Traditional Tea Ceremony with Matcha and Sweets in Kyoto
Description
Our tea ceremony experience is designed to be welcoming, approachable, and meaningful. While the traditional tea ceremony is often seen as formal and solemn, we aim to share its beauty in a comfortable and accessible way. Guests enjoy the experience seated on chairs, allowing anyone—including those unfamiliar with floor seating or with limited mobility—to participate with ease. Throughout the session, you will explore the history of tea in Japan, learn how Zen philosophy shaped the heart of the tea ceremony, and observe authentic techniques performed up close by a tea master, allowing you to appreciate the subtlety and refinement of this art. In the second half, you will savor carefully selected traditional sweets from long-established artisans and make your own bowl of matcha using premium tea sourced from a family-run farm. We conclude with a Q&A session to deepen your understanding. We hope this experience becomes the beginning of your journey into Japanese tea culture.
Tour Options
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Please arrive 5 minutes before the start of the session. Please note that if you are late, you will not be able to join the session once it has begun.
- Since matcha has caffeine, it is not recommended for children under the age of 5.
- This experience is held on in English.
Reviews(151)
Yuko was wonderful and so knowledgeable. She covered the history of Macha and the tea ceremony. Then she was patient with us as she walked us through making our own Macha.
We really enjoyed the tea ceremony with Kenta, our 12 and 14 year old children enjoyed it to. Very informative; we learned a lot of new things about tea ceremonies and matcha. A very peaceful and interesting experience. Would recommend.
Yuko was fabulous, she gave great energy and made the ceremony informative and enjoyable. Recommended.
The tea ceremony was a great experience, I would definitely recommend it. Our Host Yuko was very knowledgeable and the whole experience very enjoyable. Thank you
Tea master Yuko was amazing!! She was so funny and explained the history well and kept the ceremony very engaging!! The matcha was also amazing ang it was a fun experience. “Ichigo ichie”!!!
Fantastic way to experience the culture. Our tea master Yuko was knowledgeable and humorous and insightful! Wonderful for any age!
What a cool experience in Kyoto! I found it extremely interesting and informative. The tea master, Akemi, was perfectly gracious and took the time to explain everything that went into the tea ceremony, including its history and the reasons behind every action. It wad exactly the kind of Japanese cultural experience I was looking for to share with my family.
Great information and the ability to sit rather than kneel. Showing the way of the ceremony and explaining the 'why' of the different types of ceremony was very informative. Thankyou
We had Yukari as our hostess and we greatly appreciated her hospitality and teaching. Her English was understandable and we even exchanged a few words with her in French. A very beautiful experience, I recommend it.
The experience was very enjoyable and fun! At first i thought it would be strict but Akemi-san made a comfortable atmosphere for everybody and explained everything very clearly and thoroughly. The rest of the staff was very helpful and warm to us as well, it felt very inviting. Thank you very much!
