A temple with a tea room deep in a pine grove, serving matcha whisked with local spring water.
This is a sample page. Shoin-ji Tea Temple is a fictional place, and every detail on this page is a sample setting.
How to enjoy it
You rinse your hands and mouth at the stone basin before entering. Each step of etiquette is shown to you, so there is nothing to memorise. Ask why the bowl is turned before drinking; the answer opens up the thinking behind tea.
Matcha and a seasonal sweet on a veranda facing the pines, made with spring water.
How to enjoy it
Eat the sweet first, then drink the tea; each brings out the other.
Watch the host prepare tea in a four-and-a-half-mat room, then whisk a bowl yourself.
How to enjoy it
Move the whisk back and forth with just your wrist for a fine foam. Serve the bowl you make to your companion.
The booking site works in Japanese and English.
Book by By 17:00 two days before Cancellation 50% the day before; 100% on the day
A garden path through the pines from the gate to the tea room, with stepping stones and a stone water basin.
How to enjoy it
On a windy day, listen to the pines. The temple takes its name from that sound.
Hours
Grounds9:00–16:30
Closed
Tuesdays, 29 Dec–3 Jan
NotesNo public sessions on tea-gathering days
CashAccepted
Credit cardsVISA, Mastercard, JCB, American Express
E-moneyTransit IC cards, iD, QUICPay
QR code paymentPayPay, Rakuten Pay, d Barai
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A restored Meiji-era merchant house in the post town, rented whole. One group a day, up to 6.
Tip
Kuraya keeps the bones of the merchant house it once was. Look up at the beams over the earthen-floored entrance and at the lattice of the old counting room. Walk the post-town street once in the evening and once in the morning to see its quieter side.
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Spring water to take away, a farm shop and a café.
Tip
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Fermented dishes made with the brewery’s koji and sake lees.
Tip
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Tour and tasting at a small valley distillery.
Tip
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