Writing to Dr Hatsumi, Sōke of the Bujinkan Dōjō

If you want to send a letter to Dr Hatsumi, you are welcome to do so - do not let your instructor (or anyone else) tell you "it is not allowed". Many problems have been caused in the past by people only getting "filtered" information, so Dr Hatsumi prefers to apply "Isshi Sōden", i.e. man-to-man communication. Bear in mind though that he is an incredibly busy man, and although you may have been dying to ask him "What is a Ninja?" for many years it is better to search for the answer yourself first, by asking your instructor or reading Dr Hatsumi's books, Sanmyaku, etc. Most letters will nowadays tend to get answered by an assistant in any case; and the turnaround is notoriously slow.

It is important to note that anything not written in Japanese is quite likely to remain unanswered. Neither Dr Hatsumi nor his assistants can expected to deal with letters arriving in all the languages of the globe... even English is out!

So how do you get a letter sent in Japanese? You find a translator, and pay them a professional fee. How do you find a translator? Try the following:

First choice should naturally be to contact the few Bujinkan members who are also professional and/or experienced translators, and frequently translate correspondence with Dr Hatsumi:
Many countries have national "networks" of translators, such as the UK's Institute of Translation and Interpreting. Most will be affiliated to the International Federation of Translators so you can search for them there.
The Japanese embassy or consulate in your country may well have a list of translators; this is particularly useful if your native tongue is not English.
Try Yellow Pages, under the heading "Translators" or "Interpreters".
Try your phone company. They often have to deal with interpreting (verbal translation) over the phone, so may well have their own translation bureau.
Try the sci.lang.japan newsgroup. Make sure you get a professional translator though, rather than someone "who took an evening course in Japanese a few years ago".
If you use a non-Bujinkan translator, it might help to give them Soke's address:

This page produced by Ben Jones (contact me).
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