Experience Japan’s Shinto and Samurai Traditions in an Accessible Tokyo Suburb

Visit a 1,900-year-old shrine in the morning, then get sword training in the afternoon for the full samurai experience

This tour offers a rich microcosm of Japanese culture in a single action-packed day. It starts at Okunitama Shrine, a shrine that dates to around the year 111 and is home to the deity who protects Musashi Province, the old name for Tokyo and its environs. The shrine is famous for its 500-meter-long avenue of zelkova trees and for a ginkgo tree reputed to be over 1,000 years old. One of the priests will personally explain Shinto rituals and traditions, and you’ll also get the chance to pray in the worship hall.

Then it’s time for a visit to the Treasure Hall, which is normally only open to the public on weekends. Exhibits here include ceremonial swords and a work of calligraphy by Tokugawa Yoshinobu, Japan’s last shogun.

For lunch, it’s off to a local eel restaurant with roots stretching back to the mid-nineteenth century. Fortified by your meal, your next stop is Geido Tate Hatoryu Takase Dojo. This dojo specializes in teaching samurai sword fighting for stage combat, and its training credits include the movie The Last Samurai and the Shogun TV series. 

After changing into traditional attire (though you can wear your own clothes if you prefer), you will be taught how to handle a katana sword, then master basic stances and strokes, which you finally combine into a coordinated sequence. The training session lasts between one and a half and two hours.

Access: Take a train on the JR Chuo Line from Tokyo Station to Shinjuku Station (about 15 minutes). At Shinjuku, change to the Keio Line and go to Fuchu Station (about 25 minutes).

Experience Japan’s Traditions, Shinto, and the World of the Samurai – A Special 1-Day Fuchu Travel Plan （Eighty Days）