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TRANSCRIPT
The movements of a Samurai and his sword are beautifully elegant yet efficient - and for an opponent, potentially deadly.
Ryo Tamura is a descendant of a samurai clan. He's also a martial arts expert.
His moves with the sword are dynamic and precise.
Samurai warriors served Japanese nobles from the late 12th Century until the practice was abolished during the Meiji era in the late 1870s.
Expertise with weapons was not only the martial skill the samurai were known for.
Loyalty, honour and discipline were paramount.
Even though Mr Tamura comes from a samurai dynasty it's something he has kept mainly to himself.
"If anything, people tend to see it as something obscure - someone quietly passing down strange or unsettling techniques. I did not live in hiding, but I rarely spoke openly about it."
But he's concerned Japan is losing some of its martial spirit.
"Japan has lived without experiencing war for a rather long time and has passed through a peaceful era. Possibly because of that, samurai forget conflict during the Edo period when relative peace prevailed more than 260 years, I have a slight concern that we are losing the spirit of it, too."
Now a newly opened museum in the Japanese capital, Tokyo, displays armour and weapons from various periods spanning 700 years.
It's packed with visitors, especially tourists from overseas.
They're allowed to try on samurai items, and playfully pose for photos wearing helmets while holding swords.
Canadian visitor Mahsa Nikkami was fascinated:
"It was really interesting to see all the accessories they had, that they had collected, all their attires and the swords. Yeah, it was really good."
And Dylan Wild, who's from the UK found the exhibition was about so much more than the military side of Samurai life
"The traditional aspect rather than just the war and battles, it’s a completely different world to us so I think that’s why people see it as a different thing especially in the West, we are going back into wars and leaving a peaceful period and moving into more of a conflict period. I think people are interested in how other cultures that have dealt with that in the past."
Mr Tamura is disappointed by the difference in reactions between foreign visitors and local people - he sees it as indifference towards his family's culture and heritage.
He hopes that opening up to a foreign audience will also allow Japan to reclaim its history.
"With the help from people outside Japan (who are interested in samurais), I strongly hope that the samurai culture will be rediscovered and reintroduced with its new values."
