1980's

1980-Saito Sensei is 52 years old. He retires from his Japan National Railroad (JNR) switchman job in nearby Tsuchiura and finally gets some sleep. He continues his international travels including California, Sweden and Denmark. He continues to publish books and videos. A constant stream of visitors comes to Iwama. HotSpar, the nearby convenience store, and Kasumi department store arrive in Iwama.

1985. Saito Sensei and his son, Hitohiro at the 1985 Friendship Demo, Tokyo.

Photo: Aiki News.

1980's. Iwama. In the snow. This photo also hangs in the Iwama dojo genkan. Saito Sensei took advantage of the overnight spectacular snowfall to stage these photographs, reminiscent of the much loved Japanese television period dramas.

Photo: David Alexander & Christopher Field.

c. 1980's. Donny took this photo in Iwama and gave it to Yvonne Thelwell in Washington D.C.

Photo: Don Lyon (1952-1996)

1980's. Ganseki otoshi. Uke is Bjorn Saw from Sweden. This was taken during a special video shoot with Paolo Corallini Sensei and Alessandro Tittarelli at his dojo 8 June 1992 in Jesi(An), Italy.

Photo: contributed by Paul Henderson.

February 1981. The traditional "Keiko-gi" send-off party at the Atago-san onsen. Saito Sensei and Derek Minus from Australia. "On the back of my Keikogi Hitohiro drew a particularly good daruma."

Photo: Derek Minus.

1982. Bastad, Sweden seminar. Uke: David Alexander. On this trip, he held one class in Germany and they visited Copenhagen, Denmark for several days.

Photo: Swedish newspaper clipping. Provided by David Alexander.

1983. What can be done with a simple tenugui, or "hand-towel"? Glad you asked! Ulf Evenås wrote "These pictures were laying in the Iwama Dojo for many years. Sensei loved them."

Photo: Ulf Evenås as uke. Provided by Bill Witt.

March 1984. Saito Sensei handplaning a bit of lumber out in his garden. Shokudo and dojo are in the background.

Photo: Andreas Wiemann.

1985. Saito Sensei. The kanji on his sleeve is "Morihito."

Photo: Stan Pranin.

1985. Don't you love that wallpaper? The and the following party shot was in Takayasu Sensei's residence in Sydney. Lester (Tony) Snow (shodan here, now in the UK), Barry Knight (now 6th dan in Melbourne now), Nemoto from Iwama, and the Sydney, Australian crew: Saburo Takayasu, (now Shihan, with Takemusu Aiki Association of Australia), Derek Minus (now 5th dan, TAA), and Mic Marelli (now 5th dan, formerly TAA, now independent).

Photo: Takemusu Aiki Association Incorporated NSW

1985. Saito Sensei enjoyes a good steak while in Australia.

Photo: Takemusu Aiki Association Incorporated NSW

1986, September. Lake Tahoe seminar. Of this seminal group, twelve are still training and eight are running their own dojo. At this time, we all trained with Bruce at the Aikido Institute in Oakland, California.(/py).

Bruce Klickstein.

1986. Oakland, California. American-style BBQ at someone's house. Shirt kanji is natsu, or "summer".

Photo: Bruce Klickstein.

1987. Osimo, Italy. Setting up for a video shot in Paolo Corallini Sensei's dojo. Uke: Ken'ichi Shibata.

Photo: Stan Pranin.

1987. Saito Sensei visit to California included a sailboat trip around San Francisco Bay. In front, Bruce Klickstein, Sally Klickstein (at that time), Saito Sensei and Bill Witt. In back, Tuuli Messer in red shirt (she lived on this boat), Ryuji Inagaki, David Alexander in hat, and Sid Messer (Tuuli's father).

Photo: David Alexander.

1989. Saito Sensei walking with entourage, including Daniel Mizukami on the left and Robert Ishibashi. Los Angeles seminar.

Photo: Carlos Nogueira.

1989. Saito Sensei in action with Robert Ishibashi and Peter Davis in Los Angeles.

Photo: Carlos Nogueira.

1989. Saito Sensei demonstrates the power of deflection in the right place. Uke: Robert Ishibashi. Los Angeles seminar.

Photo: Carlos Nogueira.