Overview: Yagyu, which is located just outside Nara, is the ancestral home of the Yagyu family, which established Yagyu Shinkage-ryu. This sword art school was adopted by the Tokugawa Shogunate for its defense strategy. Its core philosophy-the sword of peace-had enormous influence on the shogun, ushering in an era of peace that lasted for 250 years during the Edo period. On Journeys in Japan, Stephen Nagy visits the area. The scholar, specializing in international relations of Northeast Asia, is a martial arts master, who holds a fourth dan grade in Kendo and fifth dan in Aikido. He'll discover the philosophy behind Yagyu Shinkage-ryu's "sword of peace."