May 18th, 2008 Since January 1991, Nippon Kan has served monthly meals to the homeless at the Denver Rescue Mission. This May, an important milestone was reached with the service of the 50,000th meals in 18 consecutive years. On May 18th, a ceremony was held at the Denver Rescue Mission attended by Consul General of Japan, Kazuyoshi Kubo, Japanese Consul …
AHAN Nippon Kan Homeless Food Service
May 18, 2008
AHAN Nippon Kan Homeless Food Service Project Report August 17th 298 dinners served September 21st 300 dinners served October 19th 350 dinners served November 16th 340 dinners served December 21st 269 dinners served Total since 1991 52,332 dinners served The December homeless meal service concludes Nippon Kan’s meal service for 2008. This year we passed a milestone by serving …
Bio Diesel Eco Car Campaign Comes to Denver
March 20, 2008
March 20th, 2008 The “Bio Diesel Eco Car Adventure” made a stop at Nippon Kan on its cross country tour of the United States to promote alternative fuel source efficiency and cross cultural communication. The Eco Car team lead by Shusei Yamada were treated to dinner sponsored by Domo Restaurant and a tour of the Nippon Kan facility before heading …
AHAN Tea 2007 Sales Report
December 30, 2007
Dec 30th, 2007 Nippon Kan’s Domo Japanese Country Foods Restaurant features AHAN Teas brought directly to Denver by Homma Kancho on his many travels teaching Aikido. This year’s AHAN fundraising sales report were published publicly in Denver’s Westword Newspaper for the month of December. In 2007, 5763 cups of tea and 92 packages of dried tea were sold, raising a …
Nippon Kan 17th Annual Fall Volunteer Project: Put the Beds to Bed
October 20, 2007
October 20th, 2007 There is power in longevity. What does that mean? For the past seventeen years, at the same location, at the same time of year, with the same staff coordinators, Nippon Kan has been performing the same task; “Putting the Beds to Bed” (turning the flower beds for winter) at Civic Center Park. This year too about 100 …
Letter from Graduate of Nippon Kan Beginning Aikido Class
September 29, 2007
September 29th, 2007 Written by Jeff McMullen We received this letter from a graduate beginning class student about his experiences in our Nippon Kan Beginning Aikido program. Hello, I just wanted to comment on my recent experiences with the beginner course at Nippon Kan. When I was younger I spent quite some time involved with various martial arts. After a …
Nippon Kan Early Fall Garden Party
September 23, 2007
September 23rd, 2007 In late September, with just a hint fall in the air, students at Nippon Kan held a party for Homma Kancho in the Nippon Kan gardens. Homma Kancho is so busy throughout the year working with AHAN and teaching Aikido around the world, Nippon Kan students decided to have a garden party in his honor to thank …
Bangladesh Emergency Flood Relief “Relay the Spirit” Marathon Seminar
August 26, 2007
August 26th, 2007 We received calls of distress from Bangladesh early last August due to severe flooding in the region. Nippon Kan Headquarters in Denver heeded the call and quickly organized a fundraising seminar at the Nippon Kan Headquarters to raise support for badly needed flood relief supplies. Homma Kancho was already scheduled to teach a fundraising seminar in Rio …
An interesting sight at Domo; A Popular Summer Tradition in Denver
August 15, 2007
August 2007 Patio dining at Domo Restaurant during the summer months is wildly popular. Unfortunately the winds are gusty at times in Denver so it is difficult to use umbrellas over the garden tables in the summer to shade our Domo guests from the sun. Domo’s solution to the sunny days of Denver summer are traditional straw hats which have …
Armistice Day
August 15, 2007
August 15th, 2007 Armistice Day marks the day Japan surrendered to the United States bringing the end to WWII for Japan. The Nippon Kan gardens has a tall flagpole where an American flag is flown every day of the year in recognition of the efforts of all of the American volunteers who built the Nippon Kan facility. Every day that …
Kobayashi Summer Camp Seminar
July 25, 2007
I was fortunate recently to attend the Kobayashi Summer Camp Seminar held in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. This 4 day seminar was hosted by the Calgary Aikikai which is the home and Dojo of Inaba Yasuhisa Sensei. Inaba Sensei is a long time student and friend of Kobayashi Yasuo Shihan and as I watched the two of them interact over the …
Kazakhstan Students Experience Cross-Cultural Exchange at Nippon Kan
July 22, 2007
July 22-present Fifty students from Kazakhstan had an important chance this summer to experience life in Colorado through a special government cross-cultural exchange program. Six of these students, having finished their assigned work-study projects, came to work at Nippon Kan’s Domo Japanese Country Foods Restaurant for a one-month internship.The brightest students from all over Kazakhstan were selected for this work-study …
Canadian Rockies Seminar with Yasuo Kobayashi Shihan
July 5, 2007
July 5-8, 2007 Calgary Aikiki hosted this four-day seminar in the Canadian Rockies instructed by Yasuo Kobayashi Shihan. (www.kobayashi-dojo.com) In attendance as Homma Kancho’s representative was Nippon Kan Instructor Scott Olson. Homma Kancho first met Kobayashi Shihan over 40 years ago when Yasuo Kobayashi Shihan was an instructor at Hombu Dojo in Tokyo, Japan. They met again at Aikido Journal’s …
Over 2,000 students participate in Nippon Kan 2007 School Field Trip Program
July 1, 2007
Jan-July 2007 Since its inception, Nippon Kan has opened its doors to Denver schoolchildren through its School Field Trip Program. This year, from January to July, over 2,000 students toured the Nippon Kan General Headquarters facility on this special cultural tour. These two-hour excursions into Japanese culture include a facility tour, hands-on origami (paper folding), shodo (brush calligraphy), Aikido demonstrations, …
Nippon Kan 16th Annual Spring Volunteer Project
June 2, 2007
June 2nd, 2007 For 16 years, Nippon Kan has participated in an annual spring volunteer project in conjunction with the Denver Parks and Recreation Department in Denver. This year, the project focused on a section of parks linked by the Platte river bicycle trail which winds from the northeast end to central Denver. About 100 Nippon Kan members and friends …