Last month, Will (@slickwilly) and I had the pleasure of exploring Japan.Â
During our trip we stayed with my good friend Lara, and her husband John in Sasebo, Japan. Lara and I have been friends for a long time and it was such a joy to see her and catch up!
As part of our visit we went to the Yoko Museum and Garden teahouse in Nagasaki, Japan. Here we got to experience a traditional Japanese tea ceremony and explored the beautiful surrounding gardens.
Teahouse (Mifune-Jaya)
In the teahouse, or Mifune-Jaya, we all gathered around a set of traditional tea making utensils. Specifically we each had a bowl, bamboo whisk, container of high-end Matcha powder and a bamboo spoon.
The ceremony can be summed up in a few steps:
- Take two big scoops of matcha powder with the bamboo spoon and put it into your bowl
- Take the bamboo whisk and spread out the powder along the bottom of the bowl
- Add hot water (our guide noted a specific mm count but I would say about 4 oz)
- Quickly whisk the mixture until your bowl is nice and frothy
- Loudly slurp your tea and enjoy it with a sweet snack!
- Note: When drinking make sure to turn your bowl so that its design is facing towards your friends or guests. (I recall that about two clockwise turns are recommended)
@slickwilly was a natural; this is his frothy tea:
but I got it on the second try 😋
This tea was yummy! A bit weaker than expected but still very good, next time I'll try bigger Matcha scoops. I also enjoyed the sweet treat that was included. 😊
Photo of us enjoying the tea courtesy of Will  @slickwilly:
The Garden (Keishu-En)
Keishu-En is a  free-flowing style garden surrounded by a big pond. [This one] was designed by Kinsaku Nakane, known as one of the most gifted garden designers in history.
After the tea ceremony we enjoyed the surrounding gardens, including a lovely waterfall and koi pond.Â
View of the observation tower and tea house from the opposite hill:
John, Lara, Will and I enjoying the cascading garden hills:
Shot from the top of the garden observation tower:
Yes I did pack this outfit especially for a moment like this 😉
Photo courtesy of Will @slickwilly
Here is a larger shot of the koi pond and small waterfalls:
Panorama of the koi pond courtesy of @slickwilly:
Cheesing in front of the falls 😎
We had a fabulous time here just enjoying the weather, each others company and beautiful gardens. Hopefully you could get a sense from the pictures of how well maintained it all was, absolutely flawless!
Thanks for reading and if your visiting Japan I recommend a visit here!