Kyushu is a region where the traditional skills of kenjutsu – Japanese swordsmanship ... through Kyushu to learn the spirit of the samurai. He tries his hand at yabusame (horseback archery ...

The traditional katana sword is fashioned only from the purest steel, which the Japanese call tamahagane ... properties is what made the katana the samurai's most durable and prized weapon.

Ltd. Of Ghosts, Samurai and War: A Series of Classic Japanese Film is held in conjunction with the exhibition Kamakura: Realism and Spirituality in the Sculpture of Japan, on view at Asia Society ...

The Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum, Dallas. Photo: Brad Flowers For nearly 700 years, samurai were Japan’s social elite, skilled not only in combat but also in politics and the courtly arts.