Samurai Workout opened the eighth WiT Japan & North Asia Main Stage in Tokyo today. Here’s the story of how a Samurai swordfighter got into travel and how they want to tell the story of Samurai to travellers.
Hiroki Noguchi was 14 years old when he first saw a Shinichi (Sonny) Chiba movie about a samurai – Chiba was one of the first Japanese actors to achieve stardom through his martial arts skills and went on to act and produce movies such as Samurai (1979), Shadow Warriors (1980) and Samurai Reincarnation (1981).
The teenage Noguchi was so impressed he decided to take up Samurai swordfighting right away. His parents however were not impressed when he told them of his plans “but in the end, they gave up and now they are proud of what I do”.
Noguchi is the Samurai behind Samurai Workout, a programme set up to showcase Samurai history through classes as well as “tate” (swordfighting) performances. It’s a collaboration between Hiroki and entrepreneur Fumihiro Akahori who was looking to start an inbound business showcasing Japanese culture and heritage and got connected with the veteran Samurai swordfighter.
“We wanted to showcase Samurai history to foreigners because Samurai is more than a martial art, it is an entire spirit, a way of life, a code of honour called bushido. It is inclusive of all religions – whether Buddhism or Shintoism,” said Akahori, CEO of Japan Content Laboratory, which runs Samurai Workout.
Added Noguchi, “It is also becoming very popular globally through anime but we feel that doesn’t show the real history, so now is a good time to tell the real story and share the whole spirit.”
By attending their performances, you get a glimpse of the art and mastery of the Samurai world and their classes teach you about how to get properly attired as well as practise swordfighting with a live demonstration included.
They’re not promising to turn anyone into an instant expert Samurai though because, according to Noguchi, this takes a lifetime. He’s been training for the past 35 years and each day, he trains between six and seven hours.
To pay for his classes, he had to take on a variety of odd jobs throughout his life and is now an actor for television commercials such as this one for Aderans, a hair product.
Noguchi today trains students and his students have performed in Jakarta while he has performed in Paris as well as the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland.
According to Noguchi, learning to be a Samurai teaches you discipline, manners and kindness for others “but you have to be hard on yourself”. And while we may link Samurai to violence – how many movies have we seen of people being sliced and diced by swords – Noguchi said that in Samurai code, “even if you lose, you don’t lose respect”.
This means that “even if you kill them, you don’t kick them – there is honour in death”.
Asked if he had killed anyone, he laughed, “Not yet.”
You can tell Noguchi is passionate about his art form and Samurai history and believes all of us should love our own history. He feels that nowadays, many Japanese do not appreciate their own history and interestingly, it is foreigners who appreciate it more.
Akahori, who looks after the business side of the partnership, said currently Samurai Workout gets more foreigners than locals. They get a balance of men and women as customers. Do women make better Samurais, I asked? “Somehow women have more patience and discipline, Japanese men today are weak and impatient,” he laughed.
Interestingly, there’s been an increase in young Japanese who’ve expressed interest in learning about Samurai history. “They learn about it from video games and anime, and get curious enough to come and learn. They think it’s cool but then they learn that it can be hard.”
Akahori has worked so far with travel agents and hotels to promote their performances but now wants to do more digital marketing. Beyond Samurai history, he also wants to introduce ceremonial stories to the company’s offering.
Part of Samurai Workout’s attraction is that it is based in Kagurazaka, a unique area within Tokyo, that is known for its ancient temples and shrines quietly intermingling with a significant French presence and discreet ryotei restaurants. It is also renowned for its geisha houses – several of which remain today.
Their office is located within a Buddhist Jodoshu temple, the Shojoin Houkokuji, which was constructed over 400 years ago by the wife of Ieyasu Tokugawa, first shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan.
Given how his life as a Samurai started with movies, I had to ask him which was his favourite Samurai movie and he named Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo (1961) and Sanjuro (1962).
As for what he thought about “The Last Samurai”, starring Tom Cruise, he said, “I felt his spirit, it was an amazing movie.” In fact, one of the actors Hiroyuki Sanada was the teacher of his first teacher.
So the good news is, anyone can be a Samurai if you want. The key is to train both spiritually and physically and often, the spiritual part is harder to conquer. “The two has to be connected for you to become a Samurai,” said Noguchi.
