
OZU, Japan -- When British travel agency employee James Kent was asked in mid-November last year to test an overnight stay at a Japanese castle, he wondered if any of his customers would actually pay for such accommodations. After all, the price tag was a hefty 1.1 million yen ($8,400) a night for two guests.
Kent was greeted by the blaring of a triton shell horn and the beating of drums. A squad of armor-clad samurai saluted him and his party with gunfire, treating them like the lords of the castle.