Even though it was subject to change until the very last moment, with the announcement of the imminent declaration of a state of emergency in Tokyo, this year's Kagamibiraki ceremony was held at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo as expected on Sunday 10th of January.
Official events in Japan are usually very formalized and standardized, and as one who has been regularly attending the Aikikai events for the past ten years, I often get a sort of "Grounghog Day" feeling during those. This time however, the event would have substantial differences compared to the usual, since while the formal announcement of the promotions and associated demonstration would be held, it was decided that the public would not be allowed in order to limit the chances of viral spread.
With the All Japan Aikido Demonstration, the Kagamibiraki is one of the most widely followed events by the worldwide Aikido community and therefore, the Aikikai board had decided that a video of the ceremony would be streamed online to allow anyone to enjoy it. The Aikikai contacted me last September to request my assistance with the set up of this stream. The regular readers of this site are probably aware of the fact that I have been covering the Kagamibiraki through videos for a number of years now, a number of times on behalf of the International Aikido Federation.
Last preparations before the beginning of the ceremony.
I must confess that this was my first time doing it live however and anyone who has ever done something like that knows that the logistics behind a live are a lot more substantial that those for videos that are edited and published after the fact. Still, I was honored by the request and of course, I accepted immediately. The collaboration with the Aikikai staff was extremely efficient and productive, as always, and I could also count on the help of my friend Jordy Delage, who kindly lent me one of his cameras so that I could stream using two different angles. I was also able to count on fellow aikidoka and video maker Mihaly Dobroka, who helped operate the second camera.
As a "run & gun filmmaker, this was an unusual logistics for me. This time, I had to bring all my equipment to the dojo on the third floor.
In spite of the smooth communication and minute preparation, I cannot being to describe the level of stress that I felt as Doshu, Dojo-cho, and the Aikikai Shihan all started at me, waiting for my signal as I launched the stream, in addition to the thousands of people at home who were eagerly waiting for the start. There was no room for error and as I counted... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..., and I clicked the "Go Live" button, I hoped for the best.
The last moment of pressure before launching the live.
Overall, everything went as planned, even though I feel that the video quality could be improved in future, particularly in terms of framerate. For the first time, it is the Hombu Dojo-cho UEshiba Mitsuteru who was in charge of the demonstration, which he performed brilliantly. Regardless of the Covid situation, I cannot help but feel that this stream is setting a precedent, and I suspect that such thing might be setup in the subsequent years. If the Aikikai requests my help again, I will of course more than happily provide technical support.
Click here to view the stream replay on the Aikikai YouTube channel.
As always, the list of newly promoted individuals was published shortly after the ceremony and it is available here. I would like to congratulation all the recipients, and in particular, Tani Masaki Sensei for his 8th dan, Max Eriksson, Bruno Gonzales, Patrice Reuschlé and for their 6th dan, and Aikido Journal's Josh Gold, Kim Riddick, Gustavo Rearte, and Laurent Boudet for their 5th dan. I would also like to particularly thank the Aikikai Hombu Dojo's Mori Tomohiro Shihan and Maihara Wataru for their support.
Tani Masaki Shihan receiving 8th dan from Doshu.
