Last week, we had an exceptional experience. We made pictures dressed in full samurai armor from head to foot! The experience took place at Samurai Armor Studio Photo in Shibuya. It is a professional photographer who takes the pictures and his 2 assistants dress you for their training. Inside the studio there are 5 replicas of genuine armor of famous Samurai in the history of Japan and a small one for child.
The armours exposed in the studio are the exact copy of true samurai armor, they are made of metal like the real ones, the materials used are the same as the real ones. The only difference lies in the weight, the true armor weighs about 40 kg while the replicas 2 times less. What is already its weight to wear ... ^^ 'It takes about 30 minutes to put on all the armor. The T-shirt, the Jinbei pants and socks are provided. Then there are the knee pads, the arm protections and the bottom of the armor to put on. And finally, the most massive part of the armor must be gently threaded, the chestpiece. All this takes a long time because each part has to be attached in a certain way in order to make the whole armor harmonious. Accessories are added such as the katana and the tachi, the 2 sabers of the samurai, one serving on land (katana) and the other when they were on their horse (tachi). The first pictures are taken without the helmet, first sitting and then standing. Photos with helmet are upright. The helmet is extremely heavy, it is quite difficult to move with it.
It's a really interesting experience where you can wear the whole armor of a real samurai that existed. In addition, the assistants give you the name of each part of the armor that you put on. If you have the opportunity to pass by the area, this is an activity that I highly recommend !