Samurai History & Culture Writer Profile
Hi I’m Chris Glenn.
I’m an Australian born 30+ year resident of Japan, a bilingual radio DJ, TV presenter, narrator, MC, copywriter, author, columnist, and Japanese historian, specializing in samurai history, culture, in particular castles, battles, armor and weapons.
Researching samurai history and culture began as a hobby. It’s now become my life work. Around 80% of my work is asa lecturer, writer and speaker on Japanese history and culture for Japanese audiences and media.
I first came to Japan in 1985 as a Rotary Exchange Student, living in Sapporo for a year. After entering the Australian media, I returned to Japan in 1992, spending a year in Tokyo relocating to my current home, Nagoya in 1993. From 1994, I was apprenticed to traditional samurai armour craftsman, Atsuta Shindo of Nagoya. I have studied kendo and Owari Yagyu Shinkage and Enmei Ryu kobudo traditional combat techniques. I am a member of the Japan Armour and Weapons Research and Preservation Society, (national and Tokai region chapter) and the Japan Castle Research Society. I serve as the Nagoya Tourism, Culture & Exchange Special Ambassador, the Sekigahara Tourism Ambassador, and the Omi (Shiga Prefecture) Tourism Ambassador.
Besides local and national TV appearances, I also host the NHK World TV series Ninja Truth (available Online, On Demand), Castle Quest, and Samurai Castles, amongst other programs promoting Japanese history and culture. I write regular Japanese language castle and history related articles for the Chunichi Newspaper and other magazines and publications, including the History Mystery radio segments broadcast across central Japan. One of the perks of my job is that I get to see places and items often not available to the general public, and meet the specialist curators and researchers.
I am dedicated to promoting and preserving Japans’ long history, deep culture, traditions, arts and crafts, particularly those of the samurai. I hope you’ll follow this Samurai History and Culture site, and join me on a never ending quest to discover and understand this fascinating topic.
Chris Glenn Official Site
Chris Glenn Instagram (Samurai History & Culture)
BOOKS
My books include;
The English language “The Battle of Sekigahara” (Frontline Books, 2021). (a 2014 published book on Sekigahara is no longer available.)
The Japanese language “豪州人歴史愛好家、名城を行く“ (Takarajima-sha, 2016)
“Samurai Castle Bilingual Guide” written with Professor Miura Masayuki, (Shogakukan, 2017)
“Must See Sekigahara” Detailed Sekigahara guidebook, written with Professor Owada Tetsuo. (2019)
“Ninja Bilingual Guide” (translator) (Shogakukan, 2019)
“Naganuma Ryu Troop Movement Training Manual; An Edo Period Samurai Military Arts and Sciences Textbook” (Kindle, 2020)
“Japanese Castle, 24 Best Castle Stamp Rally”, written with Dr. Masafumi Kato (UM Succeed, 2020)
“The Samurai Castle Master, Warlord Todo Takatora” (Frontline, 2022)