Online Japanese tea vendor, The Tea Crane, is launching its first physical store in Kyoto in a beautiful machiya townhouse in central Kyoto. This will be a fully fledged tea shop with a dedicated room for the tea ceremony, and as an international learning center for tea lovers it will undoubtedly be a great addition to the city. However, The Tea Crane needs your help to realize … [Read more...]
Deep Kyoto in National Geographic Traveller UK
Many thanks to Kavita Favelle for alerting me to the presence of a short piece I wrote in the current issue of National Geographic Traveller Food (UK). For those who are curious enough to buy a copy, you can find me in the "Ask the Experts" section on page 29 answering the question, "Where in Kyoto can I buy a traditional, handcrafted kyusu teapot?" Gratitude is also due … [Read more...]
Japanese Tea Ceremony with an Apprentice Gardener at Kyoto’s Murin-an Garden
Hardly had a I posted the Autumn Lantern Night event at Murin-an, than I was sent details of a series of traditional tea ceremonies at that very same garden! Koji Chiba is both a graduate of the Urasenke tea ceremony school and an apprentice of local garden design company, Ueyakato Landscape. Join him at Murin-an's tea house and enjoy fresh tea with a view of one of Kyoto's … [Read more...]
Celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day with a Glass of Green Matcha Beer at Otani-Chaen Tea Shop, Inari!
If you happen to be in Kyoto on Saint Patrick's Day and are wondering how to celebrate (other than heading to an Irish Pub and getting hammered) - here's something new. I was strolling through the Fushimi Inari area today when I happened to spy this sign. The sign suggests celebrating Ireland's most important holiday, with a glass of beer, flavored and colored … [Read more...]
The Tea Crane Introduces the Authentic Rite of Tea
Today we have a special guest post from Tyas Huybrechts, Japanese Tea Trainer at The Tea Crane. While visiting Kyoto, you wouldn’t want to miss out on at least one of those cultural experiences now widely available here – activities such as taking first steps in any of Tea-ceremony, flower-arrangement, calligraphy, classical dance and Japanese cookery. Each … [Read more...]
Matcha Tea & Machiya in Kyoto – Two Articles for GuideAdvisor
Whether you are interested in tea ceremony or traditional architecture, two pieces I wrote for GuideAdvisor earlier this year, offer my top tips for for your trip to Kyoto. The first article is on how to find the very best machiya: the traditional wooden townhouses of Kyoto. After decades of neglect and outright destruction, machiya have been undergoing something of a … [Read more...]
Talk and tea tasting with Jeff Fuchs @ Robert Yellin’s Yakimono Gallery, July 10th
From Kyoto Journal: A Kyoto Journal Hosted Event: THE TEA HORSE ROAD Talk and tea tasting with explorer Jeff Fuchs 10 July 2014 @ Robert Yellin's Yakimono Gallery Session One: 1pm Session Two: 6pm Maximum of 12 participants per session. RSVP REQUIRED: feedback[at]kyotojournal.org Entry: ¥1,000 The ancient origins of tea and the present hotbed of the rapidly rising … [Read more...]
Camellia Tea Ceremony
Authentic tea ceremony in a beautiful 100-year-old traditional Geisha ryokan near Kiyomizu Temple A special guest post for Deep Kyoto today by Atsuko Mori of Camellia Tea Ceremony... The tea ceremony (sado) is a quintessential part of Japanese culture and is considered the height of sophistication. What do you first think of when you hear ‘tea ceremony’? Japanese culture, … [Read more...]
A Trip to Inuyama
Here are some pictures from Inuyama in Aichi prefecture, which we visited last month. By clicking on the spherical images, you can explore a fully immersive 360 degree view. Inuyama Castle is supposed to be the oldest castle in Japan: the original fort was built in 1440, and the current structure was completed in 1537. However as you can see from the scaffolding in the … [Read more...]
