Uji Tea Museum Ticket with Matcha Grinding Experience Kyoto

Chazuna museum and the Uji Tea Room

Chazuna is a modern tea and town museum opened by the city of Uji in 2021, set in a landscaped park on the east side of the town. Its Uji Tea Room answers the questions every visitor has about Japanese green tea: how a leaf becomes matcha, why some tea fields are shaded before harvest, and what makes gyokuro, sencha and matcha taste so different. Touch screens, aromas and models let you handle the stages of production rather than just read about them.

The exhibits explain why Uji tea became the benchmark of quality in Japan. Shading the bushes with reed and straw screens for several weeks before picking, a method developed here in the sixteenth century, keeps the leaves tender and sweet. Allow about 20 minutes in the tea room before the grinding class; signs and the instructor's explanations are available in English.

The History Room and the town of Uji

In the History Room a giant replica of the ten-yen coin greets you, because the building on that coin, the Phoenix Hall of Byodoin Temple, stands a few minutes away in Uji. Digital panels and a large 4K screen bring old illustrated guides of the town to life, showing the Uji River, its bridge and the tea merchants' streets as travellers saw them centuries ago.

Uji was a favourite retreat of the Heian court aristocracy, who built riverside villas here from the tenth century. Uji Bridge, first built in the seventh century, is counted among the oldest bridges in Japan, and Ujigami Shrine across the river has the oldest surviving shrine building in the country. The room gives you a clear picture of all this before you step back outside to explore.

Matcha grinding on a stone mill

The heart of the visit is the matcha workshop. Matcha is made from tencha, shaded tea leaves that are steamed, dried and stripped of stems and veins, then ground slowly between two granite stones. A traditional mill turns so gently that it produces only a few dozen grams an hour, which keeps the powder cool and preserves its colour and aroma. You take the handle yourself and watch the bright green powder gather around the stone.

A Japanese tea instructor, or a teacher trained by one, then shows you how to sift the powder into a bowl, add hot water and whisk it with a bamboo whisk until a fine foam forms. You drink the matcha you have just made, with the instructor's tips on enjoying it. The powder cannot be taken away. In summer, the 14:45 session may add a cool twist with matcha poured over ice cream.

Visiting Uji: Byodoin, the river and the tea streets

Many visitors ask whether Uji is worth visiting, and the answer is yes. Byodoin Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was turned from a noble villa into a temple in 1052, and its Phoenix Hall, completed the next year, still reflects in its pond garden. Between the station and the temple, Byodoin Omotesando is lined with tea merchants selling matcha sweets, ice cream and leaf tea, and the Uji River islands make a pleasant stroll.

If you are planning how to get to Uji from Kyoto, the JR Nara Line from Kyoto Station takes about 20 to 30 minutes, and the Keihan Uji Line runs from Chushojima. Chazuna is about ten minutes on foot from Keihan Uji Station and a little farther from JR Uji Station across the river. Spring and autumn are the best time to visit Uji, and the first tea harvest arrives in May.