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| Matcha in Kyoto Canon EOS M |
Kyoto is the best place in the world to drink matcha
TGIF, and we all know what that means - another (mostly weekly) Photo Friday.
Kyoto, once the capital of Japan, is renowned for its' ancient temples, shrines, and otherwise unparalleled scenic beauty. At the heart of that is matcha.
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The careful preparation and consumption of matcha is the basis of sado, also known as tea ceremony, one of Japan's oldest and most traditional practices. This frothy form of green tea can also be enjoyed casually, with ice, on a balmy August day, as we had the pleasure of doing so in Kyoto for this photo.
Kinkakuji, the famous golden Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, offers a small tea garden in the woods overlooking the temple where visitors can enjoy matcha, hot or iced, any time of year. With benches draped with sheets colored the traditional bright crimson, a simple cup of matcha placed atop with its' seemingly unnatural neon green stands in stark contrast.
Kinkakuji is open from 9:00am to 5:00pm, and does not normally close on any given day.
There is a fee of 400 yen for entrance, and an additional fee for a cup of matcha (possibly about 300 yen at the time we visited in 2013, if memory serves us correctly).
Kinkakuji Map
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