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Kyoto Small-Group Tour: Introduction To Japanese Culture
You’ll meet your guide and group at a machiya – a traditional wooden townhouse – where the first part of your 90-minute tour will take place.
Your guide will first take you through the machiya and point out the architectural features of these classic shophouses, in use for centuries by Kyoto merchants as home and workspace. With a shop in the front and living space in the rear, the long and narrow buildings once lined Kyoto’s streets. However, many machiya have disappeared due to modern development.
After settling into a tranquil room in the machiya, you’ll have the option to try on a kimono. Get great photos of yourself in these beautiful robes, now mostly worn only by women for festive occasions, although men may wear one for tea ceremonies and weddings.
Next, you’ll have an introduction to the tea ceremony, a quintessential part of Japanese culture that has been described as a meditative practice and a performance art. The tea master will explain the act of preparing and drinking matcha, the powdered green tea used in the ceremony, a choreographed art that requires years of study to master.
Your tour finishes with a walk through a picturesque old Kyoto neighborhood and a stop into a sake brewery. You’ll sample the sake – an alcohol beverage made from fermented rice – and learn about the brewing process. Toast your small-group and guide with a glass of sake to wrap up your taste of Japanese culture!
Click on "View Additional Info" for Machiya house location.
