Kendo and Samurai Experience with Uniform and Gear Kyoto

The machiya dojo in Shugakuin, northern Kyoto

The session takes place in a machiya, the narrow wooden townhouse that once lined every street of Kyoto. Built about 120 years ago, this one keeps its timber frame, sliding doors and tatami-floored rooms, and its main room has been turned into a small practice hall. Training here rather than in a modern gym gives the class the feel of an old neighbourhood dojo, where students removed their shoes, bowed at the door and kept the floor spotless.

The dojo sits in Shugakuin, a residential district of Sakyo Ward at the foot of the eastern hills. If you are asking how to get to the dojo, the nearest stop is Shugakuin Station on the Eizan Railway, a short ride from Demachiyanagi, and city buses run along nearby Shirakawa-dori. Allow about 40 minutes from central Kyoto and arrive ten minutes early to change.

Kendo: the way of the sword

Kendo, literally 'the way of the sword', grew out of the sword schools of the samurai. In the eighteenth century teachers began to use bamboo swords and padded armour so that students could strike with full force without injury, and that practice became the modern martial art taught in Japanese schools today. Kendo is about posture, timing and spirit as much as technique: every strike is called out loud and finished with balance.

In this Kyoto kendo class you start with the basics: how to stand, how to grip the sword with both hands and how to move with sliding steps. Your instructor then builds up to strikes to the head, wrist and body and simple blocks, using bamboo or foam swords and replica blades for posing. Each movement is broken down slowly, so first-timers keep up easily.

Samurai etiquette, gear and the warrior tradition

Before any sword work, the instructor introduces the etiquette the samurai followed: how to bow when entering the hall, how to sit in seiza, how to carry and present the sword and why respect for your partner comes first. You also learn a little about the samurai class, the warrior elite who served Japan's lords for nearly seven centuries until the class was abolished in the 1870s, and about the code of loyalty and self-discipline linked to them.

Dressing up is part of the fun. You put on the wide pleated trousers called hakama and a kendo jacket, and the instructor shows you how the protective gear is worn. Once you are dressed, the photo and video session begins: classic poses with the sword drawn, action shots mid-strike and portraits in the tatami room, all sent to you to keep.

Around Shugakuin and the eastern hills

Shugakuin is one of Kyoto's calmer corners and pairs well with a morning or afternoon session. A walk uphill brings you to the Shugakuin Imperial Villa, a seventeenth-century estate of terraced gardens and rice fields that can be visited with an advance reservation. Nearby temples such as Manshu-in, with its dry landscape garden, and Shisen-do, known for its raked sand and autumn colours, are quiet alternatives to the busy city centre.

From Shugakuin Station the Eizan line continues north towards Yase, where a cable car climbs Mount Hiei, and towards the mountain villages of Kurama and Kibune. Booking this samurai experience in Kyoto at 10:00 leaves your afternoon free for the northern hills, while the 14:00 session fits after a morning of temples and gardens. Both run all year, indoors, so the weather never spoils the plan.