Love Letter from Brussels
Japanese who support Belgian culture and Belgians who support Japanese culture (No.6)
15th December 2014
2014 has almost come to an end. It has already been three months since I have assumed my duties here in Belgium. During this time, I have met various people and I have visited various cities. This time, I would like to talk about two encounters that have greatly moved me.
The first encounter is with a ‘Japanese who supports Belgian culture’. To be honest, there are many people who do this, but I would like to talk about the ballerina Ms. Aki Saito, who’s approaching a milestone year and who also contributed to our “Belgium and me” corner. On 15 November, Ms. Saito and her ballet partner Wim Vanlessen (who I shall refer to as Wim and Aki from now on) held a gala performance to mark their 20th anniversary in the Royal Ballet of Flanders in Antwerp. Thanks to the courtesy of the hosts, I too was able to enjoy the performance, along with the friends and parents of both Wim and Aki.
Put simply, it was a wonderfully and moving performance. As a layperson, I cannot comment on the perfection of techniques or artistry, however, the repeated standing ovation of the spectators spoke volumes. What touched me even more though, is that Aki seemed to have been completely accepted as a Belgian and as a citizen of Antwerp.
When Aki won the Prix De Lausanne and set foot in Antwerp upon invitation by the Royal Ballet School of Antwerp 23 years ago, she could not speak a word of English or Dutch. However, she tried very hard and through the common language of ballet, she was able to integrate well into the local community. The act of holding a gala performance to celebrate one’s 20th anniversary as a principal dancer is already rare in itself, but the fact that one of these two people is Japanese is almost unparalleled.
After the performance, I went backstage to greet Aki and Wim where their colleagues from the ballet ensemble were present too; I was impressed that they were rejoicing as if it was their own 20th anniversary. When I saw their old ballet teachers, who were of quite a venerable age, come running to join the celebration, I too felt a lump in my throat. “The duo Wim and Aki is the pride of the people of Antwerp” said the deputy mayor. I think these words speak for themselves. Aki and Wim, congratulations.
Moving on to the second encounter I would like to tell you about is the encounter with ‘Belgians who support Japanese culture’. There are also many people who do this, however, this time I would like to talk about the current state of aikido in Belgium. It has been a while ago now but on 8 November I had the pleasure to observe an aikido practice in a sports hall in Brussels. As a matter of fact, once every year Mr. Osawa Hayato, a master instructor from the Aikikai Foundation in Tokyo, visits Belgium and I was able to attend a training session for Belgian aikido enthusiasts. For a period of three days, weekend included, Mr. Osawa gave training sessions to aikido enthusiasts from all over Belgium.
Aikido started in Belgium over 50 years ago, in 1960. Today, there are more than 5000 aikido devotees. It is said that there are one million aikido lovers in Japan and about 1.6 million all over the world but if you take the Belgian population of 10 million in consideration, 5000 people is quite a substantial number I think. What surprised me more was the sight of everybody outdoing themselves at the practice. It looked like a lot of people from all over the country came to Brussels for this day.
During the practice, the teacher first demonstrated the movements. In doing so, he almost didn’t speak a single word. The Belgian people taking the lessons watched the movements eagerly. After this, they paired up together in order to put these movements into practice. Hardly a whisper was heard during the practice, the large sports hall just loudly echoed the sound of bodies hitting the tatami mats. It was all so impressive that I hesitated to talk. At the end, everyone sat up straight in a single row and thanked the teacher with “arigatou gozaimashita”. These words marked the end of the training. It was a very Japanese atmosphere.
Both the Flemish region as well as the Walloon region have their own Aikikai branch. However, this time it was the chairman of the Walloon branch, Mr. Heylbroeck, that guided me. Mr. Heylbroeck is still in his early thirties. He holds a 4th dan belt and is an international lawyer. During the practice, he was wearing his aikido workout outfit, but the suit he wore during the dinner we had afterwards truly gave him the aura of an international lawyer. Right across him sat the first chairman of the Walloon aikido federation, Mr. Dany Leclerre. Even though Mr. Leclerre is already in his mid-sixties, he’s one of the five Belgian shihan. Believe it or not, this year marks his 50th anniversary since he first started his training. In order to become a shihan, you need to hold at least 6 dan. However, when Mr. Leclerre visited Japan lately, he became the first ever Belgian to get a 7th dan. Several years ago, he passed down his position as chairman of the federation to Mr. Heylbroeck, who is around the same age as his own children. According to him, it’s necessary to pass the baton to the younger generation to achieve long-lasting development of Aikido in Belgium. From my point of view as well, I think Aikido in Belgium is doing just fine.
Today, I introduced you to just 2~3 names of the many, many people who act as a bridge between Japan and Belgium. I invite you to have a look at the ‘Belgium and I’ as well as the ‘Japan and I’ columns on our Embassy’s homepage, that several people contributed to. However, the relationship between Belgium and Japan is built upon the ties between many other people.
From the bottom of my heart, I wish you all a happy new year.
