“A Change of Scene for the Kodo Apprentices” by Eri Uchida

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July 26, 2018

After their regular training session yesterday afternoon, Kodo Apprentice Centre manager Gan (Yasuhiko Ishihara) took the apprentices to Sobama Beach.
That may sound like fun, but it wasn’t for leisure.

First, the apprentices ran along the sandy beach… and then they ran some more.
Running on sand slowed them down but it gave them a change of scene, with a different view to their training every morning. It feels different for them, too, running barefoot with gentle waves lapping at their feet.

After that, they all danced Onikenbai together, a demon sword dance. You’d expect dancing on sand to also be harder than usual, but dancing on the beach together looked liberating and enjoyable for them.

They had some free time after their workout and they all took this chance to leap into the sea.

At the Apprentice Centre, they may experience a lot of difficult challenges and tough times. I guess when you have fun times and happy experiences after such lows, the highs feel even higher.
Seeing them have as much fun as they could during this short break made me think about the spectrum of emotions they experience during the programme.

Maybe this setting created that sense of liberation I noted.
Sado truly is an island filled with nature.