Asceticism in kyu-dou Eugen Herrigel said in his book, “Zen in the Art of Archery”. “You had to suffer shipwreck through your own efforts before you were ready to seize the lifebelt the master threw you.” “Whoever makes good progress in the beginning has all the more difficulties later on.” These phrases are the sense which many Japanese love. We have been taught such thought. “The right art is purposeless, aimless! The more obstinately you try to learn how to shoot the arrow for the sake of hitting the goal, the less you will succeed in the one and the further the other will recede. What stands in your way […]

Kyu-dou “Zen in the Art of Archery” was written by a German, Eugen Herrigel, who learned kyu-dou deeply. He arrived at the high point of dou. Many Japanese cannot see the state. Kyu-dou is the Japanese martial art of archery. There are similar sports in other countries. What is the difference from archery in other countries? Target is me Eugen said, “fundamentally the marksman aims at himself and may even succeed in hitting himself.” That’s right. The target is myself. Kyu-dou is one of many kinds of dou. Other kinds of dou are the same. The target is me, myself. The target is not out of me. Kyu-dou is a sport. Japanese think kyu-dou […]

There are few books of dou I search books about dou. But I have found less than 10 books about dou. Dou is very popular in Japan. I wonder why there are few books. We cannot describe dou. We cannot define dou. But we understand dou when somebody say about dou.   The way of life Perhaps dou means the way of life. The life of somebody is different from others’. That sense is difficult to describe in English. Terms about dou are in Japanese, but not in English. We, Japanese think human beings are the part of nature. Human beings are not special existence in animals. Every person has […]

Only mimicry? Learning from nobody is the basical learning method of human beings. Children watch their parents and other people. They copy them and get the skill or knowledge. But animals or insects do the same. What is the difference between human beings and other creatures?   With meaning We need meaning. Our mimicry is not only mimicry but mimicry with meaning. We hope something and want to get it. So we mimic others with thinking. Recently we choose process rather than mimicry. Process is rapid and efficient. Of course process is useful. But efficiency lacks something. What is it?   We hope something. We hope something. It is not […]

In the article, I describe “dou” has 3 stages; shu, ha, ri. I think “shu” is the most important. Perhaps it is the most Japanese like thought. It is found in zen, and the fundamental training of all kinds of “dou“. Recently young Japanese don’t take care of the thought of zen.     I tell an interesting fact. When I tell “dou learnig method” to young Japanese, most of them don’t understand it. When I tell it to elder Japanese, many of them say “What a great idea! It is good education!” The stage of “shu” requires mimicry and repetition. It doesn’t require creativity or originality. Don’t misunderstanding. I […]