When I started my Aikido journey, my first thought was: "Who was Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido?".
I started from Osaka and we drove to Tanabe where O' Sensei was born and buried. The experience was moving as you can imagine to visit the ground where Morihei Ueshiba spent his childhood.
Near the beach, you can appreciate the status of Morihei Ueshiba
Next, it is possible to pay your respect at O'Sensei's grave on the same ground as the Kozan Ji temple and one of the Japanese tradition is to clean the grave and water the plants.
This picture was taken outside the cemetery where the founder is resting. You can see written the word Aikido in Kanji, one of the Japanese alphabets.
The journey to Tanabe was long but it was very interesting to see all the sites. We were unable to visit some of the famous dojo such as the Kumano Juku Dojo, former chief instructor: Hikitsuchi Michio, student of O'Sensei. When Morihei Ueshiba was in Wakayama, he taught there. We will go there someday and it will be on our list.
In 2020, the Morihei Ueshiba memorial museum was completed in Tanabe city, Wakayama prefecture. This is a place we must visit next time as well.
In the next blog, I will share with some pictures taken at the Kumano Nachi Taisha where O'Sensei used to perform misogi and other religious rituals.
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