Kimono Tea Ceremony MAIKOYA Nishiki — Restaurant in Kyoto

This was such a great experience. The grounds are beautifully landscaped, quiet, serene. This is Rich’s wife making the post.

You start by getting ready for your kimono fitting. The men are guided downstairs for their fitting and the women go upstairs. You are given a cute little purse to take with you with your belongings in it. You are initially given a silky thin robe to change into. You then are seated to have your hair done and then you pick out your kimono and belt and are dressed. You then go back to get matching flowers for your hair.

The women who do the fitting really take pride in what they’re doing. It was so much more personal than I anticipated. They truly want you to look and feel beautiful. I never felt rushed. And there are lots of different patterns of kimonos to choose from. You may want to have a color palette in mind with your partner if you want to coordinate in your pictures.

It is a very short walk to the building where the tea ceremony is held. Our host was amazing. You really learn so much. The process of the ceremony, how you do certain things and why you do them was so informative. You are given a couple of Japanese sweets, also with explanation, to try and then your host instructs you on how to make the matcha first by instructions and then by example. Then, it’s your turn. Our host went to each person as they finished to be sure the process was done completely so they could enjoy the tea.

Once done, you are free to wear the kimono for the rest of the day if you’d like and also there are a few gardens on the property for beautiful pictures.

One thing I might suggest, especially for those a bit older, is to start practicing sitting either on your knees or cross-legged for longer periods of time. You are not required to sit like this, but it is nice to be able to fully participate.

Also, and this is just for fun - you are given “toed” socks to wear with your flip flops on your walk and on the grounds, and they are bright white. If you’re concerned about the pictures, you could bring a pair that might be a better color and not stand out.

Overall, you will not be disappointed with this experience. It is by far one of our favorite things we’ve done on this trip and we are so glad we chose this particular company. Being able to experience the kimono fitting and wearing with the tea ceremony makes it a step above.

You have to have a reservation! We started at exactly the time of our reservation. It was our first day trying to navigate the Kyoto bus system and after two wrong buses we ended up taking a taxi, but that is completely on us. We assumed since we were so good at the Tokyo trains that the buses would be easy, but not so much. So, make sure you give yourself plenty of time so you’re not late.

I write very few reviews, but I could not not write one for this experience. Also, for the price, it truly is incredible. Something of this quality in the states would be three times as much. I promise you will not be disappointed - but book now - reservations fill...

Let’s start by saying this is a really cool experience and one I do think is worth doing! I really loved learning how to make matcha and it’s something I’ve brought home with me and now do every day. The ceremony itself is very informative and interesting.

I can’t say the service overall was amazing. We arrived about 15 mins early and were told we were there too early and to come back… lol so we came back when it was 5 minutes until and then were basically ignored. Idk that it was really on purpose but it did feel that way. They helped everyone else, even people who came after us before they checked us in VERY VERY last, past the start time. They were like looking around for the “last people on their list” before they realized it was us still sitting there. It was weird. It meant we had next to no time to take pictures in our kimonos before the ceremony so we got 1 quick shot - the one of the 2 of us in the shade… - and hurried into the ceremony while everyone else was already seated and listening. Thankfully there was a little time for more pics after the ceremony. But that was an annoying way to start for sure. And really there was no reason to make us wait. We had to go get kimono fitted and would have had time to enjoy pictures if they just let us start at 15 till the time. Rather than feeling extremely rushed through the fitting.

I read a lot of reviews before choosing this that said this was their best experience in all of Japan. I’m here to tell you if conveyor belt kimono fitting and a tea ceremony is the best experience you had in Japan you got ripped off lol. It’s a good experience don’t get me wrong but I had so many better ones. Get off the beaten path, go to Hakone, go explore rural Japan - there is so much more than Kyoto and the tourist traps which I now see this as one - a good one but still a tourist trap. I also did a kimono fitting in Hakone and it was much nicer, slowly focused on just me - picking out all the perfect accessories, making sure everything was just right. Here it was super rushed, there’s like 20 women all trying them at the same time. It was overwhelming. If someone is just traveling to Kyoto and Tokyo and I would recommend this experience but if you’re getting out to more culturally rich areas save the tea ceremony and kimono fitting for there.

Also, the matcha is super strong (as to be expected). Well I like eating my sweet treat while I drink my matcha so it’s enjoyable and not a bitter solution I’m choking down lol…. Apparently that was wrong and midway through as everyone else was sipping their matcha and I was still munching my sweets between matcha sips the whole group was informed I was doing it wrong and all sweets are meant to be ate before drinking the matcha.m so you hold the matcha in both hands the whole time. They didn’t single me out but it was pretty obvious they were saying it because I was still eating. Japan has many rules and truly I would prefer to just enjoy my moment how I want to enjoy it haha so American...

A varied experience, with the two parts of the experience (kimono & tea) feeling like totally different processes! Upon entering, you will be in a small room with other people in your group (for us, all couples). There then follows a fairly chaotic changing room process (for men at least, women go across the road) where your socks and shoes are taken off and put in a bag, your valuables in another smaller bag, then you enter the main changing room.

In this room you'll undress and be provided an undershirt and undertrousers, and a professional will help you pick and fit a kimono. This is necessarily a fairly intimate experience, and it all happens in quite a whirlwind of activity! Once dressed, you'll need to find sandals that fit (my UK 11 was 3XL!), and awkwardly wait in a room next to the initial entrance room, trying not to make eye contact with the guests dressed in normal clothes. It's hard to overstate just how chaotic and confusing this process is, occasionally not quite being sure how many items of clothing you're meant to have on.

Finally (if you're in a couple) your partner will appear from the other building, and you can take some photos outside in the garden. When everyone is ready, you'll enter the tea ceremony, a completely different atmosphere that converted my rating from a 3 into a 5.

This ceremony contains your group (around 12 people, more than I expected) and features a detailed explanation of all the green tea paraphernalia involved, the stages of the ceremony, the meaning behind various related zen concepts, and much more. This was deeply informative, from something as simple as how to sit, to small zen concepts that genuinely changed my mindset.

After these explanations, you will make your own green tea, although the proper whisking technique was beyond me and I needed help! Regardless, the final result was absolutely excellent, and convinced us to buy green tea when we returned home. There are also a couple of small sweet treats included. Overall the ceremony took around 20 minutes (far less than the real multi-hour one!), and was a completely unique experience.

Once finished, there is another opportunity for photos, and an even more chaotic process of changing back into day clothes! Something must have gone wrong for our group, as we were somehow all split up and abandoned. During this, me and another guy buddied up to figure it out together, since there was no guidance on where to go or when to change! We eventually made it out with only minor confusion (what do we do with these socks..?), something of a relief!

Overall it was a truly unique experience, and so long as you can handle a little confusion at the start and end, is well worth the...