Getting to Uji
From Kyoto Station the JR Nara Line reaches Uji in about 20 minutes on a rapid train and about 30 on a local one, and the Japan Rail Pass covers it. From Gion and the area along the Kamo river the Keihan line is handier: Keihan Main Line to Chushojima, then the Keihan Uji Line to the terminus, about half an hour in total and not covered by the rail pass. Note which Uji station your booking names. Chazuna is about 4 minutes on foot from Keihan Uji and 12 from the south exit of JR Uji, GOKU TRIP meets at the JR south exit, and Tokaan meets near Keihan Uji.
Chazuna, grinding your own matcha
Chazuna stands in the Historical Park of Tea and Uji Town. The one-hour ticket covers the museum, where touch screens explain how gyokuro, sencha and matcha are made, and a session in which you turn tea leaves into powder on a stone mill, then whisk and drink the result under an instructor. In summer there is a 2:45 pm option with matcha poured over ice cream. Be at reception 15 minutes early: from 30 minutes late there is no entry and no refund. It is wheelchair accessible.
This is a workshop, not a ceremony. A guest from Hong Kong points out that you should not expect thorough instruction on making matcha, and a Danish guest gave three stars because much of the English explanation was hard to follow. A one-star review calls it too touristy. The five-star reviews below single out the grinding and the small museum.
GOKU TRIP, a walk with one matcha session
The three-hour walk starts with matcha: either a ceremony in a tea room with an instructor trained in the Urasenke school or a hands-on preparation session, depending on availability, and only one of the two per guest. Then come a teahouse that dates its founding to 1160, Ujigami Shrine and the old street of tea merchants, before the walk ends at Byodo-in with time in its grounds and museum. Groups stay at 6 or fewer, and guides work in English, Japanese, French, Portuguese, Russian or Spanish. The interior of the Phoenix Hall needs a separate timed ticket that the guide cannot guarantee.
Tokaan, a private tasting
Tokaan is a sukiya-style house about 30 minutes on foot from the meeting point near Keihan Uji Station, and the walk there passes the same old teahouse and Ujigami Shrine. You choose one of two options when booking: a tasting of three pure Uji matcha followed by an introduction in the tea room, or a kimono fitting with a ceremony in which you prepare your own bowl. The booking is private, toddlers are welcome, and there are several steps at the house. Confirmation can take up to 48 hours.
Uji as a half day
Chazuna takes an hour and the GOKU TRIP walk three, so either fits into a morning. Inari Station, for Fushimi Inari, is on the same JR Nara Line, which makes the shrine an easy stop on the way back to Kyoto.
