Last night Paul Masse invited me and my teacher Peter over to his house in Noda-shi. While we were in the backyard swapping stories, his wife Tomoe invited us inside to a warm dinner of ちゃんこ鍋 chankonabe. She and Paul are very friendly and generous.
Have you ever heard of 撒菱 makibishi? I first heard them called 鉄菱 tetsubishi back in the ’80s. These were the iron spikes or caltrops that a ninja would scatter on the ground to cause problems for anyone chasing him. Sometimes after jumping a wall, he could leave some on top for his enemies hands...