SAMURAI & NINJA MUSEUM with EXPERIENCE, Kinki, Japan

5Davesamtt 5:00 PM Feb 7, 2020

For the warrior in you...
We booked the museum visit with the added experience option in advance through Novaland Tours and things went superbly. The museum itself is an amble through an interesting market area tempting for shopping that you better leave for afterwards to avoid missing your museum appointment. At the museum, you are first given an interesting talk about Japanese history peppered with the roles of the Samurai and Ninja It was done by a native English speaker (yay!) - I believe Australian - complete with props and mannequins costumed to the character. Believe me, to find good English at tourist places in Japan is a rarity. Then the games begin as you are dressed in full Samurai costume which make excellent family photos. Then comes lessons and practice in ninja techniques such as throwing stars and blow darts. There are other bits you can add on that we didn’t know about such as a sword lesson. You probably need at least 2 - 3 hrs here for the full experience. You can view the various exhibits and are then led to an arena where a samaruai warrior gives an exhibition of fighting techniques. The gift shop was more part of the reception than a full gift shop and had samurai swords if you want a good quality souvenir but as we can never be sure on how it will be received at the airport, we went with the rather tame ninja stars. I believe we got one free for doing a survey. We did this visit as part of a Kyoto tour with Novaland Tours who were excellent in organizing the trip. Other places we visited in Kyoto that I would recommend are Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, the famous Fushimi Inari Shrine with its many tori gates, the beautiful Kinkakuji or Golden Temple, Togetsukyo Bridge and a cultural night show at Gion Corner followed by a walk through the dark alleys of Kyoto reminiscent of the movie Memoirs of a Geisha.

4Elizabeth R 5:00 PM Mar 8, 2023

Fun Quick Samurai Experience!
This is a small quirky samurai and ninja museum with some add ons - like putting on a samurai outfit (made out of foam) and having the staff take some pictures. But we had our 8 and 10 year olds who enjoyed it. They did a nice job entertaining you as they pass through many visitors. The museum also did a nice job teaching you the history of the samurai and ninja. You could have also just read the information from their walls. Either way, it was cute. A nice experience. Nothing really more than just that. took about 1 hr 15 minutes.