Uji: The Dream Town in Japan

Uji is a small town in Japan, close to Kyoto, very famous for its tea production and for holding tea ceremonies you can participate in. While I didn’t make plans to participate in such a ceremony, I still wanted to visit the town and try the tea in person.

After a day in another town, we made it over to Uji a little late in the day to see if we could still try a famous tea place called Yakumi-no Yakata open. To our delight, we found the place was still open for another hour (not the ceremony, but the café area), and although it was empty and it felt like they might start closing soon, the lady welcomed us inside and told us we can pick the set menu for tea and she can teach us how to make it.

We picked Uji Gyokuro and Uji Sencha. She very kindly came to our table and explained in detail the importance or the water temperature and how to drink each tea. The fact that she could speak English so well and was taking so much time to explain the process was divine, and I only wish I could remember her name because she was one of the kindest people I’ve met. Thank you for all your help and attention, the tea was amazing.

She directed us to where we could buy some delicious tea in Uji and we barely made it before closing time. Again, the person working in this store was the kindest and even offered us candy while we were browsing around for tea.

After I purchased some tea, we thought we’d walk around and explore the town as all shops were closing. What we found, to our delight once again, was that this was the most beautiful, clean and peaceful town. Every turn was more and more beautiful and while not much was happening there, I couldn’t get over the sights.

If anyone is thinking of going to Japan around the Kyoto area, I definitely advise you visit Uji if you can ❤ Take a look at my Instagram (@pnavr) for some pictures of my adventure to Japan and Uji.