Tea Ceremony Nagomi — Attraction in Kyoto

I recently had a delightful experience attending a tea ceremony in Kyoto, which I highly recommend. This was my second experience, contrasting with my first one in Tokyo many years ago, which turned out to be a tourist trap where I learned nothing. (Not Tea Ceremony Nagomi)

It was by chance while strolling through the lovely city of Kyoto, we stumbled upon the tea ceremony and decided to walk in.

We were introduced to the basics of tea history, etiquette, and the art of making matcha by experts who dedicated their lives to perfecting the craft. Similar to wine and coffee, tea has only one ingredient, yet there is so much we can learn from it. A big thanks to our two trainers (apologies, I'm really bad with names). Thank you for spending your time and sharing your knowledge. Although we only learned the basics, you were able to teach us about appreciation, respect, and culture through tea. Another valuable lesson I learned and will always remember is 一期一会, meaning 'this moment, this meeting.'

Special thanks to the new sensei in training; you did exceptionally well! We didn't even realise that it was your first day. Wishing you all the best!

For others interested in attending, booking is recommended.

While walk-ins are welcome, there is only one room and one sensei, so it's best to exercise logic especially for...

05/2023. This experience was part of the group tour. I am sure that there are small appointments for the experience. But for who I am, the group tour made this quick. Our demonstrator was an apprentice who spoke english really well. Provided instructions well and gave us the sense of the serenity and overall feelings during a tea ceremony. I get that these ceremonies can take an hour, or more just for two people present. But this was good for a tour. I appreciated the brevity. The shop downstairs is great. Sure you can buy green tea, tea scoop, whisk, cup online. But why not. (Also bought a bamboo ikebana 'vase' - have used it a bunch since the trip.). With the tea ceremony crash course, I can make the tea at home home and remember...

Beautiful experience! We were a walk-in and were told we’d need to wait 1.5h for another slot so we weren’t sure but then ended up still being in the neighbourhood and decided to go for the tea ceremony and I’m really glad we did!

Very polite and pleasant experience from the shop staff while booking (seemed family run? Greetings to the young man with the baby!).

Then we were greeted by two lovely ladies who coordinated the ceremony, told us a bit about the meaning and history of drinking tea, presented the ceremonial way of doing it and let us try.

It was great! I would definitely recommend going!

Also sending our best to the lady who was doing our class for the first time and the other lady who made some great recommendations for the rest...