I got energized for my day at a kawaii little cafe. The server recommended the grilled mochi wrapped in nori. Had some sweet potato pancakes for dessert.

I noticed a “Samurai Ninja Museum and Experience.” TripAdvisor said it’s legit, so I bought a ticket. The experience started with a spirited and engaging guided tour of the museum’s collection of real Samurai swords and armor. Did you know that a big reason why Samurai wore masks, often sporting mustaches, was that many of these Samurai were as young as ten years old! The masks hid their youth so their subjects and enemies wouldn’t know they were dealing with a child.

The tour concluded with a look at Ninja, the sometimes accomplices, sometimes enemies of the Samurai. The Ninja were more of spies than warriors, and their martial arts focused on survival and distraction. The throwing star, for instance, was more often used to create a distraction than as a weapon. Then we got throw the stars ourselves! There was a competition to see who had the best aim (not me.) The winner got a free throwing star.

The stars were made of plastic, by the way.

I also got to dress up as a samurai!

I enjoyed the tour so much that I decided to also partake in their swordsmanship class, taught by a hereditary samurai and guy you would not want to pick a fight with, unless you have a death wish. He let each student pick out their own (real) katana, taught us how to safely sheath and unsheath them, and led us in some drills. As I was standing there with my katana, watching the instructor, I reflected that I never had to sign any waiver. This would never fly in a more litigious society… The class concluded with 1 on 1 combat. But not before trading in our katana for foam sticks. Did you know that when Samurai would hold their swords up parallel to the ground while looking for enemies, they would use their swords as rear-view mirrors?

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Later, I was walking around the vicinity of Sensoji temple, and at one of the stalls a woman was offering target practice with realistic metal throwing stars. I took her up on it. Once again, no waiver, and not even any safety spiel. You just hope that the stranger you’re handing the weapon to doesn’t have criminally bad aim, I suppose. Or maybe she was a ninja herself…