Tea Ceremonies:
Within the tranquil beauty of the Japanese Tea Garden, you can experience the rich cultural tradition that celebrates the preparation, serving and drinking of powdered green tea or matcha. Your host, attired in kimono and trained in the omotosenke style of tea ceremony, will demonstrate how to clean special utensils and present the matcha, as well as how to receive and drink tea in keeping with ancient Japanese customs.
As our guest, you will sample popular confections or wagashi prior to drinking matcha and receive a hand-held paper fan or sensu as a keepsake. The ceremony takes place in the heart of our newly refurbished Tea House at the custom-built irori or farmhouse style family table complete with a sunken hearth used for heating tea. We are proud to make the art of the tea ceremony, once available only to Japanese priests and the nobility, accessible to you.
Tea ceremonies cost $25 (service charge included) plus tax per person, 13 year-old guests and above, and are available by appointment only on every Wednesday and Friday. We offer 3 sessions, at 10:30 am, 11:15 am and 12:00 pm. Each participant will receive a 15% discount on tea ceremony related items purchased in the Gift Shop including teas, teacups, teapots, tea containers, whisks, tea scoops and water ladles. The maximum seating capacity is 6 people per tea ceremony. Please call 415.752.1171 to make a reservation.
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Private events: Since the Japanese Tea Garden is a public venue, we are unable to close any portion of it for special events such as weddings. However, professional photography is permitted; subjects may spend a maximum of 15 minutes in any given spot to provide all paying visitors with an opportunity to take pictures and experience every part of the garden.