2026 is the Year of the Horse, the seventh in the 12-year zodiac cycle.
I hope this year brings happiness and calm, we can make positive changes, and take better care of each other.
Tea Ceremony Related Places in Kyoto - My Recommendations
In autumn, I decided I only want to travel, if I have any particular reason to go somewhere. Traveling for the sake of traveling and checking of towns and places from some kind of to do list feels odd to me. But that’s a whole topic for itself.
That being said, I thought about what I am really enjoying about living in Japan and where I really want to go. So, I went to Kyoto and focused my whole planning around tea ceremony. A few weeks prior, a friend already gave me some tea ceremony related tips for Kyoto. On top of that, I also asked my tea ceremony teacher for recommendations and did a little research myself.
In the end, I went to Kyoto for 5 days, visited lots of museums, antique shops, temples and the like. These days were so inspiring and I would love to talk about each day in detail. But that would take up too much energy for me to write and anyone to read (like… I journaled about 4 pages each day on paper). Instead I will sum up my recommendations and talk a little bit about accessibility in English.
Places accessible in English
While there is not a lot of English coverage when it comes to tea ceremony, there were a few museums that had English information.
Chazuna in Uji: This a tea center which includes a museum and offers workshops. On top of that, they offer a lot of information about Uji and how you can spend your time there. The whole center is really modern and feels very interactive. They have a huge interactive display in the main hall to explore Uji, pretty places around, different hiking routes and the like.
The tea museum is super immersive. They have English translations for the whole museum which are accessible via a smartphone app. You can interact with a lot of exhibits. There is just so much to explore by doing and not just by looking. Throughout the day, they offer different workshops related to tea. I participated in a Gyokuro workshop. If you don't understand Japanese, they will use little translation devices offering various languages. So you don't miss out on anything.
The Chazuna tea center is my number one recommendation, if you want to learn about tea - especially for non-Japanese speakers.
Kodaiji: This is a temple with a close connection to Toyotomi Hideyoshi and his wife Nene. For some context: Sen no Rikyu used to be the trusted tea master of Hideyoshi. But Hideyoshi was also the one who ordered Rikyu to commit suicide.
Next to a lot of beautiful temple buildings and a zen garden, the temple ground holds several tea houses. Which is also the reason, why my teacher recommended it to me. She explicitly mentioned the tea house that ist called kasa-tei, which means umbrella tea house.
On top of all of that, you can also enjoy a matcha here! And in general, the atmosphere at the temple is really enjoyable. Since it is in the main tourist area of Kyoto, there are a lot of information available in English. That being said, I think it is a really underrated temple you can enjoy - even besides tea ceremony insights.
Chado Research Gallery: This is the official museum of the Urasenke tea school. When I went there, they had an exhibition about Ensai. While most information had been in Japanese, you could get an English booklet at the entrance to at least access some information in English. But I guess if you're not a tea ceremony nerd, I'm not sure how much you get for your money.
What might be worth a visit though, is the library in the second floor where they have a little section with tea ceremony books in English.
Raku Chawan Museum: Raku chawan are probably the most know ceramics when it comes to tea ceremony. They are these rough dark, mostly black, tea bowls that were favoured by Sen no Rikyu. I guess their popularity is a reason why the whole museum had all information displayed both in Japanese and English. I would say, it is the most accessible tea ceremony related museum in Kyoto for non-Japanese speakers. Yet, the content of the museum is only Raku tea bowls. So, if you're not a ceramic collector or tea ceremony nerd, you don't get much for your money.
Places accessible only in Japanese
Of course, there is also a lot of places that are not accessible in English. If you speak at least some Japanese, these places are definitely enjoyable as well.
Omotesenke Kitayama Kaikan: This is the official museum of the Omotesenke tea school. Since I'm following the way of the Omotesenke, I HAD to go there. They really don't offer any information in English. So I gave my very best, and tried to read the Japanese captions. I was impressed how much I DID understood, but it's actually not worth mentioning.
Similar to the Chado Research Gallery, they have alternating exhibitions as well as a little theatre where they played educational films. There was also a "library" - which was basically one wall with bookshelves. But it was there, where I discovered an English book about the Omotesenke officially released by the heads of the school. I had no idea. But I will cover that in another blog post. On top of all of that, you can enjoy a Matcha in this museum which was my little highlight.
Overall, if you really don't speak any Japanese, I don't think this museum is enjoyable. One of the other visitors actually asked me, if am learning tea ceremony and Japanese, because she could probably not imagine any other "normal" tourist going there. To be fair, I couldn't as well.
Furuta Oribe Museum: Furuta Oribe was a student of Sen no Rikyu and he had his very own and special taste when it comes to tea utensils. The museum is located directly next to the Omotesenke Kitayama Kaikan. It was the cheapest museum, but also the smallest one. It consists only of two tiny rooms in a basement and a little garden. The first room displays different utensils and the second is a TV room where you can watch a small NHK documentation about Oribe. Compared to the other museum it is still worth its money. But I also have to admit I quite like Oribes weird taste. So I cannot judge, if one would like the museum, if they have no particular interest in Oribe.
Onishi Seiwemon Museum: The Seiwemon family is one of the twelve official craftsmanship families. They are making kettles for the Sansenke families since Rikyus days.
The museum is not open everyday and they seem to post their schedule only in instagram. To enter the museum you have to ring the bell at the front door. After you have entered, you’ll pay the entrance fee and they guide you into a tea room next door. Here you can enjoy a matcha before you are guided to the exhibition room.
They have displayed a special kettle for each of the family heads and you will get an explanation about hem by the current family head himself. At least it was like this in my case. I had no idea about that and felt very honoured. We spoke Japanese the whole time. Even though I didn’t understood every detail, I enjoyed his explanations and he was really welcoming and friendly. Afterwards, I got some time on my own in the exhibition room. There was also a little TV showing some videos of the kettle making process. And I even found a little booklet with English translations.
Besides the kettle exhibition room, they have another room where they display two tea room set ups and a little garden. Overall this museum was a special experience and I am so glad my teacher recommended it to me.
These are all of my recommendations for now. I definitely have to make more trips to Kyoto and learn even more about the origin of my very special interest.
I hope these little insights might help anyone interested in tea ceremony to plan your trip to Kyoto. If you have any other recommendations to add, feel free to do so in the comments.
Since I had tea school the day right after the Grand Tokyo Tea Ceremony, I have not put my thoughts on record right after the practice as usual. There was a lot going on these days.
But tea school was really calming. Especially since I got to practice with the same utensils like last time, because we practice for the event in December. And this will probably continue until the end of the year.
This is very unusual, since tea ceremony follows the seasons a lot! But to be honest: getting to know some utensils in this way and becoming familiar with them, is an interesting experience as well. And I made less mistakes than last time. I will be so brave to say: I might be confident to do the event without mistakes.
Besides that I have only two side notes:
1. Coincidentally, my skirt matched the manju of that day. I liked that a lot. Also this is a new skirt and it’s perfect for practices (some skirts can get really annoying lol).
2. I made a photo the temizuya where we clean our hands and mouth before we join the practice. There is no reason why. I just never did until now but somehow thought on that day, why not take a picture. So here you go.
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