Located between the two ancient capitals of Nara and Kyoto, Uji is located on the Uji River and its source is located in Penghu. This is a quiet town with a long history. The famous Uji River flows through it. It has been used as an important link between Nara and Kyoto since ancient times, with its famous "Uji Matcha", "Equality Court" and "Uji Seong Shrine". Today I want to introduce Uji's Matcha in particular, because Uji is the home of Matcha.
Tsuen Teahouse and Shop is one of the most popular Matcha stores in Uji. It is not only the oldest tea merchant in Japan, but also the favorite of a monk, named Ikkyū. It is because its seventh-generation successor is a good friend with Ikkyū. There are a lot of historical objects in the store, and there may be more than 400 years of history in a teapot.
The founder of Tsuen Teahouse and Shop was the lord of the Yuanshi family, the highest warrior of the Yuan family. At that time, the descendants of the generations gave tea to the guards and passers of Uji Bridge for generations. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu and others also drank here. This is the reason why this shop is so famous. The shop has been located at Uji Bridge Head since ancient times, and the building where the shop is located has been in existence for more than 300 years.
Because there was rain, there were not many tea guests in the store. I, with my friend, carefully look at the menu and ordered a light snack for our breakfast, which is Matcha dumpling with Matcha tea.
The dumplings are very soft, the sugar is moderate, and the Matcha taste is very strong. It is a good choice when you are hungry. The taste of Matcha is very strong, and there is a very salty taste after drinking, which is very satisfying.
Since Matcha tastes very heavy, it is also accompanied by three pieces of sugar to neutralize the bitterness of Matcha. This traditional candy is like a bonbon candy. Thus it has plenty of different kinds of tastes. All in all, traditional candy with Matcha is really a wise choice. The environment in the store is quiet, and you can look at the Uji River and Uji Bridge next to the glass.
Lastly, English is not my mother tongue. Possibly, I might make a lot of errors here. If you find out, please feel free to let me know. It will be very helpful for me to improve my English