Experience being a Samurai warrior in Tokyo museum
發佈日期: 2026-01-19 07:15
TVB News
The history and culture of Japan's Samurai warriors are being celebrated in a new museum in Tokyo. Visitors can try on armour, hold swords and even have a go at throwing special weapons.
The elegant moves of a Samurai and his sword.
Ryo Tamura is a descendant of a samurai clan. He's also a martial arts expert.
His moves with the sword are dynamic and precise.
Samurai warriors served Japanese nobles from the late 12th Century until the practice was abolished during the Meiji era in the late 1870s.
Expertise with weapons was not only the martial skill the samurai were known for. Loyalty, honour and discipline were paramount.
According to Tamura, coming from a samurai dynasty is something he has kept mainly to himself.
"Someone quietly passing down strange or unsettling techniques. I did not live in hiding, but I rarely spoke openly about it," he says.
But Tamura is concerned Japan is losing some of its martial spirit.
He says: "Japan has lived without experiencing war for a rather long time and has passed through a peaceful era. Possibly because of that, that just like samurai to forget conflict during the Edo period when relative peace prevailed more than 260 years, I have a slight concern that we are losing the spirit of it, too."
This newly opened museum displays armour and weapons from various periods spanning 700 years. It's packed with visitors, especially tourists from overseas.
Visitors are allowed to try on samurai items, and playfully pose for photos wearing helmets while holding swords.
Mahsa Nikkami, a visitor from Canada, says: "It was really interesting to see all the accessories they had, that they had collected, all their attires and the swords. Yeah, it was really good."
And Dylan Wild, who's from the UK says: "The traditional aspect rather than just the war and battles, it’s a completely different world to us so I think that’s why people see it as a different thing especially in the West, we are going back into wars and leaving a peaceful period and moving into more of a conflict period. I think people are interested in how other cultures that have dealt with that in the past."
Observing the groups from a polite distance, Tamura, laments what he sees as Japanese people's indifference towards his family's culture and heritage.
He hopes that opening up to a foreign audience will also allow Japan to reclaim its history.
"With the help from people outside Japan (who are interested in samurais), I strongly hope that the samurai culture will be rediscovered and reintroduced with its new values," he says.
The grace and art of the samurai will be remembered at this museum in Tokyo.
