A cut through the shopping centre a couple of blocks up.
A tea ceremony. Very interesting to hear that it started out as a samurai men only ritual. It would normally involve needing to crawl through a small door and leaving your shoes and sword outside, ie meaning all visitors had to bow and all were equal.
The tea bowls chosen and even the sweets offered are always reflective of the season with peony, rose and iris being popular now. The writing on the silk is important too.
There is a very strict order and way that the tea is made and drunk, each step with an underlying meaning, from being able to hear water being poured to slurping the end of your tea.
We also made our own matcha.
Another Shinto shrine, Hie Shrine.
Over to Ginza, the home of the high end shops, including Desigual!
Lunch on the top floor of the posh shopping mall Ginza Six, at Kumamoto Akaushi, a shabu shabu restaurant.
We each had a wagyu beef dish that came with instruction. Mark’s involved him cooking the beef and vegetables in a broth and then he could dip in the raw egg.
Ginza is also the home to the flagship store of Uniqlo.
Yes, that is a lift with watches in!
OMG, what’s the chances of Richard and Jo being in town!? Had to show them our new fave bar!
Ohno!
Heather and Mark's travel blog 