Vee V.
Yelp
Yep. I am a tourist. I came to Tokyo, went to a Samurai museum, and loved it.
From the outside it looks closed, but when you walk through the automatic doors there's someone there to greet you right away. Instantly you're hit with the smell of burning incense. It was nice. The tickets are about $14 US dollars per person.
We first passed a few traditional Samurai suits. They looked like they were for tiny people. The leg armor would have probably been used for my arms. Really cool hand sewn pieces though, and helmets to match. Some of the face masks had a blond mustache. That was unexpected.
Once upstairs we took our shoes off and entered the first room, which were swords. This guy came in, we later determined he was the owner, and started telling us about the pieces in English.
It was pretty awesome to have someone explain the different swords and time periods. This was a special treat, it didn't seem like he visited the museum often. He had a millionaire vibe, and this was his hobby, but he was super friendly and down to earth.
We were able to try on helmets and hold samurai swords, he even opened up the rifle case and let us hold a few guns. The helmets were heavy as hell, my head pretty much sagged into my neck. All the museum workers seems to get a kick out of watching us try all this stuff on.
At the end of the tour they let us do a little photo session with outfits for free. I'd like to think it's cuz they liked us to so much. Everyone was so accommodating and friendly. It was a great visit. I'd recommend a quick stop inside if you're in the area. There's a lot of replicas, but still good mix of authentic pieces too.