On Jun 4, 4:16 pm, Alex > wrote:

> I'm going to be in Japan at the end of the month, and I was wondering
> if any of you could recommend some tea-related activities or
> destinations in either Tokyo or Kyoto. In particular it would be
> great to have recommendations for specialty stores in Tokyo, as I'm
> spending a lot more time there than in Kyoto and I'd like to bring
> some tea back as gifts. Also, it would be good to hear opinions on
> whether or not it is worth one's time to seek out a demonstration of
> the tea ceremony (leaving aside the fact that I can't sit seiza for
> more than about 18 seconds).

Tea destinations: The city of Uji, outside Kyoto. I haven't been
there in years, but I suspect it still has its charming strand of tea
merchants. Several of them, in the past, at least, also had clerks
who would try to use their English in helping foreign guests. The
city of Uji is the site of the very famous Byoodo-in temple (called
the Phoenix Hall), featured on the back of 10-yen coins, and it's all
so compact you can walk around.

Again, it's been years, but Uji used to have a city-operated cha-
shitsu (place for tea ceremony). For a small fee, you would be served
a bowl of matcha in a traditionally appropriate setting. The hosts
will not be shocked if a foreign guest needs to sit cross-legged on
the floor: Very few Japanese can sit comfortably that way either! Do
not let that very minor detail stop you.

There is a center for foriegn tourists in Kyoto. They speak English,
and would be totally on top of what's current in Uji, what the hours
are, what the fees are, and they are probably also able to hand you
maps for it all.

Tokyo is, culturally, less tea-centric. I lived in Tokyo for 2 years,
but never found any tea shop that was anything unusual (and the ones
that *are* there are going to be less prepared to help foreign guests
than the ones in Uji).

In Tokyo, the Nezu Institute of Fine Art always has a (rotating)
display of utensils for tea ceremony displayed in a staged room for
tea ceremony, so that you can see them in their "natural" setting. I
believe the gardens in the back of the museum are usually open for you
to walk through, and there are-- as I recall, five-- tea houses in
that garden, and is a place where elite tea ceremony practitioners
regularly host tea gatherings. You wouldn't be able to go *inside*
these tea houses, but it might still be of interest.

The Hatakeyama Collection is another museum in Tokyo that usually has
important pieces of tea art on display, though it is a little trickier
to find... and, if you've never even seen a tea ceremony performed,
this might well be jumping to something too specialized.

As for viewing a tea ceremony... my own research is in tea ceremony,
and it is an art form that is not especially accessible to people who
haven't, themselves, studied the art... If you haven't taken lessons,
you often sit there wondering what is going on. In Kyoto there is an
enterprise that gives you a mini-"concert" of various Japanese
performing arts. It is called "Gion Corner." This performance
includes a staged tea ceremony. You still in your chairs watching
from outside, but it is narrated so that you have some idea of what is
going on.

(From my own research, I would suggest that, for tea ceremony elites,
it is a *game* they are playing... it involves being able to recognize
the historical and geographic style of the many pieces of art involved
in making the tea, being able, perhaps, to also recognize the artist
of the tea bowl, the calligraphy, the iron kettle... and then to
figure out the "message" being sent by the host by her use of those
utensils.)

(If you are not able to schedule a chance to see a tea ceremony in
Japan, there is an excellent video available in the US... pricey, but
many universities will have it in their libraries... I could help you
with those details if you are interested.)

In summary, the very first thing that comes to mind is the line of tea
shops in Uji.

Have fun!

james-henry holland

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