"the way"

This week, my Japanese teacher mentioned kyūdō, the traditional practice of archery, often taught in a dōjō (training hall). And that lead to a whole class discussion about the word dō…

Dō (or Dao/Tao in Chinese) means “the way”. Most foreigners associate it will martial arts, like Jūdō (the "gentle Way") or Kendō (the Way of the sword) or Taekwon-Do (the Way of the foot and the fist), but there are many practices in Japan that are named with dō.

• Sadō - the Way of tea (I posted about this last spring)

• Shōdō - the way of writing (I started practicing as soon as we arrived)

• Kadō - the Way of flowers (also called ikebana)

I also discovered a new dō… Dōraku (the Way of enjoyment). It means dedicating time to something you're passionate about, just because you enjoy doing it. Dōraku, though sometimes seen as frivolous, encourages curiosity, discipline, and a sense of purpose.

Regardless of the type of dō, the whole concept is to align the mind, body, and spirit (maybe what we would call being in “flow” in the West), and that it is about the journey, finding “the way”. A common phrase used with this type of practice is “Rei ni hajimari, rei ni owaru (“It begins and ends with respect.”)

practice makes perfect

Speaking of respect, last week the girls and I attended an etiquette class. It was a joint-nations class where we learned American-style dining etiquette and Japanese-style dining etiquette.

Of course we knew a lot about American etiquette—though the silverware and glassware is always a little confusing—but we surprised ourselves by how much Japanese etiquette we knew!

Charm school worksheets

My favorite take-away moment was when the teacher showed us how to open a pair of cheap (attached) chopsticks. You hold them parallel with the table and pull up and down to break them apart — because if you pull them apart while holding vertically, your arms could pull too wide and accidentally bump people to your left and right. I love this because it shows how even when eating fast food with cheap utensils, there is still a considerate way to do it.

We even learned how to make our own origami hashioki (chopstick rest)!

because you can’t just put them directly on the table!

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I wonder if there is a dō for creating manhole covers….

I never thought I'd have *favorite* manhole covers