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. Not only iai, but almost all Japanese Budo require a bowing ritual to the Kamidana shrine at the beginning and end of training. Kamidana is a small shrine that is placed inside individual buildings/houses. But the question is, why do you need to bow to it every time, right?
The reason why you bow to the small shrines inside the dojo before and after the training may differ depending on which Budo you train or who you ask. But we believe it is a way to remember that training Budo is not meant to learn how to hurt someone, but it is a way to make ourselves stronger and become a better version of ourselves. No matter how long you have trained in Budo or how high your title is within the dojo, you must bow to the small shrine every time to avoid forgetting your humbleness. So, bowing to the shrine isn’t about worshipping someone/something, but it is a promise the trainees make together to maintain the true purpose of training and a good community that helps each other grow.
Some people say they can’t bow to the shrine due to their religious beliefs. We want to clarify that we don’t want to force anyone to do the bowing rituals. We actually have students in our online lessons who do the movements of the rituals but don’t do the bowing. Again, the bowing to the shrines or the katana is not meant to worship them, but it’s all about your mind and readiness. As long as you remember this, we are happy to create a new way for everyone to train Budo together.
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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