On the 4th floor of the main store with a tea room, you can experience a different style of enjoying tea at Art of Tea. You will be served a set of tea paired with fresh Japanese sweets. Start with chilled sencha - rich in umami and minerals. Then enjoy the new season's tea - a delicate and wonderful taste with a hint of bean aroma. The staff will explain how to use the tea utensils in the shop. With plenty of hot water in the pot, you can enjoy about 5 infusions. From a fragrant aroma to a tannin-rich taste, you can appreciate the changing flavors. Finally, you can enjoy the tea leaves with soy sauce broth. We were able to fully enjoy a variety of teas, including hojicha. As a bonus, my daughter also ordered a welcome tea for takeout.

During New Year in Kyoto, you can enjoy a traditional Japanese sweet called "hanabiramochi." I visited the Kyoto flagship store of Fukujuen, famous for its collaboration with Suntory Iemon, right at 11 am on January 5th when the store opened. The 4th floor of the store was quiet and empty, offering a peaceful escape from the bustling Shijo Street in Kyoto. The spacious room had a view of Shijo Street and a traditional Japanese garden. I ordered a set of hanabiramochi and daifuku tea, and the staff kindly prepared the tea right in front of me. The sound of scooping the tea with a tea scoop echoed meaningfully in the serene atmosphere of the store. The presentation of the sweets was beautiful, and the hanabiramochi had matcha bean paste instead of the usual white bean paste, giving it a unique and refined flavor. The mochi was soft, the bean paste was delicately sweet, and the candied burdock root added a nice touch. I felt like I was experiencing something special and would love to visit again when I want to escape from the ordinary. The hanabiramochi is available until around January 15th and costs around 1500 yen. Fukujuen's Kyoto flagship store has tea sales on the 1st floor, a cafe on the 2nd floor, a French restaurant on the 3rd floor, and the tea room I visited on the 4th floor. I would love to explore the other floors as well. While I enjoy Iemon Cafe, the authentic experience at Fukujuen is truly wonderful.

There is a Fukujusen Kyoto main store along Shijo Street, where we had a genuine tea experience on the 4th floor. The 2nd floor is a café, and the 3rd floor serves French cuisine. They offer not only matcha but also gyokuro and sencha. The tea is prepared right in front of you by the staff. While many tea experiences are in remote locations like temples, it's convenient to have one in a bustling area like this. The sweets served were surprisingly delicious, unlike many other places. We sat at a table this time, but there are also small tea rooms available for an additional fee of about 200 yen.

I casually walked from Takashimaya in Shijo Kawaramachi, Kyoto towards Daimaru, and just past that intersection, I found Fukujuen Honten on the corner. Fukujuen is known for Suntory's "Iemon" tea, but my knowledge of tea ceremony is limited. I entered the shop out of curiosity. On the first floor, there is a large curtain with "Fukujuen" written on it, and tea utensils and tea are displayed. All the way up to the 6th floor seemed to be tea-related. The second floor is a Japanese-style cafe, the third floor is French (not related to tea...), and the fourth floor is a corner where you can experience tea ceremony. There were both tatami and chair seating options, but unfortunately the tatami was occupied by other customers, so I opted for a chair. The menu had options for light tea or thick tea sets, both priced around 1500 yen. The tea sweets were either a chestnut-filled Jo-yo manju or chestnut mochi. I chose the mochi. A staff member in a kimono prepared the matcha according to Urasenke etiquette. I have never learned tea ceremony and frankly have no interest in it. However, the thick tea I ordered was delicious with the chestnut mochi, as the bitterness added a nice touch. When I added more hot water to the remaining thick tea, it turned into a familiar, regular matcha. I don't know much about matcha, but the aftertaste was very pleasant. There is also a famous Myokaen in Nagoya, but I have never been. I became slightly interested, so I might visit it next time.

Attended a friend's wedding in Kawaramachi, Kyoto. The groom wanted to have a drink with us after the ceremony, so we decided to have tea at Fukujuen Kyoto Main Store while waiting. Fukujuen is a long-established tea shop founded in 1790, known for its history and tradition. We wanted to experience authentic tea in Kyoto, so five middle-aged friends gathered at the store. The store has seven floors, with each floor offering different tea-related experiences. We chose the 4th floor, where we were served different types of tea - sencha, koicha, and usucha. The preparation and taste of the tea were unlike anything we had experienced before. The groom surprised us by offering to pay for the expensive tea, much to our amusement. We ended up drinking and chatting late into the night with the groom.

4F is a "Kyoto teahouse". It has a different atmosphere from the Kyoto tea meals on the 3rd floor and the Kyoto tea lounge on the 2nd floor. In addition to thick and thin matcha, there is also gyokuro and sencha available. You can also enjoy authentic tea in the tea room "Muryoan". You can learn the etiquette of tea ceremonies, but first, relax at a table seat and enjoy delicious tea and Japanese sweets. - Thick Tea at Dawn: Dawn is far away, and in the darkness, if you strain your eyes, you can see the black mountain ridges. In the mysterious darkness, look up at the sky and take a deep breath. In a moment, feel the majestic green even though you can't see it. Through the trees, across the grasslands and hills, feel the wind dancing with the leaves in your breath. In the silence, feel the dawn far away. - Seasonal Japanese Sweets: Feelings accepted by the moonlight deepen as the flowers get wet, like the waxing and waning of the moon, changing in color. Even though the dew shining on the flowers and leaves is transient, does it also have a fragrance? The hydrangea blooms brightly, calling forth a rainbow, and even the fluorescent light on the twilight leaves is like a maiden's feelings. I forgot the name, but it's a Japanese sweet from the rainy season. It's a kinako (sweetened soybean flour) cake shaped like a hydrangea by Tawaraya Yoshitomi. The taste should be the same, but the place and tea make a difference, changing the flavor. I felt that the lighting illuminating the building is more like a hydrangea (with its seven transformations) than auspicious clouds, so I introduced this Japanese sweet. More to come whimsically on the blog. - Fantasy Café X http://kaeldesign.blogspot.com/search/label/Fukujyuen

After finishing lunch, I decided to incorporate a tea ceremony and a lesson experience into my trip. As part of the Kyoto experience, I tried making tea and performing the tea ceremony. I remembered the steps from entering the tea room to using the fan, hanging the scroll, greetings, posture, and more. I was able to make tea myself and enjoy it with friends. It was a simplified version of the ceremony, but I could still feel the atmosphere of the Urasenke school. We also had traditional sweets with the tea, and it was a satisfying experience. I would recommend including a reservation for a tea ceremony lesson in your Kyoto sightseeing itinerary.

I visited a traditional tea room where I heard you could enjoy tea. I wasn't sure if I needed to make a reservation, but I decided to drop by the night before. When I arrived, they mentioned that they had a reservation, so I might not be able to stay long, but I could still have tea. Despite not making a reservation, I was able to experience a tea ceremony and enjoy delicious tea and sweets. Although I forgot the name of the tea, it was referred to as something from the past, so it might have been a matcha tea. The Fukujuen Kyoto Main Store is in a building, with the tea room "Kyoto no Chan" on the 4th floor, tea utensils for sale on the 5th floor, and tea for sale on the 1st floor. I ended up spending quite a bit of money in just under an hour, but it was a fun experience. They also offer a plan where you can have French cuisine on the 3rd floor and tea on the 4th floor, so I would like to try that next time.

There is a tea house building in Shijo Kawaramachi where you can not only buy tea but also experience tea ceremony and French cuisine with tea on the upper floors. The headquarters is located in Kizugawa, and they have been specializing in Uji tea since the 2nd year of Kansei era. I bought sencha and genmaicha to give to foreign visitors this time. The tea I tried at the store was kabusecha, which is shaded tea grown with covers about 7 days before picking. It had a slightly sweet and refreshing taste, very easy to drink. Green tea has been gaining popularity overseas recently, and I wondered if foreign visitors would be able to appreciate this kind of flavor. Even though Kyoto is always busy with tourists, I would like to take my time and enjoy tea here.