Experience-Based Tour Offering a Glimpse Into the Essence of Samurai Culture

Setouchi City, known as a mecca of Japanese swords, will offer four samurai-themed, experience-based tours.

(1) Setouchi City boasts the largest production and volume of Bizen swords in Japan, which were the favorite swords of famous historical samurai warriors, and is known as the mecca of Japanese swords.
The Bizen Osafune Sword Museum, Japan's only public sword museum with a resident swordsmith, will be rented for a night. During this time, the swordsmith will provide commentary on the history, culture, and origins of swords, including the unique cultural values hidden in Japanese swords as weapons. Participants will also be able to take part in Setouchi City's first ever tameshigiri (test cut) experience and observe ancient swordsmithing techniques.

(2) Meals will be prepared by two chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants using mainly local Setouchi ingredients. The meal will be provided at the Nakazaki Family Residence Main Building, a Tangible Cultural Property completed around 1917.

(3) Participants will be treated to commentary on the history of Bizen ware pottery by a Bizen artist, after which they will try their hand at making Bizen wares at the Sabukaze Ceramics Hall, a guidance facility for the Remains of the Old Kilns of Sabukaze, a nationally designated historical site. After the workshop, participants will stroll along Shiomachi Karakoto Street, a street that retains the atmosphere of the Edo and Showa periods and is home to many nationally registered cultural properties. They will also get to interact with local residents and enjoy a local dish called Kako no Jabu Jabu, a stewed fish and vegetable dish over rice, served in Bizen ware dishes.

(4) A welcome reception by matchlock gunners and samurai warlords at Okayama Castle. After the castle closes to the public, participants will have a private dinner at Okayama Castle, where they will enjoy a meal arranged in the style of Kachidoki Meshi, a feast dish from the Warring States period. Kenshin Uesugi, a powerful daimyo from the time who loved Bizen swords, would eat this dish as a form of prayer for victory before he went into battle.