The tour kicked off at the Japanese Culture Center, 1016 W. Belmont, where a representative, Caleb, spoke about the center’s history and programs. Founded in 1978 by the late Fumio Toyoda of Tochigi Japan, it is now in its second generation of family ownership under the leadership of his son, Stephen Tatsuo Toyoda. The elder Toyoda was a well respected aikido sensei and leader of the Aikido Association of America, and the younger Toyoda has taken up the reins as kaicho of the association as a well-regarded teacher in his own right.