Take part in a tea ceremony in Kyoto

What the experience is

The tea ceremony, chanoyu, is the preparation and serving of matcha, powdered green tea, by a host to a few guests. The form was fixed in the sixteenth century by Sen no Rikyu, and the three schools founded by his descendants, Omotesenke, Urasenke and Mushakojisenke, still have their headquarters in Kyoto.

A full formal gathering lasts up to four hours and includes a meal. What a visitor can join is its final part: a seasonal sweet, then a bowl of thin tea, whisked to a froth, made in front of the guests. It takes between forty-five minutes and an hour and a half, depending on how much explanation is given and whether guests whisk a bowl themselves.

What happens

Guests remove their shoes, sit on tatami, and watch the host clean the tea caddy and scoop with a folded silk cloth, warm the bowl, measure the tea, ladle water from an iron kettle and whisk. The room has an alcove with a hanging scroll and a few flowers chosen for the day, and the host will explain them if asked. The sweet is eaten first. The bowl is received with a bow, turned slightly in the hands so as not to drink from its front, and emptied in a few sips.

Where to do it

There are three kinds of setting. Temples and gardens in Kyoto with a tea house serve a bowl of matcha and a sweet to visitors without ceremony; this is the simplest introduction. Private teachers and small tea rooms offer a full demonstration in English to small groups, with a lesson in whisking. Hotels at the top of the market arrange a private session with a tea master, sometimes in their own tea room.

In Uji, the tea-growing town south of Kyoto, the municipal tea house Taihoan, run by the Uji City Tourist Association, serves thin tea, sencha and gyokuro in a traditional sukiya-style building and offers classes in preparing matcha and sencha. Reservation is required for most sessions.

When to go

All year. The arrangement of the room follows the season: from late autumn to spring the kettle sits in a hearth sunk in the floor; in the warm months it is moved to a brazier. Early May brings the new tea harvest in Uji.

Good to know

Wear or bring clean socks, and avoid short skirts and tight trousers, which make kneeling awkward. Remove rings and watches that could mark the bowl. Hosts used to foreign guests offer a low stool to those who cannot sit on their heels. Choose a session limited to a small number of guests; the form does not survive a crowd.

Why OKYTO recommends it

An hour in a tea room explains a great deal of what a traveller sees elsewhere in Japan: the restraint of the architecture, the attention to vessels, the order of a formal meal. Read our guide to the tea ceremony beforehand, and our guide to kaiseki, the cuisine that grew out of it. See also our Kyoto pages.