By Pamela Aguirre Leonetti
Tea, especially green tea, is typical of Japanese culture. In the past, it was a beverage only drank by monks and high classes, but as time went on it spread around and nowadays tea ceremonies are one of the most special rituals of the country.
That’s why, if you travel to Japan and you love tea, you can’t avoid living all the experiences they offer: from tasting the typical Japanese teas to being part of a tea ceremony or brewing a real Japanese tea.
To do a tea tasting, we chose to visit Ippodo tea house, a place located in the heart of Tokyo whose history goes back to almost three centuries ago, when its founder, Rihi Watanabe, opened a shop called Omiya, which was then renamed as Ippodo.
There, we tasted the four typical Japanese green teas: Matcha, Gyokuro, Sencha, and Bancha –that, in turn, comes in two types: Hojicha and Genmaicha; and we learnt how to prepare them.
Besides, the place has a little shop where you can buy bags of teas of different flavors: Kuki Sencha, Kuki Hojicha, Genmaicha, and Mugicha, among others; several utensils to brew tea, and a special kit to prepare matcha. So we seize the opportunity to buy some teas to try at home.
To experience a green tea ceremony, we preferred to go to the Nezu Museum, a Museum surrounded by a stunning Japanese Garden that has several traditional tea rooms with antique tea utensils.
There, in a quiet atmosphere, some women dressed in kimonos and barefooted, and a small group of guests, perform the ritual that was introduced in Japanese culture in the IX century and that consists of preparing matcha following some specific steps. The ceremony is really important in Japan and it is believed that it gives peace, harmony, and that it improves human relationships; that’s why living it is so special.
If you go to Japan, don’t miss these two places. They will move you.
Enjoy it!
Sitio Web:
Where?
Ippodo:
Kokusai Bldg. 1F 3-1-1 Marunouchi Chiyoda Ward, Tokio 100-0005
Nezu Museum:
6-5-1 Minami-Aoyama Minato, Tokio.
Hours?
From 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
