The Road to Becoming a Samurai Performer – Dai Mizuno

How I Started Sword Fighting

I am Dai Mizuno, the founder of KATANAYA ICHI, a Tokyo-based samurai action performance group.

When I was 20, I moved to Tokyo from Gifu to become a star. I had no experience, only belief.

I dreamed of becoming a movie star, but the film industry felt out of reach. So I chose theater as my first step and applied for auditions listed in magazines, eventually joining a small theater group called “Poco A Poco.”

The theater group was very strict. There were basic training sessions before we could get on stage, and I was constantly in practice.

We practiced twice a week, but without ever stepping onto a real stage, it felt like endless training with no release. After three years, I graduated, but there was only one performance. The ticket price was 2500 yen. But in that harsh environment, I discovered the joy of being on stage, and I realized how much I enjoyed acting. That was the beginning of my career as an actor.

I wanted to join a bigger theater group. To witness the highest level of performance with my own eyes, I went to America.

It was my first time traveling abroad, and I went on a solo trip for 40 days when I was 24. I traveled from LA to New York, Las Vegas, and finally Toronto. I saw many shows, and after watching performers from around the world, I decided I wanted to become a performer active on the global stage.

When I was 24, there was an action scene in one of the plays I was in, where I needed to throw punches and react. During that time, the action coach told me, “You’re not living on stage!” I didn’t understand it at the time. I was really trying my best. But now I understand. I wasn’t truly acting back then—I wasn’t fully embodying the role.

That’s when I decided to pursue a career as an action actor. During my early years, I apprenticed under two mentors. One was Azusa Mano, a TV star, and I learned how to live through being her assistant. The other was Tomotaka Tonuma, the person who had criticized my performance on stage. I learned sword fighting and acting from him. During my time as an assistant, I had weekends off, so I would learn sword fighting, which I enjoyed, and studied with Tonuma. During this time, I also appeared on TV and in movies.

At 28, I played the lead role in a major stage production. The cast included several well-known celebrities. Even though I was the lead, the spotlight was on them. That experience changed me.

I realized that talent alone was not enough. If I wanted to stand out, I had to build my own identity. I had to create something that was unmistakably mine.

So I started a blog on Livedoor and began sharing my thoughts and work under my own name. When my mentor later left the theater group and I temporarily took over, I learned what it meant to lead. And when he returned a year later, I made a decision.

Instead of staying, I chose to step out and create my own path.

That decision became KATANAYA ICHI.

I’ve appeared on TV, in movies, and in many stage productions, and I’ve had a lot of overseas performances.

Today, I dedicate my life to sharing the spirit and power of sword fighting with audiences around the world. Teaching others continues to challenge and refine me — keeping me alive on stage.