Howdy all. Today’s blog sees me follow up my recent post on Harajuku, a bustling district of Tokyo not too far from Shibuya known for its uniqueness, fashion and individuality. Knowing I was going to Harajuku to spend a day there, I did a good ol’ Google search to see what things might work well for a vlog and be interesting and a little different, and I came upon a few things and I thought this one looked particularly interesting – the Harajuku Ninja Experience Café.

To be clear, this is not the only Ninja Experience Café in Tokyo or Japan, there are other branches, but this one was in Harajuku and I thought fitted in well with the district. Takeshita Street is the main ‘drag’ if you will for Harajuku, it’s filled with people it can be a challenge to walk down it, and just off it somewhere between Harajuku Station and the far end of Takeshita Street is the Ninja Café Experience.

I booked online – and if you are interested I have linked their website HERE – for the ‘Experience’. They have a range of experiences that you can select from around 4000 – 6000 yen per person, which is around $40AUD to $60AUD or $26 to $40USD.

I was joined by a friend of my wife, Hisako, and we got the Jiraiyi ‘course’ which included a drink and costume/clothing rental. This is the second top tier, ‘Sasuke’ Level gets you something to eat as well – there are four levels in total. I think you can also go a wandering the streets as ninjas but perhaps not at the Harajuku branch.

At the entrance you got down some steps into a low-lit room and receive a drink and your clothes, which you put on and of course – pose for photos! You are now ready to train as a ninja! They have a couple of targets set up for you in the training area.

First, we practiced star throwing at the target. Hisako did really well, pretty much all my stars hit the target and bounced off! Obviously I didn’t quite have the angle right or something I really have no idea why they didn’t stick, but they didn’t.

Next we have the dart-blowing. One figures that real ninjas have poisoned darts, but as far as I know the ones we had were just your regular, run of the mill, non-poisoned variety. I’ll be honest – I didn’t find this particularly hard! They even put a balloon up for you to aim at, and I popped it first time and it seemed this was the only balloon as they couldn’t replace it!

There was a family there too and the kids were really enjoying the experience, and I would have to say it’s an interesting curiosity for visitors but I think kids would enjoy it and get more out of it in general.

Finally, we got to use the swords! Note we did not fight each other or indeed anyone with the swords, but we were instructed by the instructor in how to use the swords, the manoeuvres ninjas used with them, which was cool. And pretty much that was it. Although they did have a really cool swivel door (yes, like the ones you see in movies!) which we had a go on before leaving.

All in all, the instructor was great – very enthusiastic as is almost everyone in Japan when it’s considered part of their job. Our instructor was an American-Japanese so had good English, which I guess was kind of important when instructing people how to throw a ninja star or thrust a ninja sword!

Would I recommend it? I don’t think it’s an essential experience, but some people will definitely like it and I’m glad I did it. The price was pretty reasonable too. Booking online allows you to pick your time slot and pay by card as they only accept cash on premises.

Thanks for popping by today! Take care wherever you are in the world – May the Journey Never End!