Kyoto Matcha Green Tea Tour

Yakika was absolutely amazing! The tour was informative with excellent direction, a great flow, and a wonderful tour guide! Her communication and kindness was far-reaching and very much appreciated. Would HIGHLY recommend Yakika to anyone booking the Matcha tour!

We had a great time touring Uji. We were fortunate to have Ako as our tour guide. She shared the history and the importance of Uji.

Our tour guide, Raqel, was absolutely wonderful—warm, kind, and spoke excellent English. We give her our very best recommendation. However, based on the title of the tour, we expected the matcha experience to be the main highlight. In reality, it made up only about one-third of the trip. A large portion of the tour was spent walking around the area and visiting temples, something we could have done on our own. The Japanese lunch, included at a small and charming restaurant, was excellent. When we finally arrived at the matcha shop, we met a delightful staff member who taught us how to prepare our own matcha tea, which was both fun and educational. Overall, while there were enjoyable parts, we recommend that the organizers adjust the tour to better reflect the description so that it is worth the money.

We really enjoyed our tour of Uji with Sae! Our group of six ranged in age from fifteen to eighty-five.  Having someone teach us the history of the locations we were seeing and answering our questions elevated our experience.  We all enjoyed the lunch (which was considerably better than one of the previously posted reviews), as well as the matcha/hojicha ice cream and the matcha-making time.  When we return to Japan, we will definitely ask for Sae again!

We were so excited as we love Matcha and were ready for a great experience. When we arrived, it was hard to tell if our guide was really with Arigato Tour. There was no branding on his shirt or bag and the folded-up sign he was holding was a crinkled piece of paper in a sheet protector. Our Guide Russ was doing the best he could with the first Rainy day he's had in his 6 years of being a guide. Arigato tours should have their guides set up for things that may come up. We booked through 3 companies while in Japan- Arigato Tours, Viator and Get Your Guide. Arigato Tours was the least professional and least prepared and by far the most expensive. Most of the tour was outside and there was no umbrella's provided by the company- Russ gave up his personal umbrella and stood in the POURING rain to start the outdoor tour. He felt bad and we could tell he wasn't sure what to do. Due to this pouring rain and all of us being soaked, we sidetracked and did the Matcha making first. They said they could accommodate the time-change, which they could not. We could tell the attention the tour should had have was not there. First there was a small intro/history of this Oldest Matcha Making company and we had a QUICK tour with the owner. Then a group came in and they whisked us off to the matcha making room where there were 3 set-ups (there were four of us that paid for the tour)- we mixed our newly ground matcha then moved to another seat. We were then scooped Matcha powder from a container and NOT our matcha we just freshly ground. They then pumped water from a countertop dispenser. It would have felt more authentic if we had been served our hot water from something as simple as tea kettle. The Matcha treats were, one wrapped cookie and one wrapped candy. The worst part - and there were many, was the lunch (see photos below to compare). What we got was noodles and a piece of fish. That was not the meal we were expecting. We then went to the temple which was fine. Then we went for Matcha Ice Cream which was delicious. We were then to go on another walking tour- still a bit rainy- and we passed as did the other 2 - there was no chance of this tour getting any better. Don't waste your money. Go on your own, there was nothing on this tour you can't go and do yourself for 1/4 of the cost.

Atsuko was our tour guide and she is amazing! I would definitely recommend her. She was very knowledgeable and taught us a lot of the history of the temple and shrine we visited on the tour. She is very organized and made sure we were having a good time. She had a binder to make sure she talked about everything and even gave us recommendations on where to eat while in Japan. She is what made the tour one of the best we’ve taken. The lunch was delicious and we got to pick what we wanted from a local restaurant and the matcha making part was very informative.

Had an amazing day with Atsuko with my family. She have shared history and cultures about Uji and goes into depth with the religious places and their practices. Had a great time making the matcha and the correct way to drink it. And ending the tour with an awesome lunch and matcha ice cream.

While planning our trip to Japan, my partner and I wanted to find a fun event where we could learn about the matcha ceremony and buy good matcha in Uji. We stumbled upon this tour and decided to sign up, not knowing what to expect. The tour was a small group of my partner, me, and our tour guide, Sanae. Before attending the matcha ceremony class, we stopped by some temples in the area and some local shops. The whole experience was elevated by the knowledge and personality of Sanae who was able to give historical context of not only that day, but also some previous days. The Matcha ceremony was also a blast. Sanae introduced us to Toby who showed us how to grind matcha and what goes into different grades of matcha. My partner and I would happily recommend this tour to anyone who will be travelling around Kyoto especially if you can get a tour with Sanae.

This was a lovely tour of the town of Uji, given by Tomas and Dani. It blended food tastings with the history of Uji (and Japan), along with a visit to the oldest original Shinto shrine in Japan and an ancient Buddhist temple. Our food samplings started after our shrine visit with a lunch of matcha soba (thin noodles with a very pleasant, mild matcha taste) and tempura. After walking through the town, we stopped for a hands-on lesson in grinding matcha (note... it's a good upper arm workout), preparing the tea (note... frothing the tea is harder than it looks!) and properly enjoying the tea. And we finished the tastings with matcha ice cream that was very good. Our final visit was to the Byodo-in Temple, which is spectacular, and the adjoining museum, which has some lovely artifacts from the temple, including originals of the phoenix sculptures from the roof. We enjoyed the temple so much, in fact, that after saying goodbye to our guides at the end of the tour, we spent more time on the grounds admiring the temple and the colorful fall foliage reflected in the surrounding water. Transportation from Kyoto is on your own, but the train is very easy to take there (just be sure to arrive at the Keihan Uji station rather than the Japan Rail Uji station). I'd highly recommend this tour, and hopefully you'll get either Tomas or Dani as your guide.

Sanae with arigato Japan was a wonderful tour guide! we saw some great sites, ate delicious food (and lots of it), and the tea of course was 11/10. Definitely will be the highlight of our time in Kyoto.