Kyoto (Day 4)

7/22/2026: Private Uji and Matcha Tea tour

Six hours in Wazuka with Masae, and every minute earned its keep. We wandered through actual tea farms in Uji, pounded our own mochi from scratch, got a hands-on tea ceremony lesson, and tasted matcha and gyokuro so fresh it barely knew what had hit it. My personal contribution to the day: launching an entire jar of matcha across the floor mid-pass, like some kind of powdered green confetti cannon.

The redbean mochi, though — studded with three black soybeans or a chunk of chestnut — was on another level. Nothing in the Bay Area even comes close. I’ve made peace with the fact that I’m now mochi-snob for life.
https://matchatourism.com/about-matcha-tourism/