A Delightful Tea Ceremony at Komurasaki An, Thanks to Renáta’s Recommendation
When I woke up this morning, I found a light dusting of snow in the garden. Kyoto is surrounded by mountains, which keeps the humidity high, making summers feel hotter and winters colder than the actual temperature. The tea ceremony workshop guests are arriving at 3 PM today, so the snow will likely melt, revealing the beautiful green moss in the afternoon.
We have Mr. Marton, his wife Nikolett, and Nikolett’s brother Gyorgy as our guests today. They’ve come a long way from Hungary, with a layover in Shanghai, China. Their total travel time, including connecting flights and the trip from Kansai Airport to Kyoto, was approximately 20 hours.Marton mentioned, ‘I was completely worn out on the day we got to Japan.‘
Even though they had traveled a long way, they seemed to forget all their tiredness and really enjoyed the tea ceremony workshop.
Hungarian schools teach English and German as secondary languages. Marton and Nikolett opted for English. Nikolett is now trilingual, also learning Japanese. Gyorgy studied German in school, yet he comprehended my spoken English. In Japan, despite six years of English education from junior high to high school, many struggle with English comprehension and speaking. I’m curious as to why.
They seem to like matcha and drink it often, but I wonder if they’ve ever actually whisked and prepared it themselves. In this workshop, we have guests put two scoops of tea powder into a tea bowl, add hot water, and whisk the matcha themselves. Most participants struggle to create foam, but all three of them achieved a beautifully foamy finish.
We’ve been seeing an increasing number of guests from Hungary lately, so I asked Marton about it. ‘How did you find out about Komurasaki An’s tea ceremony workshop?’ He replied, ‘Renáta recommended it.’ Ah! I knew Renáta. She was the Hungarian lady who participated in our tea ceremony workshop on January 18th.
Renáta is from Hungary. She obtained her MBA from Doshisha Business School in 2017. She is now the owner of an inn called Murasaki House. In addition to running the inn, she plans itineraries and provides guided tours for travelers from overseas. If you are interested in Murasaki House, please visit the website below.
