An Illustrated Japan / Saga / Culture & Tradition

Traditional Tea Ceremony Experience in a Historic Tearoom

Also written: 伝統的な茶室での茶道体験 · 传统茶室的茶道体验

In historic tearooms in Ureshino and Arita, learn authentic matcha preparation and ceremony etiquette. These sessions are popular for offering a direct sense of the spirit of Japanese Zen.

Saga Kyushu-Okinawa Culture & Tradition

About this place

A traditional tearoom tea ceremony experience in Saga connects the tea and ceramics cultures. In Ureshino and Arita, historic sukiya-style rooms set within old residences, kiln galleries and inns such as Ureshino 88 open daily experiences. Conducted by third-generation tea farmers like Hidekazu Kitano of Kitano-en and Hiroshi Tanaka of Tanaka Tea Factory, the sessions teach proper seating, handling of fukusa cloth, whisking chasen moves and appreciation of Arita porcelain chawan. Modern facilities like Matcha's Ureshino Hachiju provide daily tea ceremonies from 15:00–18:00 every 30 minutes, capacity six, ¥3,300, free for all-inclusive plan guests, plus dedicated kids tearoom Ocha no Ko Sai-sai with picture books and hanging chairs. Beyond matcha, instructors cover Ureshino tama-ryokucha brewing, showcasing how temperature influences flavor, and demonstrate bar cocktails and saunas scented with tea aroma, labeled Tea Aroma Auto Lyulyu and dry sauna with chako-ro, as part of fusion wellness. Participants gain insight into Zen ideals of ichi-go ichi-e one-time encounter, wabi-sabi aesthetics, and omotenashi hospitality while savoring wagashi sweets and learning to read the subtle craquelure and blue-white translucency of Arita ware used as utensils, making it an integrated cultural-intellectual souvenir.