Uji tea ceremony and a matcha day out from Kyoto

From Kyoto Station, take the Nara Line to JR Uji Station; the national tourism organization gives the journey as about 17 minutes.¹ Another official guide, Another Kyoto, says it is only about a 20-minute train ride from Kyoto Station,¹⁸ so budget a little more than a quarter of an hour for the ride itself and a few minutes either side for the platform.

The second line is the Keihan Line. From Demachiyanagi Station, its terminus in north-central Kyoto, it takes about 40 minutes to reach Keihan Uji Station.¹⁹ The sights worth a stop all lie within a 15-minute walk of the Keihan or the JR station, according to the Another Kyoto guide.²⁰

The pins on the map above show how compact the town is. Start at the station that suits your Kyoto base, walk the sections in a loop, and finish at the other station. A full circuit with a tea ceremony, a workshop and a sweet stop fills a half-day comfortably.

Uji's workshops let you do what the tea master does at the start of the process. At Fukujuen Ujicha Kobo, on the eastern bank of the river, you grind tea leaves into fresh matcha powder with a traditional stone mill, whisk it with hot water and drink your own matcha.^25,26 The workshop lasts about 40 minutes and costs 1,650 yen per person, including materials and tax.³

Chazuna is the other anchor. It opened in 2021 as a place to learn about the tea, history and culture of Uji, and it makes sense as the first stop.⁴³ It is open daily, with museum last admission before closing time,⁴⁴ and it is a 4 min walk from Keihan Uji Station and 12 min from JR Uji Station.²³ The museum shows how tea is made and grown, with English explanations.²⁹

The GetYourGuide listing that pairs the tea museum with a matcha-grinding class lasts 1 hour, offers free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead and is priced from $23, with English and Japanese instruction. From the second-floor terrace you can see the town, the river and Chazuna's own tea plantation.⁴⁵

Between the stations and the river there is a long list of places to sit with tea. The tea shop Tsuen has been in business since 1160, run by the 24th head of the same family.¹⁵ Byodoin Omotesando is a bustling 300-meter street lined with stores selling tea-related souvenirs and snacks.²⁸ Ujibashi Street preserves old buildings, including long-established shops of tea farmers and tea manufacturers.⁵⁰

For sweets, Nakamura Tokichi Honten has been selling tea since 1854 and is about a minute's walk from JR Uji Station; its Maruto matcha parfait is listed at 1,850 yen.^17,27,22 Tsujiri, founded in 1860, has a main store in Uji, where a koicha and monaka combo comes with a second serving of usucha.^51,52

The temples round out the afternoon. Byodoin Temple was founded in 1052 and enshrines the Amida Buddha,¹³ and Ujigami Shrine's oldest structures date from 1060, which makes it the oldest original Shinto shrine building in Japan.¹⁴ Uji Bridge, first built around 646, features in the Tale of Genji and other works.¹² In October, the Uji Tea Festival is held at Koshoji Temple on the first Sunday of the month.³⁵