Tokyo, Japan Nov. 23 Sat 5:07PM
Train Like a Samurai
When we arrived, a few of the staff were there already waiting to greet us! One was our sensei (the actual samurai from the poster!) who was leading the workshop. Our stylist was also waiting for us (!!!). She told us that she would help us get dressed and choose the weapon (that sounds so cool, right?!). There was also a translator there to help us communicate with the staff and our sensei during the workshop, which was great!
Next, it was time to choose our costumes. There were quite a few different designs to choose from. There were bright and colorful ones (probably for higher-ranking samurai), and also more simplistic, demure costumes. Even though it may look really similar, the clothing is different from traditional kimonos.
There were also ninja costumes for us to try! The stylist helped us get dressed and understand how to wear the ninja and samurai clothes comfortably.
The whole process didn’t take long- it was only about 10-15 minutes per person to pick out clothes and get dressed. Once you are in samurai or ninja clothes, you can go out and take a few photos while waiting for the rest of your group to get dressed. At the end of the workshop, we got a samurai training certificate where the photos we took were used!
Choose your weapons wisely, warriors!
After we finished putting on samurai and ninja attire and taking photos, we got down to business and learned how to draw weapons and put them back in the case, and we learned the best moves to use to attack our enemies!
The swords we were using were blunt and not dangerous, so this experience is definitely safe for everyone.
After we finished practicing, it was showtime! Along with our new skills, we learned accompanying phrases. I’m sure I said them all wrong, but everyone seemed to have a good time trying!
Three hours later, we were seriously tired, but it was a great experience! The studio also offers katana (sword) exercises, and samurai-style training routines, which I’ll have to try next time!