Our Samurai Kenbu Experience

This is a suggested experience for those who can't get enough of Japan's Samurai culture.   

I found this website online and figured my boys will love the experience of Samurais in training.  

Click here for the link to their website:  Samurai Kenbu website or Facebook page

I booked a 90-minutes, Sword and Kenbu experience which included:

• A crash course on the samurai and kenbu traditions
• Choice of a Samurai costume to put on 
• A practice session on the basic handling of a katana (the ones we used are for show only and not the real thing so basically safer than the real thing, but still deadly) 
• Certificate of participation

My boys expectedly loved the experience.  This activity is highly recommended for families with older children.  It gives participants a better appreciation of the Samurai culture and traditions.  

My boys, all so serious...They are killing the look!

Photo-ops with our Master Sword

Heavy sword lifting and choreography fighting stands, left us hungry.  Dinner was at Matsuya in Kyoto Sanjo. 

Day 7 ~ Arashiyama

Arashiyama is one of Kyoto's most visited attractions.  

We took Bus No. 63 from Kawaramachi Sanjo bus stop (located just outside of our Kyoto hotel) and alighted at Kokedera Suzumusidera bus stop. 

As expected, crowds of tourists and locals were already flocking the streets of Arashiyama.  We decided to head fast to the Bamboo Groove before the crowd starts pouring in some more.

The Bamboo Groove (aka., Sagano Bamboo forest) gives out a dreamy vibe, but the volume of visitors ruins the moment.  I would love to go back, with less tourists in sight to simply enjoy the moment.   

Despite the crowd, still all that green is such a pleasure to our eyes!

From the Bamboo Groove we made way to Tenryu-Ji Temple which was built in the 1300s.  The temple's status was elevated to a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.  

The temple looks out to a garden and a pond.  

We had lunch at one of the restaurants lining the main street of Arashiyama before heading to the Monkey Park to see some Japanese Macaques.   

Togetsu-kyo Bridge located in the center of Arashiyama.  It is a wooden bridge with 400 years of history behind it.  It crosses the Katsura River. 

We crossed the bridge and started our ascend to the Monkey Park.

Note: 

The entrance to the Monkey Park is near the bridge, but the ascend takes about 30-minutes and requires a bit of stamina and will power.  The way up is not for the faint of heart and I would not recommend for senior adults as the steps are steep and there are slippery portions without many railings to hold onto. 

Can you guess, which of my boys enjoyed this experience the most?

The workout going up was worth it.  Though I don't think I would want to walk up again anytime soon.

We went back to base (at the Cross Hotel in Kyoto) to relax and refresh a bit before heading out again to watch a theatre show, "GEAR".   It is a non-verbal show, so there were no issues not knowing how to speak Japanese.  The Gear theater is about 3 mins walk from our hotel.

We had dinner first, before heading to the Gear Theater.

For more of the show, check out Gear's website by clicking this link: Gear

After the show, we grabbed sweets, before heading back to our hotel.

This ends Day 7 of our Nagoya-Kyoto adventure.

Planning a trip to Kyoto-Nagoya? Check our Day 1 to 6  itinerary, links below:

Day 1 and 2 ~ Nagoya, Takayama and Shirakawa-go

Day 3 ~ Nagoya City Tour

Day 4 ~ Inuyama Day Tour

Day 5 ~ Off to Kyoto (Part 1)

Day 5 ~ Kiyomizu dera

Day 6 ~ Fushi Inari and Toei Studio Theme park

Day 5 ~ (Part 2) A Buddhist Temple and Matcha Overload

Off to our first destination in Kyoto, the Kiyomizu dera.

Kiyomizu dera is a Buddhist temple, known for its wooden stage overlooking a hillside. It offers panoramic view of beautiful Kyoto especially during clear weather.

It was not cherry blossom season when we visited, I bet the view would have been more spectacular.

There are plenty of kimono shops in the area, but there were too many people and we thought it would be difficult to get nice pictures with plenty of tourists as background.

There were plenty of traditional sweet shops, coffee and green tea houses along Shimizuzaka, San’nei saka and Ninenzaka. We ended in visiting some of them on our way back.  Note though, that the volume of tourist (local and international) was just overwhelming.

  

I think they call this "revenge travel".  

And that's a lot of people mingling about, bye-bye Covid! 

One of highlights of our trip to Japan... matcha binging. The trick here is to skip breakfast and do kilometers of walking... 

Traffic was terrible and so we ended up burning some of the calories we've consumed by just walking back to the hotel.  It was a leisurely 2km walk.  

We ended at the Kawaramachi Shopping Street, before finally heading back to the hotel for our much needed recharge.

If you missed the 1st half of our Day 1 in Kyoto, follow the link below

  Day 5 ~ Off to Kyoto

Please check also our Day 1 to Day 4 touring Nagoya Japan

Day 1 and 2 ~ Nagoya, Takayama and Shirakawa-go

Day 3 ~ Nagoya City Tour

Day 4 ~ Inuyama Day Tour