Samurai Dance Teacher Moves Online as Tokyo Olympics Bans Foreign Spectators

The founder of Bugaku and Samurai martial arts instructor Koshiro Minamoto demonstrates martial arts during an online class for Samurai experience in Tokyo, Japan, April 1, 2021. (Reuters)
The founder of Bugaku and Samurai martial arts instructor Koshiro Minamoto demonstrates martial arts during an online class for Samurai experience in Tokyo, Japan, April 1, 2021. (Reuters)
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Samurai Dance Teacher Moves Online as Tokyo Olympics Bans Foreign Spectators

The founder of Bugaku and Samurai martial arts instructor Koshiro Minamoto demonstrates martial arts during an online class for Samurai experience in Tokyo, Japan, April 1, 2021. (Reuters)
The founder of Bugaku and Samurai martial arts instructor Koshiro Minamoto demonstrates martial arts during an online class for Samurai experience in Tokyo, Japan, April 1, 2021. (Reuters)

There was a time when Koshiro Minamoto had hoped to welcome foreign tourists during the Olympics by introducing them to the arts of the samurai from a classroom in central Tokyo.

But when the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee decided last year that the Games would be postponed, and then last month that they would be held without overseas spectators, he was forced to scrap his plans.

Minamoto, who has studied martial arts for 35 years, is known for his invention of Bugaku, or “warrior dance”, a unique type of performance art that combines the styles of samurai sword play with the song and dance of classical Japanese drama.

He has been teaching Bugaku to foreign tourists for the past 10 years, also introducing students to aspects of samurai lifestyle, such as the armor they used to wear.

Minamoto had hoped his business would thrive during the Tokyo Olympics. He spent around $45,000 (5 million yen) on equipment and renovations of his school in 2019, preparing for the flood of foreigners.

Although his hopes of hosting overseas visitors have faded, however, Minamoto has found a new way to reach his students globally - online classes.

Holding a samurai sword “katana” in his right hand and an iPad in the left, Minamoto is now showing students the arts of the samurai on Zoom calls.

Minamoto charges $85 (9,450 yen) per student for in-person classes and $18 (2,000 yen) for the online version. Most of his online students are from Europe and the United States.

But the experience is not quite the same.

“If I were teaching in-person classes, I can directly correct the body posture or teach them more poses and techniques, but I think it’s hard to do so through an online class,” Minamoto said.



US Moves to Protect All Species of Pangolin, World’s Most Trafficked Mammal

A Malaysian pangolin walks past cages containing 45 others as a wildlife officer watches in Kuala Lumpur August 8, 2002. (Reuters)
A Malaysian pangolin walks past cages containing 45 others as a wildlife officer watches in Kuala Lumpur August 8, 2002. (Reuters)
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US Moves to Protect All Species of Pangolin, World’s Most Trafficked Mammal

A Malaysian pangolin walks past cages containing 45 others as a wildlife officer watches in Kuala Lumpur August 8, 2002. (Reuters)
A Malaysian pangolin walks past cages containing 45 others as a wildlife officer watches in Kuala Lumpur August 8, 2002. (Reuters)

The United States on Monday moved to extend federal protections to all species of pangolins -- a step that would tighten trade restrictions and highlight the urgent conservation plight of the world's only scaly mammals.

Found in the forests, woodlands, and savannas of Africa and Asia, pangolins are small, nocturnal creatures known for their distinctive appearance, slow and peaceful demeanor, and habit of curling into a ball when threatened.

Often likened to a walking pinecone, they use long, sticky tongues to feast on ants and termites, give birth to a single pup each year -- and are the most heavily trafficked mammals on Earth. Their keratin scales are coveted in traditional medicine, and their meat is also considered a delicacy in some regions.

Despite steep population declines driven by poaching, habitat loss, and inbreeding, only one species -- Temminck's pangolin of Africa -- is currently protected under the US Endangered Species Act. Monday's proposal by the US Fish and Wildlife Service would extend that status to all eight known species.

In a statement, the agency said it intends to list the four Asian species -- Chinese, Indian, Sunda, and Philippine -- as well as the three other African species: white-bellied, black-bellied, and giant pangolins.

"I'm delighted the United States is doing its part to save these adorably odd creatures," said Sarah Uhlemann, international program director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

"Pangolins are on the razor's edge of extinction, and we need to completely shut down any US market for their scales. There's no good reason for anybody to ingest any part of a pangolin."

Pangolins are currently protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which prohibits international trade for commercial purposes and allows it only under exceptional circumstances.

Still, the illegal trade persists.

In April, Nigerian authorities seized nearly four tons of trafficked pangolin scales, representing the slaughter of some 2,000 animals. In November 2024, Indonesian officials intercepted another 1.2 tons.

US demand remains a factor. Between 2016 and 2020, border officials intercepted 76 shipments of pangolin parts, including scales and products marketed for traditional medicine, according to public data.