There were Samurai, a kind of knight errant armed with long sword and bow, wandering about Japan as recently as 150 years ago.

People who have seen the film The Seven Samurai will have a pretty good idea of what a Samurai was. What they may not know is that the spirit and practice of the Samurai have not passed away from modern Japan; hidden in secluded parts of the country, secret schools still exist to preserve the techniques and beliefs of these fierce and fearsome warriors.

(In the steps of the Samurai: see pages 6 and 7)