Kyoto: Camellia Flower Tea House
The Camellia Flower Teahouse (茶道体験カメリア フラワー店) 🗾 in the Higashiyama district. There was no good subway connection to get there, a bus was an option, but we did not want to deal with that, so we took a taxi. We experienced a (shortened) traditional Japanese tea ceremony in a restored machiya (wooden townhouse). We were gathered in a small-ish room with about a dozen guests in total, and one lady host/instructor. She described and demonstrated the various steps in the ceremony, explaining both the purpose and specific actions. We also all got to prepare and brew some matcha using the demonstrated method. We drank matcha tea with wagashi (traditional sweets).
There is an option to dress in a Kimono (rental). We did not do that, but many did and were also seen walking the streets in the district wearing them. Seeing westerners, dressed in kimonos, walking these historic Japanese streets looked a little weird!