For lovers of tea, there’s no place like Japan—from its artful matcha ceremonies to the rolling hills of its tea farms to the spaces in which to drink it, marked by thoughtful, minimalist design. Tea originally came to Japan through Zen Buddhism, and these spiritual beginnings seem to ripple through to the current day, even in the most metropolitan of places. And with centuries of tea culture in its streets and proximity to some of the most beautiful tea gardens on the planet, Tokyo is one of the world’s great tea cities.
An evergreen, the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, has been cultivated for thousands of years and makes for the most widely consumed beverage in the world after water. Tea drinking has crossed cultures, has started wars and love stories alike. I grew up drinking Indian black tea with my Ukrianian-Jewish family, eventually starting my own tea company, Masha Tea, which focused mostly on US-grown herbs—until a trip to Japan several years ago, when I fell in love with the country and its teas. I recently returned with the intention of drinking as much tea as possible, and discovering Tokyo’s teahouse culture. What I came back with instead is the reminder that it’s impossible to separate tea from the mountains where it is grown, the farmers who tend to it, and the artists who create the vessels from which we drink it.
Below, the best places for tea lovers in Tokyo and beyond—from organic farms to a modern ryokan to the most chic tea-drinking spaces in the city.
Where to Sip and Eat
This tiny, inviting tea house filled with friendly locals sits on a quiet corner of the residential, up-and-coming Ueno neighborhood. Its laid-back style extends to its sourcing; owner Ai Hasagewa eschews big names, opting to buy teas directly from the organic farmers she has relationships with. For those who want to bring something home, the small collection of gifts includes Norm teas in colorful packaging, ceramics, and every tea lover’s favorite magazine: UK-based Journal du Thé.
A community center of sorts that frequently collaborates with local artists for pop-ups, Banksia has a wide selection of drinks and art objects alike, and makes for a perfect break after hopping around Shibuya’s vintage stores. It’s also the only place in Tokyo to find tea from Sotto Chakka, the company started by photographer Nana Yuri to offer leaves picked and roasted by hand by her family in Kakinoki Village, deep in the Japanese mountains of Shimane, where most people in the town have tea gardens, growing enough for their families for the season. “This tea is not for fancy people,” Yuri says. A must-try is the Kama Green Tea, a golden-colored gently roasted tea that has a deeper flavor in comparison to the very fresh green teas which Japan is famous for. For those who need a break from caffeine, Yuri created a delicately blended Wild Herb Tea, which makes the drinker feel rejuvenated rather than sleepy (as is sometimes the case with herbal teas).
Maybe it was the jet lag, but my first cup of tea in Japan, an iced oolong before the tonkatsu (a classic fried pork dish) at Butagumi, felt life-giving. While tonkatsu is fairly popular in Tokyo, the origins of the meal are relatively modern, dating back to the Meiji Era (the late 19th century) as a take on European food like German schnitzel. Butagami is no ordinary tonkatsu spot and is worth the trip. Set in an unassuming two-story brown house with a crescent-moon window on a surprisingly quiet corner of Shibuya, Butagami is understated in decor, save for the adorable assortment of pig figurines. Guests are served a small yet soothing cup of oolong tea to complete each meal.
Recently opened by chef Toshi Akama and sommelier Naota Takeuchi, who met while working together at renowned restaurant Kabi, Ukiyo takes an ultra-seasonal approach to omakase. “There are a lot of restaurants in Japan that have opened with similar designs and atmospheres and we wanted to steer away from that and create an intimate dining experience with food that doesn’t seem overwhelming or too serious,” explains Akama. Courses might include seasonal squash or a tender slow-cooked venison alongside more expected seafood-forward dishes. Tea lovers should know that while an alcohol pairing is offered with local sake, whiskey, and wines, there is also an impressive non-alcoholic option with fermented drinks, juices, and—you guessed it—tea. “Strong umami flavors, we pair with sencha or gyokuro; roasted flavors, we pair with hojicha or Japanese black tea,” Akama says. “Tea helps add body, as well as umami to juices that normally would be a bit bland to pair with food.”
One of several Tokyo tea houses by the renowned architect-designer-chef-restauranteur Shinichiro Ogata, this airy space overlooking a peaceful garden also offers breakfast and omakase (be sure to reserve in advance).
The tea course is deliberate, slow, and bountiful in details that shine against the space’s sparse decor, while the salon has a selection of ceramics, gifts, and art pieces. One of the best things about the experience is the bathroom, fittingly complete with Aesop products: Ogata designed several of the Aesop stores in Japan.
Where to Stay
%2520wagashi.jpg)
In Kagurazaka—a neighborhood referred to both as Little Kyoto and Little Paris for its stone streets, hidden cafes in alleyways, and neighborhood vibe—lies this 70-year-old former geisha-training townhouse with a tatami tea room, tiny disco, and private garden. The entrance sits below a stained glass portrayal of Mount Fuji (back in the Edo period, before the city developed, the mountain was visible from this location). Near the entrance, I recognized a Tom Sachs matcha set from his show at the Noguchi Museum in New York several years back; the hotel commissioned a custom set. The intimate hotel, which accommodates up to four guests at a time, includes a private on-call chef (originally trained in patisserie and available for midnight snacks, like the mochi with layers of cream on the inside around peach and kiwi) and butler service. Tea courses accompany dinner, and a highlight was a send-off tea ceremony with a tea master who owns a local wagashi shop. Before our eyes, he turned three circles of bean paste into elegant, delicious treats.
A metropolitan take on a traditional Japanese ryokan, this serene hotel features an ultramodern rooftop onsen on the 17th floor, with spring water piped in from beneath Tokyo and a square-shaped roof cutout reminiscent of a James Turrell Skyspace. The atmosphere is serene and regenerative, and there are plenty of avenues for tea time. We had an informative ceremony that helped us learn the rules for traditional matcha ceremonies, such as which way to face the matcha bowl. Hoshinoya also offers an afternoon tea, accommodating only one pair of guests per day. The seasonally-focused ceremony has sushi, pastry, and traditional wagashi (in our case, in autumnal shapes). Highlights were a Japanese fig tea and omagashi in the shape of gingko leaves.
In a city where the rooftop pool phenomenon is relatively rare, watching dusk settle over Yoyogi Park in Shibuya while floating in water is a pleasure indeed. The newly opened hotel is the third of the Trunk group, and its design is a collaboration between Tokyo- and Copenhagen-based studios. While the infinity pool and accompanying restaurant are open only to guests, the Italian restaurant downstairs accepts reservations and is open to the public. Each of the 25 rooms has a private terrace, and while those make for an ideal spot to enjoy tea from the minibar, the best way to enjoy tea here is while soaking in the hot tub, or reading in a robe, poolside.
Shop
At the shop and studio space for artist and clothing designer AAWAA, sip cups of smoky iced tea as you shop for modern updates of traditional silhouettes rendered in natural dyes and fabrics sourced in Japan, and exquisite deerskin accessories. The space also hosts pop-up exhibitions, such as a recent one of the ceramist Takashi Ichikawa, whose tea utensils and vessels are carved from clay collected from an ancient lake, Lake Biwa, in Shiga, where he lives.
Though somewhat out of the way in the wealthy Shirokane neighborhood, this immaculate, gallery-like shop is worth a detour for French and Japanese teaware such as matcha bowls and glass teapots, alongside custom minimal clothing. As we entered the store, we were greeted by a man in a striking charcoal jumpsuit offering tea and cookies. The one-of-a-kind wooden furniture, like a farmhouse table that somehow had a delicate quality, alone warrants a visit from interior design enthusiasts.
Near Tokyo Midtown, around the corner from both the Issey Miyake and Comme des Garçons stores, the two-story Super A Market boasts a fun, colorful, and international collection of clothing, beauty products, and accessories. Past the embroidered sweaters, textured jackets, and designer jeans lies a collection of teaware to match the ethos of the store, including ceramic mugs from Moroccan brand LRNCE, known for its sunny colors and broad paint strokes.
The making of wagashi, the sweet confection that accompanies Japanese green tea, is itself an art form. The preparation, which involves bean paste, rice, and sweet potatoes, pre-dates Western cooking methods. Right across the street from Super A Market is this contemporary wagashi shop, designed by Shinichiro Ogata’s studio Simplicity and devoted entirely to the craft. Shop for seasonal wagashi to accompany a cup of tea on-site, or take some home as a delicious gift.
Upstairs from Buvette’s Tokyo outpost and across the street from a Godzilla statue, sits this collection of shops offering objects from magazines to clothing to vintage teaware. Head all the way upstairs to The Cabinet of Curiosities and pick up an art book to read while drinking tea at home.
The stark white walls, cement floor, and enormous front-facing window of Syuoro in Ueno, just a few blocks away from Norm Teahouse, give a hint of the minimalist objects to be found inside. If you’re looking specifically for kitchen accents to elevate your tea routine at home—brass tea caddies, linen napkins, silverware, teapots, and glass vessels—this is the place.
Visit
Designed by one of the world’s most prolific architects, Kengo Kuma, this pre-modern Japanese and Asian art museum in the fashionable Aoyama district exhibits and conserves the vast private collection of philanthropist and businessman Nezu Kaichirō, who, according to the museum, happened to be an “enthusiastic practitioner of the way of tea.” Because teaware constitutes a large part of the collection, visitors are likely to encounter tea accouterments alongside objects like Chinese wine jugs from the 12th century BC, Japanese teaware from the Edo period, and, when we visited, a collection of historic swords and armor. Further treasures lie in the expansive garden—home to four tea houses and a café that serves a fine iced matcha—and the gift shop, with its books on Japanese tea culture and botanical-patterned washi tapes. While the museum is worth a visit for the garden alone, the singular collection of ancient teaware, often on rotation as different exhibits come through, warrants a spot on any tea lover’s bucket list.
Nearby is this design museum, founded by Issey Miyake and architect Tadao Ando and housed in a concrete building by Ando. While the museum does not focus specifically on tea objects, its exhibitions explore material culture with a depth and range that any lover of the tea ritual would appreciate.
Also in Tokyo Midtown is the Mori Museum, worth a stop for the observatory with panoramic views of Tokyo from the 53rd floor. Inside, The Sun and Moon Cafe, which has an “afterMOON” tea menu, offers unparalleled views of Tokyo as you sip on your choice of Japanese loose-leaf teas and nibble on pastries and tiny sandwiches off of a multi-tier silver tray as is typical in English or French afternoon tea service.
For a moment of Zen, stroll to one of the oldest gardens in Tokyo, Koishikawa-Kōrakuen, originally built in the 1600s, and grab a soft-serve matcha ice cream at the entrance. A full moon bridge, so named because the arch shape appears as a full circle opposite its reflection in the water, was built at the onset by a Confucian scholar and remains standing. The garden is also home to an iris field, cherry blossoms, a large pond, and foliage that attracts visitors in the autumn.
This two-story gallery in Ikebukuro in Northwestern Tokyo, a low-key neighborhood full of office spaces and restaurants rather than tourists and shoppers, features both high-profile and young Japanese artists, with a focus on ceramicists. Along with rustic tableware by Akihiro Nikaido, whose work is featured at TRUNK(HOUSE), highlights include teapots from Yaoita Katsunori and wood-fired matcha bowls with pleasingly rough textures and edges that depart from matcha tradition.
With a focus on utensils and vessels, Deps Gallery is on the second floor of a building in Ueno, above a standing bar. The gallery features the work and stories of ceramicists, glass-blowers, and woodworkers from around Japan. Deps, named after the French word depuis (since), is curated by a food stylist with a focus on natural materials and handicrafts. Be sure to check the Instagram or website for opening hours, as the small gallery is not always open for visitors.
Escape
Tenth-generation tea farmer Toshiaki Kinezuka and his daughter Tamiko Kinezuka run this organic farm and guest house in Shizuoka, one of Japan’s oldest and largest tea-growing regions, on the south side of Mt. Fuji. “Tea is a symbol of peace,” Kinezuka explained through Tamiko as a translator. “When people entered a tea room, they were all equal, whether they were a farmer or a general.”
In 1976, Kinezuka made the switch to organic farming, a radical move at the time. (To this day, less than 5% of Japanese tea is certified organic.) Visitors can tour the farm and production facilities for a day, or book a restful stay in the simple and quintessentially Japanese guest quarters at Tsubaki Tei, the on-site farmhouse—and enjoy local cooking lessons or pottery-making sessions arranged by the hosts, or simply take in the scenery by bicycle.
If Shizuoka is known for its green tea, Uji, near Kyoto, is famous for its matcha. When I was looking for a new source for my company, I found Azuma Tea Garden through my favorite tea house, Postcard Teas in London. “In order for tea to be good for you, it needs to be good for the earth,” Teruko Azuma, a fourth-generation tea farmer, told me through her translator. As we tasted their various matchas and other teas, we discussed the significance of choosing which tea to grow.
While all tea comes from the plant Camellia sinsensis, farmers choose specific cultivars: Samidori is considered the highest quality, as is asahi cultivar, “which is known as the king of matcha,” Azuma said. Both are available to sip and savor here at the company’s tea room, where tea is served in a traditional ceremony overlooking the rolling green hills.
At a time when many tea gardens are being abandoned because young people don’t want to farm, some upstart tea companies are playing a critical role in preserving tea traditions. Though the founder of Nara, Japan’s Yusando Tea, Ryotaro Yusando, did not come from a tea-growing family himself, he spent years working on farms learning how to cultivate organic tea after earning his degree in philosophy. His model is to rehabilitate abandoned tea gardens in his region. For those looking to learn about tea farming, Yusando may be open to enthusiastic volunteers, local and international alike, during the tea harvest.
Zen Buddhism originated in India, spread to China, and eventually took root in Japan in the seaside former capital of Kamakura. Influenced by the Zen history of the region, proprietor Nobuyuki Kishi created a modern ryokan called Kishi-ke in Kamakura around the Zen principle of chisoku, which loosely translates to being satisfied with what you already have. And it’s easy to be satisfied with what you have here: Through the front window lies a straight-on view of surfers in the ocean, fashionable cars rolling along the coastal road, and sailboats in the far distance. In the backyard is a private zen garden, and on the inside, meticulous interiors featuring a generously sized hinoki bath to a vast ceramics collection (we must have used dozens of different cups over the course of our stay, ranging from pieces repaired using kintsu-gi, a way of fixing broken pottery using gold dust, to matcha bowls made from volcanic rock from Mt. Fuji to dainty translucent tiny white cups).
Along with classic Japanese teas like matcha and hojicha, Kishi also prepared teas that I’d never tried before like blueberry leaf and goishicha, which translates to “square stone tea,” a rare lacto-fermented tea grown only in Ôtoyo in Kôchi Prefecture. The private villa, which hosts a maximum of four guests, is conveniently located less than an hour by train from Tokyo.
No tea lover’s visit to Japan would be complete without a stop at an onsen in the Japanese Alps—especially this Relais Châteaux property in Matsumoto surrounded by a national forest, in the mountains where three dragon gods are reputed to live. In operation since the 1930s, the onsen feels traditional yet modern, thanks to newly completed “zen rooms” with open-air baths. We stayed in a room with a private outdoor onsen where you could hear the river flowing and the trees in the wind; the equally captivating shared onsens offer iced barley tea on tap. We drank local tea from Nagano with our meals, and after going on a hike to visit the shrine to the dragon gods, we were served a special roasted tea infused with local soy sauce and plum paste to reinvigorate us.
The meals here are truly extravagant; our nine-course dinner ranged from corn tempura to salted steak over eggplant to delicate sashimi. Also worth noting: this was the only place we visited where we were seemingly the only Western tourists.
