Back After 7 Months: Their Smiles Showed Us the Way
10:00 AM. Ding-dong. The doorbell rang. With my heart pounding from nervous excitement, I opened the door slowly. Standing there were a young man and woman, greeting me with radiant, beaming smiles. The second I saw those smiles, all my anxiety melted away instantly.
“Welcome to Komurasaki An.”
I smiled right back. How many times have I said these words in the past? And just like that—it’s time to start the tea ceremony workshop!
Earlier this year, I fell ill and had my gallbladder completely removed. Due to side effects from my medication, I suffered severe intestinal bleeding and was forced to stay in the hospital for about two months.
Meanwhile, Naoko suffered a stroke. When she was rushed to the hospital, the left side of her body was paralyzed. Fortunately, thanks to early detection and the dedicated care of her medical team, she was able to return to daily life after three months of hospitalization.
Although she still has some mild lingering effects, her strong desire to restart her tea ceremony workshops—along with the warm encouragement from our friends and past guests—inspired us to reopen them.
Lastly, we are truly, deeply sorry to everyone whose reservations we had to cancel when we were hospitalized. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this caused.
On May 21st, I received an email from a woman that read:
“My sister, Dorottya Kregl, told me about you and the wonderful session she had with you, and I was instantly inspired. My boyfriend, Paul, and I will be visiting Japan this summer, and it would be an absolute dream for us to book a session with you as well.”
Dorottya had participated in our tea ceremony workshop with her friend Kata last year on October 6th. I still fondly remember how much fun we had together back then. And now, Dorottya’s sister was coming to our workshop with her boyfriend, Paul! My heart fluttered with excitement.
It seemed like Paul and Flora fell in love with matcha. They were eagerly asking things like where to buy delicious matcha and how to get there. I gave them the shop names and said, “As soon as you go out the south exit of JR Uji Station, you’ll find a few famous matcha shops.”
The next day, I received a message from them with some photos attached.
Dear Aki and Noko,
Thank you so much for the pictures—we received all of them!
We also went to Uji City and visited the Tsujiri tea house. The tea was absolutely delicious, and we even bought some matcha to take home. Thank you again for the recommendation!
If we ever come back to Japan, we will definitely let you know. Wishing you all the best!
Warm regards,
Flora and Paul
