Flying to the Sun

In the first of a series of articles, Michael Jay, the only westerner holding a samurai rank in Japan, tells us how he became Group Commander for the Soma Clan.

The first question I am always asked when someone learns of my background is invariably “How did you become a samurai?”

This is a difficult question for the enquirer always wants a quick answer, something which is not possible. Also, no-one can completely understand something without having actually experienced it. Of course, this applies to many things but more so in the case of Japan as so many Westerners seem to find the culture so completely alien although I have never found it so and have always felt completely at home there.

So, when I was asked to contribute to The Martial Arts Journal I was pleased for several reasons. Not for myself, but because it would allow me to share with you, the reader, some of the wonderful experiences I have had in Japan and, hopefully, to explain just what I have found so satisfying there.

I have been very fortunate in that my career as a pilot with BOAC and British Airways has enabled me to fly myself to Japan to train more than 300 times, surely a record! And through my wife, Tokuko, and the kindness of her family, I have been able to live in Soma, one of the samurai heartlands of Japan where the ancient traditions are very much alive in the form of Soma Noma Oi. I will be explaining later just what happens in Noma Oi and how I came to take part in what I have no doubt is the greatest horse event in the world.

My martial training in Japan has been of immense value to me not only in everyday life and in my flying career but also in my other work as a Special Constable in the Metropolitan Police in London. All three are very similar. In later articles I will be explaining more about the actual martial culture of Japan but I shall start with a little of my background and how I came to become so deeply involved in that wonderful country.

I was borne in Kent quite close to the birthplace of William Adams, the first Englishman in Japan and the first English samurai. Although, as the only other Englishman to be awarded a samurai rank, I do not place any mystical significance in this, it is nevertheless rather curious.

From the age of five or six I can clearly remember having two great interests, aeroplanes and martial skill. When a friend failed to complete a model aircraft he was building he gave it to me. I loved it and, after much puzzlement over the plans, a small Spitfire took to the air. I was frustrated that it left its six year old builder on the ground but it was the start of a lifelong fascination with aeroplanes and flight.

Like all small boys, my friends and I made wooden swords and bows and arrows and had the usual wars and battles. My favourite book was King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. What wonderful tales for children! Little did I know then that many years later I would have the chance to fly myself to a faraway land where the skill at arms in those ancient battles was still very much alive.

At school I was very small and although I managed to avoid a lot of the inevitable school fights it was impossible to avoid them all. One day, in our local library, I found, purely by chance, a wonderful book called The Fighting Spirit of Japan by E. J. Harrison. I had only a ticket for children’s books but the librarian must have seen I was fascinated by it and let me take it home.

Where my little Spitfire had been the start of a career in aviation, this book, which I still find interesting, was the start of a lifelong love affair with Japan. I searched out more of the same and found some books on Judo. To me, there was nothing alien about what was in these books. Just the opposite. Everything in them seemed perfectly natural and so began my study of Judo. I found this very useful in the inevitable ‘discussions’ with the school bullies and they soon left me alone.

My family background had nothing to do with Japan or flying. One uncle was a pathologist and another was a sea captain whose stories of the world made me want to go and see the same things for myself. Two other uncles were impresarios of the London variety theatre. My mother was a singer, dancer and acrobat and my father was a stage director. Consequently I came to know almost all of the great stars of the theatre and radio as they were always at our house. My whole life up to the age of 17 was spent in theatres and I loved it. Every night I was backstage – what a great atmosphere! Strangely, I had no desire to perform although from the age of eleven I learnt to play jazz on the clarinet, something which I still love to do.

An older cousin who was the chief designer at Bristol Aircraft invited me to join the company but my aim was to enter the Royal Air Force. Unfortunately, family circumstances precluded both and my aeronautical interests remained just a hobby. But I still hoped!

At the age of 22 I found that BOAC and BEA (now British Airways) were recruiting and I applied. The selection procedure was severe with a very high failure rate but somehow I was successful and was sent to the Oxford Air Training School as a cadet pilot. Having managed to complete the training I joined BOAC as a Second Officer flying its flagship, the Vickers Super VC10, the Queen of the Skies, and thus began my aviation career. It was a wonderful aircraft to fly which later took me on my first trip to Japan.

One day at my judo club, the London Judo Society, I was introduced to a Japanese judo teacher called Okubo Isamu. I was amazed to discover that he had been a personal friend not only of Kano Jigoro, the founder of judo, but also of Koizumi Gunji who had initially brought judo to London. Together, they had started the Budokai, London’s first judo dojo. Mr. Okubo invited me to visit him should I come to Tokyo. I couldn't wait!

In 1972 I made my first flight to Japan and immediately fell in love with the country. As I stepped off the aircraft at Haneda I immediately decided that I must learn Japanese, a wise decision which has stood me in good stead. Mr. Okubo took me to the home of judo, the Kodokan, and introduced me to many of his friends who were some of its highest teachers and who, over the years, were kind enough to explain many of the subtleties of the art. I loved it.

On one trip, Mr. Okubo asked me to take some Japanese food to his friend’s niece, Tokuko, who was studying English in London. She lived quite close to me and we got on very well, exchanging stories about our experiences in each other’s countries.

By coincidence, I was planning to go to the Kodokan for a grading examination at the same time that Tokuko planned to go home for a holiday so she invited me to meet her family. She knew of my interest in Japan’s ancient martial culture and arranged for me to meet her uncle in Soma, Dr. Imamura Kunio, who was the samurai commander in her home town of Odaka, the home of the famous Soma Noma Oi, the Soma Wild Horse Chase. Of course, I knew nothing then about this great event but Dr. Imamura’s house turned out to be a treasure trove of weapons, armour and samurai artefacts. More than that, he knew all about them.

The result of this meeting was an invitation to take part the next year. Incredible! No-one from outside the area, not even Japanese, had ever taken part before. Soma Noma Oi, one of the three great festivals of Japan, is classified by the Japanese government as both an Intangible Cultural Treasure and an Intangible Folk Treasure. Consequently, not only had permission to be obtained from the government but also the agreement of Soma Kazutane, the head of the Soma clan, and all members of the Soma Horse Association. It took some time but they agreed, the first time in over 1000 years that a foreigner had taken part.

The result of this was that I have taken part in Noma Oi for 17 years rising to the rank of Group Commander for the General with samurai horseman under my command. It was one of the most fascinating experiences of my life and gave me not only a great insight into modern and traditional life in rural Japan but also a unique insider’s view of the practical side of actually riding Japanese horses with hundreds of other riders, rounding up wild horses and racing in full armour. Noma Oi is a tough event.

In 1979 Tokuko and I were married first in London and then in Odaka Shrine on the site of the ancient castle of the Soma Clan. Many of the guests were members of the Horse Society and it was an unforgettable day.

In 1983 the BBC came to make a programme about Noma Oi for The World About Us, its most prestigious documentary series. They made a wonderful program which really captured the feudal atmosphere of Soma and its samurai horsemen and which resulted in my receiving many invitations to appear on more programs and to lecture and demonstrate to many illustrious organisations. This is something I still do as I am a great believer in education and there are, even now, still many misconceptions about Japan.

Although I had been continuously training in London and Japan in Judo, Aikido, Karate, Shorinji Kempo, Jodo and Iaido it had always been my aim to train in the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu, Japan’s oldest martial tradition. Unfortunately, it was not possible to be accepted for training unless able to train regularly and although I was flying to Japan fairly often it was not as often as was required. All that changed when I started flying the Boeing 747 and became senior enough to be able to choose my flying trips. I was introduced by a mutual friend to the headmaster, Otake Risuke, and we immediately hit it off. We have been good friends ever since.

I now had my chance to realize my childhood ambition of really learning how to use those ancient weapons for the techniques of the Katori Shinto Ryu have not changed since the 14th century. I now have a teaching licence from Otake Sensei and thus am able to pass on those skills to the best of my ability to a select group of students. I do not look on them as students of mine but as students of Otake Sensei for we are all bona fide members of his school. The Katori Shinto Ryu still requires its members to sign an oath in their own blood just as in the feudal period.

Unlike many other teachers who go to Japan for a short time and then return home to set up their own styles and organisations I have no reason to change any of its traditions. As in Noma Oi, they are all there for good reasons. This works very well as fortunately I have no need of the income from a large number of students and can therefore choose very carefully whom I teach. This is essential for reasons which I will explain in future articles.

I retired in 2000 after 32 years’ flying for British Airways but still regularly fly light aircraft. I have been a Special Constable since 1993 and am now stationed at Heathrow Police Station on Aviation Security.

I train most days and use that training all the time. This does not mean that I carry my swords on duty (unfortunately not allowed!) but both the physical and mental training I have received both from my flying career and from my teachers in Japan have been invaluable in everything I have done.

It has taken me many years to understand the teachings of the masters of both the classical and modern martial arts and ways of Japan and, of course, there is always still much to learn. But I have been very fortunate in that I have been allowed to enter the closed world of the samurai in the form of Soma Noma Oi and this has given me a unique practical insight into their ancient culture and skills. There are not many people even in Japan who know how to put on armour, shoot a bow while wearing it on horseback and who are able to use all the weapons.

In future articles I will attempt to give the reader an insight into the real training in Japan. It is quite different to what is generally seen in the West where most of the arts have been diluted and
Westernised for use as sport for the masses. Sport has its uses but in the martial world the prize is quite different. The game is called staying alive.

About the Author

Michael Jay is the only non-Japanese person to hold a samurai rank – that of Group Commander in Soma Noma Oi, the Soma Wild Horse Chase, the biggest horse event in the world and classified by the Japanese government as an Intangible Cultural Treasure of Japan. He holds a teaching licence in Japan's oldest martial school, the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu, also classified as an Intangible Cultural Treasure.

He has Black Belt grades in several modern martial disciplines including:

• The British Judo Association (1st Dan); Kodokan Judo Institute (1st Dan);
• Muso Shinden Ryu Iai;
• Shindo Muso Ryu Jojutsu;
• All Japan Kendo Association Jodo (1st Dan);
• and All Japan Kendo Association Iaido (4th Dan Instructor).

In addition to this, he is qualified by the Smith and Wesson Academy not only as a Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor for rifle, shotgun, pistol and revolver but also for handgun retention, baton and handcuffs – all of which are useful as he is also a member of the Metropolitan Police Special Constabulary and regularly teaches police officers personal safety and self defence. As an archer he has a strong interest in the martial history of England and as a hunter in Africa fully supports animal conservation.

 

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