Wedding Bells

On Sunday, Ando Sensei and I went to Etsuko Kasai's wedding at the Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay in Urayasu. Kasai san (now Sugiyama san) has been a member of Ryu Dojo for about twelve years. For the last three of those twelve years she has been teaching the 6am class on Wednesdays at Ryu Dojo. However, Etsuko Sensei's connection to Ando Sensei and Ryu Dojo goes back much further in time than that. Etsuko Sensei was born in Shodoshima in Kanagawa Prefecture where her grandfather has a dojo. When Etsuko Sensei was about two years old, Ando Sensei went on a summer training camp to her grandfather's dojo with his university aikido club. At that time, Ando Sensei had only heard of Shioda Kancho but in the dojo he spotted Shioda Sensei's autograph and he found out that Shioda Sensei had taught a seminar there about two or three years before. I think most of you know that the "Ryu" in Yoshinkan Aikido Ryu is "dragon" in Japanese. At the wedding Etsuko Sensei's mother told Ando Sensei the story that at the opening ceremony of the dojo in Shodoshima, a dragon was said to have been spotted rising from the dojo and ascending to heaven (cute detail - it was a pink dragon!).

Etsuko Sensei and her husband, Kei, worked at the same company for a long time and their romance started a year or two ago at the annual company cherry-blossom viewing party.
The wedding ceremony was held in the Crystal Chapel at the Sheraton Grande and the reception was held in a large banquet room with stunning views over Tokyo Bay. I have mostly only ever seen Etsuko Sensei in a dogi so it was a big change to see her in her beautiful white wedding dress! (There were quite a few Ryu Dojo ladies at the wedding looking unrecognizable in dresses actually.) Later, she changed into another equally beautiful black and pink ball-gown. There was lots of champagne and speeches and delicious French food and also, unusually, the groom proposing to the bride halfway through the wedding reception!

Ando Sensei's speech.

Cutting the cake.

Ryu Dojo members.

The Proposal - not a dry eye in the room!

On the day, double congratulations were due because the Sugiyamas are also expecting a baby in October. Due to this, obviously Etsuko Sensei has been unable to teach the Wednesday morning class. That class has been taken over by her older sister, Izumi Sensei, who has been a Ryu member for 16 years.

The Kasai sisters.

Thank you to both the Kasai and the Sugiyama families for a wonderful, wonderful day. Congratulations again to the newly-weds and we wish them nothing but health and happiness for their future together and with their soon-to-be little family!

Stephanie.