Kyoto Tea Ceremony
 

While in Kyoto I was interested in learning about the Japanese Tea Ceremony. I found one site that offered a class but the prices seem exorbitant; $180 for a 2 hour experience:confused:

http://www.wakjapan.com/en/katei/tea.html

I don't want to become a Tea Master, just listen to a basic explanation, sip some tea and maybe enjoy a nice private garden. Any experiences or suggestions?

For $180 I'd rather get the train to Takamatsu and have tea in one of the gorgeous tea houses in Ritsurin Garden.

28 minutes and 230yen from Kyoto station is Uji city. You can combine a visit to this place:
http://www.pref.kyoto.jp/visitkyoto/...lture/taihoan/
with a visit to the exquisite Byodoin temple.
Photo of tea house here: http://www.kyoto-uji-kankou.or.jp/ot...ot/cha/cha.htm
Cost is 500yen and 'experience' takes 30 minutes.

My own suggestion is that you approach somewhere like
http://www.kajiasostudio.com/webroot/tea.cfm in Boston
Or, failing that, the Japanese Association of Greater Boston
http://www.jagb.org/
for events in which the tea ceremony is explained. That way you can just concentrate on enjoying the tea of your choice somewhere beautiful in Japan

(Warning: Many people don't actually much like the frothy bitter macha prepared at these ceremonies and often prefer sencha or gyokuro green tea instead - be aware you might be one of them)

Although I've drunk many kinds of tea in Japan in all kinds of places, I received my expert introduction to the tea ceremony in a small tea house within London's British Museum.

This one sounds very touristy but includes a dinner and slightly cheaper.
http://www.japanican.com/sunrisetour...List=1%2c2

This one is in Tokyo, a bit more expensive but also includes a meal.
http://hisexperience.jp/index.php?op...emid=17&id=281

There are less expensive "tours" but they are conducted only in Japanese.
http://www.kyoto-okoshiyasu.com/play...&introid=00169
http://www.jrtours.co.jp/kyoto/enjoy...ve/200705.html
http://www.urasenke.or.jp/textc/gall...ken/index.html

P.S. Sorry I was confused. I thought you were going to Kyoto. It looks like you are back in Boston, so LapLap's recommendations should help.

Return to Kyoto and be ready to suffer. ;)

Sorry for the confusion about tense. I haven't taken the trip yet and should have said that I have an upcoming trip to Kyoto in August and would like to learn more about the tea ceremony while I'm there.

I have seen a "real" tea ceremony only a couple of times. Both times were kind gestures by people who were hosting me. On both occasions I felt very privileged to spend some "down time" with such gracious and hospitable people. I felt a great relief that the ceremony was relaxed and the people participating were indulgent of my naive questions. I also felt a rather bitter taste in my mouth and an awful sensation of pins and needles as I massaged my legs back to life. I wouldn't seek out a tea ceremony again, but I'm pleased I had the chance.

Now... If you want cheap and quick. Lots of temples and shrines offer a kind of "express" tea ceremony, where you sit on a bench covered by a red felt cloth. You can easily spot the places where this is on offer - because they have a lot of benches covered in red felt cloth. You will need to buy a ticket which ought to be a few hundred yen.

Once you're sitting comfortably, a lady in a kimono steps out from the kitchen with a sweet cake ... and returns after a suitable pause with a bowl of the green, bitter stuff. (Save some of that cake for after the bitter stuff). She bows and turns the bowl three times before presenting it to you. You can also make a show of turning the bowl three times and admiring it. The cakes are nice, the tea tastes as it should, the order of the ceremony mimics the real deal... But why am I not kneeling in a teahouse? And why do I have to crane to see the exquisite garden that lies beyond? And was this water drawn from an electric pot? And will someoone talk to me about fine art and wabi sabi?

Whenever I go through the bench tea ceremony, I notice little elements of the full blown affair and I say "Kekko na ocha wo itadakimashita" at the end. But that's when the feeling of McTeaCeremony sinks in and I promise myself not to bother doing it again.

I went through this experience in Hiraizumi a couple of weeks ago in a room that must have been originally intended as a lobby area for a simple teahouse that Konosuke Matsushita dontated to the temple... Once again I found myself asking why I'd bothered.

While washing my clothes at the coin-op raundri near my Tokyo hotel, I often get a can of green tea from a vending machine for Y120 and turn it three times before drinking. If I do this as the tumble dryer is making its soothing whirr in the background, it transports me to another time and space. Maybe I should write a haiku about this experience.

Dick, I would like to read that haiku. :)

Like jib71, I have attended some "professional" Kyoto tea affairs as a friendly gesture. Not that I would have much more insight than before.

The Korean and Chinese variations are also quite interesting and maybe even more enjoyable.

If you're able to see it, Teshigahara's 'Rikyu'
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098204/

is a fascinating account of the man credited with popularising the Tea ceremony in Japan.

Alas, although the film itself is marvellous the DVD copy currently available is awful (dark and badly framed, difficult to watch).