Tokyo Girlfriend Guide

Chiyoda Yaesu area
Yaesu is right next to Tokyo Station, which is known as the "front door" of Tokyo. To the west is Tokyo's most expensive CBD, Marunouchi, and to the north is Otemachi. Looking up from the gaps between high-rise buildings, you can see the Imperial Palace. It can be said that every inch of land is worth a lot of money. If the ancestors of Beichen Ittoryu were not generous, it would be impossible for them to own a dojo here.

During the neon bubble era, this large dojo was favored by many real estate companies, but was eventually rejected by the current owner. It's not that no one had any crooked ideas. At that time, the Yakuza took advantage of the economic boom and were very enthusiastic about real estate, but everyone turned their heads and looked at the busy construction site next to them, and chose to remain silent.

That was the territory of the Mitsubishi Group, with the Mitsubishi Bank Building towering into the sky and various corporate buildings with the name Mitsubishi standing side by side. To tell you a joke, the first thing the Japanese Emperor saw when he opened his eyes was not the Empress, but the Mitsubishi Group building.

The Mitsubishi Group couldn't take control of the Hokushin Ittoryu Dojo, so how could these Yakuza succeed? Next to it was Kasumigaseki, the center of political power in Japan, and it took less than ten minutes to walk to the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters.

It's not that Beichen Ittoryu is so strong that the Mitsubishi Group is afraid of him, but he has a wide network of connections. Apart from other things, there are many people who have studied Beichen Ittoryu in the Mitsubishi Group's kendo department. As a school of modern improved bamboo swords and protective gear, many people who are not afraid of real swords have to fight against Beichen Ittoryu.

The dojo of Beichen Ittoryu is a traditional Japanese ancient building. The wall is not as high as the one of the Rampage Angel in the suburbs. Instead, it is low and can be climbed over with a push of the hand. Probably when it was first built, it was taken into consideration that a swordsman would hide inside the wall and ambush passers-by outside. As long as a small stool is placed at the base of the wall, he can jump out with a push, shout "Heaven's Punishment", kill people indiscriminately, and finally climb over the wall to escape.

It is easy for people inside to get out, and easy for people outside to get in, and it also avoids besieging the trapped beasts and wasting food. It can be said to be the best of both worlds.

The doorplate under the eaves reads "North Star Ittoryu" in Chinese characters. I don't know if the characters are carbonized or painted with some special pigment. Even though the wood is very old, the color of the characters has not faded. Below the door plaque, there is another smaller doorplate that reads "Okemachi Chiba Dojo"

You can hear the noisy sounds inside without even entering the door. It's not the shouting of monkeys, but the sound of people chatting and talking.

It was the time when the office workers were going home after work and lunch, so many people passed by the entrance of the dojo and looked inside curiously. The people who worked here were very familiar with this dojo and knew its opening and closing times. During the day, companies that did not do a good job of soundproofing hated this noisy dojo. There were many people who cursed in their hearts. The most infuriating thing was that the dojo was only noisy during work hours and fell into dead silence after get off work.

It's already past seven o'clock today, but the Beichen Ittoryu Dojo is still brightly lit and bustling with noise. It's really strange.

Two men who worked at Nomura Securities were walking towards Tokyo Station, savoring the malty aroma of beer. When they passed the dojo, one of them smacked his lips and said in surprise:

"Nakahashi, I remember you came to this dojo before, right?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?" The man named Nakahashi answered casually.

"Has this dojo been so busy at this time before?"

A colleague asked, although it is close to Ginza, one of the most lively places for nightlife in Tokyo, the nightlife in Yaesu is not that rich, not to mention that a kendo hall is still brightly lit and lively at this time.

"Alas?"

Nakahashi also realized at this time that he had paid membership fees in Beichen Ittoryu and would come here to practice kendo to relax when he had nothing to do, so he was very sure that Okemachi Chiba Dojo should not be so busy. Otherwise, he would definitely use the dojo as a place to kill time at night, after all, the people inside were all interesting kendo enthusiasts.

"That's not right. Except for the direct descendants of our family, outsiders should not be allowed to stay at this place, right?"

He was also surprised. As a way to spread culture and earn money, the Beichen Ittoryu dojo has always been open to the public. As long as a small membership fee is paid, the venue can be used. There will also be swordsmen from the main family teaching basic kendo knowledge, and it goes without saying that kendo interest classes are opened. But outside of business hours, the dojo only allows people from the main family to stay in, and they also have to practice the secrets that are not passed on.

"Then what are they doing? It's as lively as a competition. Is today some big day?" asked a colleague.

The two were wondering when Zhongqiao suddenly saw a familiar figure walking towards the gate of the dojo. He hurried over and saw that it turned out to be a senior from the Beichen Ittoryu family. He had practiced fighting techniques with him before and was a very easy-going person. So he quickly opened his mouth and shouted:
"Senior An Teng, Senior An Teng, please wait a moment."

An Teng Qianzhen, who had just returned from running errands, stopped and turned around after hearing the shout, looking at the person in front of him in confusion.

Zhongqiao, who works at a securities company, is very familiar with this situation. He knows that this senior doesn't remember him at all, so he quickly introduces himself. The two of them say "oh, it's you". After a brief greeting, he asked:
"Senior An Teng, is there an event going on in the dojo today? Why is it so lively at this hour?"

Nakahashi's attitude is very humble. Even in Japan, where the culture of seniors and juniors is very bad, seniors and juniors in violent sports like kendo are worthy of the title. If you meet a senior on the road and don't stop to bow and greet him, no one will sympathize with you, but will only help scold him without any courtesy. How can you learn kendo well like this! Don't you see that the discipline committee members and the dean of teaching at the entrance of the university all have bamboo swords in their hands? This is tradition. In the navy, it is changed to a spirit-injecting stick to teach you how to be a man.

It was unknown whether An Teng Chima was really a kind person or he was not yet at the stage where he could act like a senior as the best errand runner at the scene. He was very nice to Nakahashi who suddenly appeared. However, he was also a little surprised and asked back:
"Don't you know?"

"Forehead……"

This question immediately made Zhongqiao feel a little overwhelmed, and he quickly apologized:
"Private Masai, Senior An Teng, I have been busy with a lot of company affairs recently, so I haven't come to the dojo for a week. I will work harder from now on!"

In the root culture, the strict senior will say at this time, "Completing the work is what you should do, not an excuse to slack off. How can you still be called a man if you are like this? If you don't have time, use your sleep time to get me started. Now, immediately, swing the knife 10,000 times, practice until you pass out, bastard!"

Fortunately, An Teng Qianzhen was used to being bullied by his seniors. Hearing this, he complained with sympathy and deep emotion:

"My school is preparing for the sports festival recently, and there are a lot of things to do, but I still come to the dojo every day. It's really..."

"Private Marseille! I will swing my knife ten thousand times tonight!" Zhongqiao shouted as soon as he heard it.

"…I don't mean to criticize you, I just…"

An Teng hesitated and wanted to wave his hand, but found that he was still holding the drinks he bought for his seniors, so he could only say:
"Forget it. Anyway, you just need to know that the atmosphere in the dojo is not right recently. Those of us from the main family will be required to be on standby no matter how busy we are at work."

"Hmm? What exactly happened? Can you tell me about it if it's convenient?" Zhongqiao became more and more curious.

Looking at the two curious men in front of him, An Teng Qianzhen slowly uttered a few words:
"He tried it out."

"He tried it?"

Zhongqiao repeated, and his colleague said in confusion:

"What is that? A challenge?"

Without waiting for An Teng Qianzhen to speak, Zhongqiao hurriedly explained seriously:
"No, his Ryuushihe and Kikan are completely different things..."

In the Edo period, normal Ta-ryu trials were common. A high-level swordsman, usually one who had obtained the rank of Menkyo Kaiden or received verbal or written approval from the main family, could then embark on a journey (busha shingyo) to various parts of the country to try out trials with other school masters in order to improve his or her skills. Most trials were done with bamboo swords, sometimes with wooden swords, but rarely with real swords. The main purpose of the trials was to improve one's own mental and technical abilities by competing with a Ta-ryu opponent.

Why was Nakahashi so nervous after hearing his colleague's words, and why did he secretly observe the reaction of An Teng Chima while explaining? It was because this "He-Ryu Test" was the specialty of Beichen Itto-Ryu. On the official website of the school's main family, there was a long article of tens of thousands of words explaining the meaning of He-Ryu Test, and touting the justice of He-Ryu Test and its benefits to the progress of Neon Kendo.

As for why Hokushin Ittoryu is so interested in the trial of other styles, we have to talk about Chiba Shusaku, the founder of Hokushin Ittoryu. This founder is not a good person. He became a disciple of Nakanishi Ittoryu. Because of his outstanding talent, he was favored by the head of the Nakanishi family, who adopted him as his son and married his beautiful niece to him, waiting for him to inherit the dojo.

But Chiba Shusaku refused to do so. He knew since he was born that he would become a Buddha or a patriarch, so he just ran away with his wife, being a complete traitor.

After committing such a shameful act, he still dreamed of creating his own school, but even though he hung up the sign of Hojo Ittoryu, no one came to visit. Not long after he left home, his family almost starved to death. He thought hard for a long time and suddenly realized that this was because although he was a great swordsman at that time, he was an unknown person. If you want to create a school, you must choose to become famous. So what is the easiest way to become famous? Nishizawa, Tsuruta Masao and Hojo Kyosuke all gave the most correct answer - step on others to get to the top!

So Chiba Shusaku began to travel around the countries, visiting the most famous dojo in each feudal province and applying to the owners of the dojo for competitions between different schools.

Generally, no dojo will refuse this kind of challenge as long as it is well-spoken, because it is also one of the ways of publicity for the dojo. So here comes the most important core technology!

If you win, it’s publicity, but what if you lose?
This is a test of the wisdom of the dojo master. Generally speaking, if a famous and powerful swordsman comes to challenge, the dojo master will offer a large sum of money to ask the challenger to show mercy and send him home, or simply let the challenger stay in the dojo as a consultant to guide the disciples on behalf of the dojo master. If the dojo master thinks the challenger is a weakling after evaluation, he will open the gate and invite the rich and common people around to watch and make a name for himself.

If the challenger was defeated by a disciple, it would raise the reputation of the dojo, and the challenger would be given pocket money to buy a pair of straw sandals, or a meal and a night's lodging. This customary practice allowed some wandering swordsmen to make a living.

However, Chiba Shusaku didn't want the money offered by the dojo owners at all. He was only thinking about using the reputation of those dojos to make his own school famous.

So every time this guy challenges someone, he will first send his younger brother to knock on the door, and he will pretend to be a visitor who knows nothing about kendo. He will even pretend to be not very smart when the disciples of the dojo observe him. If you ask why, it is because this guy is too tall. In the era when the average height of the martial arts world was no more than 1.5 meters, Chiba Shusaku's stature alone was very intimidating. He looked like a powerful person, and others would definitely not easily fight him.

Chiba Shusaku's brother is not a weak person. He often defeats the disciples of the dojo and forces the master of the dojo to take action. Then he waits for his brother to be defeated and then comes out. In this way, he easily gets the opportunity to fight the master of the dojo. With his strength, he can easily win. Then the master of the dojo will find out that he has been calculated, but it is too late. Chiba Shusaku is shameless and starts to promote his own school on the spot and recruits disciples.

In this way, Chiba Shusaku traveled around the countries, challenging major well-known dojos and swordsmen. His fame grew, and he had more and more disciples.

During this period, it was not that no one was angry because of being deceived, but who was Chiba Shusaku? There was a bold and enlarged sentence in the Hokushin Ittoryu Military Strategy: "One-Minded Decision", which means that if you look at the opponent, you may be defeated by the opponent because of carelessness, and being too afraid is not good either, because the whole body will be stiff due to tension and you will not be able to exert your strength. Therefore, no matter whether the opponent's swordsmanship is strong or weak, as long as you decide to challenge the opponent, you must abandon all distractions and accurately use the skills you have practiced for many years in the instant of fighting. This is "One-Minded Decision".

To explain it simply, if you encounter someone who is difficult to deal with, you should run away as quickly as possible.

This founder had done this at least ten times, beating people up during the day and then running away overnight for fear of retaliation.

Therefore, after Beichen became famous with his sword, future generations would naturally give justice to the actions of the founder. This is probably because when I win all the battles, someone will naturally defend me.

As Nakahashi explained, he understood why the dojo was so busy during his Ryushikai.

When it comes to love, everyone comes here to watch Beichen Ittoryu's excitement, and they are causing trouble for them!
The sword swung by the founder eventually fell on the descendants. (End of this chapter)