12th IAF Congress

Once every 4 years the International Aikido Federation (IAF) hosts an international congress in Japan, where aikidoka from all over the world gather to train under sensei from the Aikikai Hombu Dojo. This year this congress is being hosted again, for the 12th time, and takes place in the city of Takasaki, where currently a whole new sports venue is being built to cater for this event. See this video for some more information on Takasaki and the new venue.

The 12th IAF congress takes place from September 26 to October 3, 2016, so in about 9 months’ time from now. We are very keen to travel there with a group from Shinryukan and would like to take dojo members who are interested in coming along and participating.

We expect that over the next few months people from all over the world will start booking flights and accommodation, so therefore it is key that we start making our own arrangements asap. Like with our trip to Japan in 2014, we’ll try and book things like flights, accommodation, rail passes as a group to get group discounts. We will possibly organise some joint activities for after the congress but there will also be a free travelling period in this trip. 

Let’s start off with some key information: all of this is tentative, so may change a bit still over the next little while.

Expected travel time

  • Depart from New Zealand on Saturday, September 24.
  • Arriving back in New Zealand on Sunday, October 9 (travel time 2 weeks)
  • Flying in to Tokyo, and travel by bullet train to Takasaki (1 to 2 hours)
  • Participate in IAF Congress from Monday the 26th of September until October 3.
  • Group accommodation in Takasaki to be arranged.
  • From October 4 to October 9: still open but possibly 1-3 days travel as a group (for those interested) and then a few days free travel.
  • Rough budget expectation, based on flights (from NZ), Rail pass and accommodation/meals: approx. NZD 4,000

What we need from you now:

Basically at this point we need to understand 2 things:

  • Do you want to participate in the 12th IAF congress in Takasaki, Japan?
  • Do you want to benefit from the group trip that Shinryukan is organising?

Replying yes to either or both of these questions is not a commitment yet, but because we will use the numbers to start getting quotations and making arrangements, please only say yes if you are seriously considering participating. Once we start booking, we will give you enough time to fully commit if you want to come along.

Please reply by sending completing the form below, by latest February 21, 2016.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask Diedrik or Takase shihan, or visit the IAF website or facebook page.