奈良・町家でのプライベート茶道体験

A tatami tea room, a host in kimono, and a small group. You learn the thinking behind the etiquette, then whisk your own matcha.

• Enter a machiya in Naramachi; a host in kimono leads you into a tatami room lit through shoji.
• A cup of hojicha, then the basics: how to bow, how to handle the utensils.
• A seasonal wagashi sweet - enjoyed by eye before tongue.
• Your host whisks a bowl for you. Take time with the scent, colour and finish.
• We talk about the culture tea has shaped, and omotenashi at the centre of it.
• Choose the bowl you like, warm your hands with hot water, then whisk your own.
• See how a chasen is made in Takayama in Nara - 95% of Japan's handmade whisks.
• Your Nara-born host will point you to shops and lanes no guidebook lists.