializing in Japanese-American news and the arts of
Japan, and editor of Furyu magazine). Once again,
everyone supported the idea.
Thanks to the backing of a number of people whose names
you can find throughout Michi Online, we're off
and running. In this first issue, you'll discover a
great article on various Japanese do forms by
Mr. Lowry. This piece is ideal for our inaugural issue,
since it focuses on the central concept behind Michi
Online. "Do" means "the way" in a spiritual sense,
and it can also be pronounced "michi." Many of the Japanese
cultural arts such as judo, kado (flower arrangement),
and shodo (calligraphy), end in the word "do," which
indicates that they can be practiced as a means of
spiritual transformation. In essence, by studying the
mind and body in detail through a particular art, one
can grasp something universal which transcends that
specific activity--the art of living itself. We felt
that this was one of the central ideas unifying many
of the time-honored arts of Japan. It's why we named
our site Michi Online, and why we are grateful to Mr.
Lowry for his feature article on the Japanese ways.
We also have an excerpt from the newly released Brush
Meditation and a handy glossary of terms found in
this issue. Let us know what you think of the glossary
idea. The journal is obviously still "under construction."
We hope you have fun reading this first issue of Michi
Online: Journal of Japanese Cultural Arts. Tell your
friends about us, and if you'd like to work with us in
the future, send us e-mail.
H. E. Davey
Editor
Michi Online: Journal of Japanese Cultural Arts
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