Note: For the remainder of 2020 Camellia Flower Teahouse and Camellia Garden Teahouse will be open at weekends only. Every tea ceremony will be private, cost 3000 yen per person and last for 45 minutes. Please book 24 hours in advance.
For first timers there is little in common between the Samurai and the tea ceremony. Little did I know, but there are several ways of presenting at a tea ceremony, with the Samurai style being considered very suave by Atsuko, the tea master and owner of the Camellia Tea House. In keeping with Kyoto tradition, the tea house reflects the season outside, and being Boys’ Day, there was a Samurai in full armor, being there to give them strength to grow up as wise men. Watching Atsuko’s considered ways during the tea ceremony; it reminded me of the martial arts practiced in Japan. Calm, disciplined, and elegant, it was bewitching to experience. A sense of time and space prevailed, as if everything about this moment was distilled into the pearls of exquisite Uji matcha tea. The name of this tea house comes from Camellia sinensis, the Latin name for the tea plant. The Camellia Tea Ceremony is held at Ninenzaka, between Gion and Kiyomizu Temple, just a few steps below Sannenzaka.
