A Japanese school where you can learn the tea ceremony ~ For those who are not satisfied with a one-day experience ~

For those who want to learn a little more about tea ceremony rather than a one-day experience

The number of foreign tourists has increased significantly.

We are a Japanese language school located in Suidobashi, Tokyo, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, international students were not able to enter the country and at one point we had very few students enrolled. Now, we have students from many different countries coming to study Japanese on short-term and long-term basis.

We have been running tea ceremony classes for Japanese people who can study long-term, but since they have to return to their home countries, they cannot study long-term, and there are other issues such as their Japanese level, so we have decided to create "tea ceremony short course". 

The course schedule is determined every three months, and the course is usually held every Thursday from 18:30 to 20:00, with a total of 8 sessions in which you can learn Urasenke Bonryaku Temae.

Foreigners can also participate as long as they have a JLPT N4 level. (Please contact us at any time)

Current dates for applications (as of October 2024) *We update our website regularly, so please check the dates, and if they are not listed, please contact us by email.

January 23rd to March 13th, 2025 Every Thursday (Once a week 18:30-20:00)

Capacity: 6 people Cost: 40,000 yen (tax included)

Things we ask you to prepare: white socks, paper, youji, and fukusa.

*Although most of the tools can be borrowed from the school, we ask that you bring only the items listed above. If you wish, the school can purchase and arrange for you on your behalf. (other than socks)

Infection prevention measures → Ventilate the tea room / Disinfect tea bowls and other utensils with boiling water (using detergent from time to time) / Use a bowl for each person and avoid using used bowls during practice / Alcohol disinfectant installed in two locations in the tea room

Click here for the homepage link 👇

Kudan Institute of Japanese Culture Japanese Language School Short-term Tea Ceremony Course Website

What is Bonryakutemae?

The short-term tea ceremony course is a course where you can learn how to make a tea ceremony using a tray in one month. Everyone who wants to start tea ceremony must start by learning Bonryaku Tea Ceremony. You will also learn divided practices which is called "warikeiko".  You will learn basic movements (how to bow) and how to handle hansa.

There is an introductory video for Bonryakutemae, so please take a look. (This is a video of Mr. Nakajima, who teaches a short-term tea ceremony course, halfway through the tea ceremony)

Although it is not in this video, there is also the second half, and there is actually a walking lesson.

We do temae on a tatami mat, but if you're overseas, you can also do it on a table.

What kind of people take short-term tea ceremony courses and why?

In 2023, various people took the course.

January: 1 Japanese and 2 Taiwanese women (our students)

April: 2 Japanese people (high school and university students before studying abroad), 1 German woman (9th dan student), 1 Australian man

July: 2 Japanese people (1 high school student before studying abroad, 1 working adult), 2 Saudi male brothers (students at our school)

October: 2 Japanese, 1 Czech male, 1 Singaporean male (students from our school)

They are learning the tea ceremony while interacting with Japanese and foreigners. People of all ages are interested, from 16 to people in their 60s.

In the April and July terms, high school and university students who were about to study abroad also took the course.

If you know the tea ceremony before studying abroad, you will be able to serve tea to people you meet and serve them as hospitality, and it will also be an opportunity for communication.

Even if you want to learn the tea ceremony, the thought of "joining" a tea ceremony class may seem a little daunting. Our school's short-term tea ceremony course is a course that anyone who is interested in, "I want to try tea ceremony" or "I wonder how I can make matcha tea deliciously," can easily participate. Of course, if you would like to continue after the course ends, please feel free to contact us.

Both men and women are welcome, and if you are injured and cannot sit straight, you can practice sitting on a tea room chair.

Don't worry, you won't be sitting straight for the entire hour and a half, so you can rest on your feet and take a break midway through.

The students are not only foreigners, but the ratio is usually about 50/50 between Japanese and foreigners.

A photo of a German male student practicing

You can also practice without sitting seiza using a tea room chair.

Practice wearing kimono

If you would like to practice wearing a kimono, you may do so, but there is no problem with wearing western clothes.

Most of the Japanese participants are on their way home from work, so there are very few Japanese participants who come to practice wearing kimono, but foreign participants often come to practice wearing kimono or yukata. Sometimes I help out, but everyone is doing their best to put on the clothes themselves. Some students even took a kimono dressing class for this purpose! I would like to introduce a small collection of yukata and kimono for foreign students.

Certificate of completion

We also award a certificate of completion at the end of the course. This is an original certificate of completion from the Kudan Institute of Japanese Language & Culture, so it is not a letter of permission from Urasenke. Those who wish to continue practicing long-term will apply for a permit while continuing to practice in the teacher's classroom.

Attendance benefits

We will provide you with study materials (paper and booklets) for home study at your first lesson. After the training is over, we will send you a video URL (limited release) for home practice via email.

You can repeatedly practice, prepare, and review at home.

In addition to videos from the front, we have prepared videos that focus on the teacher's hands from above, so you can check them when you return to your home country or while studying abroad. This means that you can view as much as you want at any time after completing the course.

About the necessary tools

As I wrote at the beginning, we ask that you prepare the following.

Things we ask you to prepare: white socks, paper, youji, and fukusa.

Most of the tools can be borrowed from the school, but we ask that you bring only the items listed above. If you wish, the school can purchase and arrange for you on your behalf. (other than socks)

There are four types of sets that schools can purchase on their behalf. Men's sets may be more expensive than some women's sets. Please note that. I would like to introduce two of the sets. Please contact us for details such as amount.

● Beginner's practice set (cloth, youji/toothpick holder, folding fan, kaishi, box-shaped kaishi paper holder) *Fukusa is not silk one. Purple for men.

●Bonryakutemae tea ceremony set (silk cloth, youji/toothpick holder, folding fan, kaishi paper, tea towel, chasen, tea scoop, natsume, yamamichibon/tray, tea bowl)

If your schedule does not suit you, we also offer private lessons online or in person.

Click here for the homepage link 👇

Kudan Institute of Japanese Culture Japanese Language School Tea Ceremony Private Lesson Website

Inquiry/Application

info_culture@kilc.co.jp Person in charge: Yamanaka