On Saturday, May 24, 2025, Japan Day took place once again in Düsseldorf on the banks of the Rhine. As in previous years, we were active on the lawn by the state parliament building together with our friends from Hakushinkai Düsseldorf (Iaido).

Unfortunately, this Japan Day wasn’t one of those blessed by the sun; of all days, it rained that Saturday—rain that was sorely needed and eagerly awaited after the long dry spell. A rain shower during the setup phase was annoying but didn’t cause too much trouble, as it cleared up again around 11:00 a.m. However, starting around 3:00 p.m., it began to rain persistently and steadily, so that the demonstrations were literally washed out. Before that, interest in Japanese sports had been high once again. Since there was no sign of the weather improving, we decided—also for safety reasons—to pack up our equipment after 4:00 p.m. and call it a day for Japan Day.

Automatically translated by DeepL