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The conversation went on in this vein for some time. In my view, they were doing their best to discourage me from training there. It is not uncommon for Japanese teachers to test prospective students by trying to discourage them. I hoped that was why Suhara Osho asked me to wait six weeks before agreeing to see me and why they now seemed so intent on my studying elsewhere. I decided to wait patiently until I got a clear acceptance or rejection.

At one point Suhara Osho left, leaving me alone with the woman and the interpreter. She continued to ask questions. She asked me about my experiences training at Chozen-Ji. She wanted to know if I had shot at the mato or only at the makiwara.

A makiwara is a practice target made out of bundled straw. It is shot at from a range of three to four feet, as opposed to the paper mato, or "real target", shot at from a distance of 28 metres (90 feet). In traditional kyudo training, students could spend years shooting at the makiwara before they were allowed to shoot at the mato. Most training described by Herrigel in Zen in the Art of Archery involved makiwara training. I have been told that Herrigel shot at the makiwara for four out of the five years that he spent in Japan. In contemporary Japan, makiwara training is not stressed as it once was, and students are often allowed to shoot at the mato after only a few weeks. Students, particularly Westerners, are often overly impatient to shoot at the mato.