Hello everyone. Thank you for reading this article. I’m Shogo, the manager of this website and the interpreter/instructor at Yushikan Kyoto’s Samurai Training Activity.
Many people often ask us if foreigners can learn katana martial arts. The answer is a HUGE yes. There are hundreds of katana swordsmen worldwide, and many people in our dojo, too, are originally from a country overseas. Let me introduce them to you so that you can have a clearer image of how you can join our dojo in Kyoto too.
The first person who joined our dojo was a female student from Mexico. She had been in Japan for about a year to study Japanese. She wanted to learn as much as possible while in Japan, so she stayed with us for about 6 months. we had discussed possibly returning to Japan in 2023, but it was postponed due to family reasons. we hope to see her in 2024.
The next person who joined us was an American man in his 40s. He had been an English teacher in Japan for more than 5 years. He was interested in katana and martial arts and wanted to learn more. He has been attending our dojo for over 2 years and has attended most of our lessons, and passed his Shodan examination in November 2023. We will continue to support him.
The next person who joined us was an English woman in her twenties. She was studying Japanese in Kyoto. When her family visited Japan, she participated in a 90-minute Samurai experience and became interested in iai. She contacted me and we decided to train together at Yushinkan. Now they have already returned to Japan, but I believe they will return to Kyoto one day.
The next person who joined us was an American male in his 20s. He joined Yushinkan and started training while studying Japanese in Kyoto for a few months. He had practiced iai in the U.S. and came to us because he wanted to experience authentic training in Japan. His talent was so great that even his teacher was amazed at how quickly he could do everything we taught. He has already returned to Japan, but we hope he will come back to Japan and continue his training.
A Singaporean woman in her 20s recently joined our class. She was studying Japanese in Kyoto and looking for something to learn as a hobby. She had been interested in Japanese Kenjutsu since living in Singapore, so she contacted me and joined our dojo. She now participates in our expeditions and drinking parties and has become a full-fledged member of our family.
Like the other members, you can become one of our trainees and learn Yushin Ryu with us. If you want to participate in our activities, please book through our Airbnb or TripAdvisor pages. We look forward to meeting you all.
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