Taking Back Tea Time in Japan

My good friend Danielle, a tea aficionado and owner of the organic tea company Tupelo Honey Teas, started a campaign to take back tea time. Danielle’s idea is that everyone should take a little part of the day just for you and your favorite tea.

Having shed most of the stresses of everyday lives for a while, one could describe this entire year as one big long tea time, but even travel is stressful in its own way so we look for opportunities to decompress when we can. Taking back tea time is pretty easy in Japan; tea regularly comes with meals and EVERYTHING is green tea flavored. Breads, ice cream, rice balls, all kinds of sweets, even Kit Kats are flavored with matcha, a green powdered tea. But we wanted to take back tea time right, so while we were in Kyoto, we headed to Ippodo, said to be the oldest tea company in Japan.

Sean selected a duo of matcha, a green powder that results in a frothy tea when stirred with a whisk, and hojicha, a brown roasted tea.

I chose sencha, a grassy green tea.

We learned the proper way to prepare the teas, and Sean even mixed up his own matcha.

I’m still easing my way in to the world of tea, but tasting tea around the world has taught me two things: (1) properly prepared loose tea definitely tastes better than a bland tea bag dumped into a cup of hot water and (2) there is no reason to mess with regular old chocolate Kit Kats.

Scenes from Kyoto: Temple Edition

Although viewing temples and shrines got a little old, and not all stacked up to my favorite, Kyoto’s temples and shrines have some fantastic imagery.   Here are some scenes from Kyoto’s many temples (and we only visited a fraction of them):

My Favorite Shrine

We saw a lot of shrines and temples while we were in Japan.  It is kind of hard to avoid them; they are everywhere, even tucked into little spaces between buildings.  Although many of them have intricate details, a lot of them started looking the same.  One shrine in particular stood out as my favorite: the Fushimi Inari shrine on the outskirts of Kyoto.  It is the headquarters of the Shinto religion in Japan and is made up of a series of vermillion torji gates.  We followed a path under gate after gate up and down a tree covered hillside.  It was so peaceful there (minus my grumblings towards the top of the hill).

Scenes from Kyoto: Market Edition

Every country has their markets.  I love the farmers and craft markets at home, and I love them even more on the road because it shows off all of the local delicacies, specialties and colors.   Although we didn’t buy anything in Kyoto’s market except for what turned out to be not too tasty gummy candy.  But things were interesting to look at.  Here are some scenes from Kyoto’s market:

Scenes from Kyoto

If you want to see a mix of old and new Japan, it all can be found in Kyoto. While we personally found that Japan’s other cities captivated our attention more, Kyoto is worth a visit for sure. Here’s some scenes from around town:

Lit up lanterns in Kyoto's market.

A late day bike ride along the river.

A real geisha spotting in Gion; sorry for the blurriness. I need to work on my paparrazzi skills.

Kyoto's "Lantern Way"

Bamboo path in Arashiyama

Looking up on the bamboo path.

Pottery displayed in a Kyoto coffee shop.

Kyoto's modern train station.

View of Kyoto Tower and the rest of Kyoto from the train station.