Our Japan tea tour became even more interesting and insightful with our amazing Tea Master and Historian, Bruce Richardson, as he shared his abundant knowledge with us throughout the itinerary, including Japanese influence over American architecture, Japanese tea culture and aesthetics featuring “The Book of Tea” written by Okakura Kakuzo, and more.
We had a wonderful, action-packed first day in Kyoto, Japan. We visited the Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Golden Pavilion Temple, Ryoan-ji Temple’s Rock Garden, and enjoyed a bento box lunch in the Imperial Palace Garden.
The highlight of our first day in Kyoto was a tea ceremony demonstration while wearing Kimono. We ended the day with visiting the bustling food market, Nishiki Market, filled with delicious smells and hungry people from all over the world.
On the second day, we started with a delicious and nutritious buffet breakfast at our hotel. Our chartered bus took us north to visit the Kitano-Tenmangu Shrine and a very special Flea Market that is only open on the 25th day of each month. This Flea Market is famous for amazing deals offered by a wide variety of great venders. We then visited a textile shop, where we witnessed the beauty of kimonos and enjoyed shopping.
Then, we headed south to Uji, where we spent the rest of the day exploring the Byodo-in Temple, tasting Sake, and hiking up the Fushimi-inari Shrine.
These two days in Kyoto gave our curious travelers ample exposure to mystical Japan and traditional Japanese beauty.
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Click here to see the photos from the second half of our fascinating trip.
Meet the Author: Kiyomi
