A few days ago I had dinner with my family in the ramen restaurant Kyuramen in Portland, and I wanted to give a brief review about it here. Keep in mind ramen is one of my favorite Japanese foods and I’ve tried many of the ramen places around Portland, so I am somewhat picky about… Read More »
I decided to put down some thoughts about my experiences teaching Ki Aikido to children in Portland.
I visited the Portland Japanese Garden in April 2024 for the first time in quite awhile, where I was treated to its many beautiful views, further enhanced due to the light drizzle that made the colors that much brighter. I took a handful of pictures so I thought I would share some of them here… Read More »
I decided to write up the main reasons I continue to train in the martial art of Ki Aikido extensively for several years, and plan to continue to do so.
When exploring the spacious Kinokuniya in download Portland the other day, I couldn’t decide what to buy so I ended up picking up on a whim the first episode of “Oyasumi Punpun” by Inio Asano. It has a pretty simple cover that is pure yellow, except for an embossed image on the front that I… Read More »
I visit Mochitsuki Japanese festival in Portland this year, for the first time in three years, and was pleasantly surprised. I’ve included a slideshow of a few pictures I took.
A discussion about “ukemi” (受け身), a core part of aikido and one of the things I really enjoy about this traditional Japanese martial art.
Powell’s Books is considered to be the largest independent bookstore in the world, with their “City of Books” location in Portland containing over one million books across over 1.5 acres of space––a venerable labyrinth of books that is a must-see place for any book lover. With all the Japanese culture in Oregon, it’s no surprise… Read More »
In recent years I have been spending a good portion of my hobby time on Japanese-related stuff (studying, reading, translating), but before I got into Japanese I spent a lot of time playing a few musical instruments, particularly piano. While this post will be a little off-topic compared to my usual focus, I thought my… Read More »
I’ve been exposed to Japanese taiko (太鼓) drumming from a young age, having seen several performances at the Morakami Japanese Museum & Gardens in South Florida. While I do enjoy watching taiko performances, to be honest I started getting a bit bored of them; not only because they seemed to change little from year-to-year, but… Read More »