Sen no Rikyu was one such tea wizard. He was a master of tea under both daimyos Nobunaga and Hideyoshi. Incorporating elements of wabi-sabi, Rikyu mastered the art of the tea ceremony. Because of this, Rikyu is consistently ranked as one of Japan’s top ten historical figures alongside the likes of Sakamoto Ryoma.

The Magic Man is Born

Rikyu is considered to be the most influential historical figure on the Japanese way of tea. He was the first to really emphasize several key pillars of the ceremony, including rustic simplicity, directness of approach, and honesty of self. This was most likely due to the Zen training he received as a young man.

Born in 1522 in Osaka prefecture, Rikyu lived a fairly normal life until his teens when he decided to change Japan’s relationship with tea forever. Not much is known about his early and middle years other than his deciding to study tea under Kitamuki Dochin and Takeno Joo, both respectable tea wizards in their own right. He also married around the age of twenty-one. But that’s not important. Let’s get back to the tea.

It’s Tea Time

Right around the ripe old age of sixty, things start to get serious for Rikyu. He was a tea master for Nobunaga, and after Nobunaga was assassinated in 1582, Rikyu became a tea master for Hideyoshi. This was a pretty big deal, as the daimyos of Japan were like, super important. Rikyu and Hideyoshi really hit it off, and soon Rikyu was practically in charge of everything having to do with tea ceremonies.

With his newly granted tea wizard powers, Rikyu started to form the tea ceremony as we know it today. He started to make use of very tiny and rustic tea rooms, some even as small as two tatami mats. He also implemented flower containers, teascoops, and bamboo lid rests. He really enjoyed using everyday objects for tea ceremonies, often in new and novel fashions.

Rikyu had a preference for simple Japanese-made items rather than the expensive Chinese-made items that were popular at the time. As a result, Rikyu collaborated with Raku Chojiro to make Raku teabowls, pictured above.

Rikyu was heavily responsible for working wabi-sabi (finding beauty in the very simple, imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete) into the Japanese tea ceremony. Because of this, the popularity of wabi-sabi owes a lot to Rikyu and his developing it into the tea ceremony and the utensils he implemented are still used as the standards today.

The Way of Tea is naught but this:
first you boil water,
then you make the tea and drink it.
-Sen no Rikyu

The Way of Tea was very important to Rikyu. His unique way of life combined everyday aspects of living with the highest spiritual and philosophical tenets. Without any spiritual training, he believed that one could not truly appreciate the tea.

The Tea Ceremony Reborn

A new form of tea ceremony was born from Rikyu. His tea ceremonies were very simple. Simple instruments, simple surroundings. But it was beautiful. Such is the way of wabi-sabi. Rikyu also wrote poetry and practiced ikebana.

Though you wipe your hands and brush off the dust and dirt from the vessels, what is the use of all this fuss if the heart is still impure?
-Sen no Rikyu

Many aspects of the modern Japanese tea ceremony date back to Rikyu’s influence. A tea house that can accommodate five people, a separate tea room where utensils are washed, two entrances (one for the host and one for the guests), and a doorway low enough to make the guests have to bend down and humble themselves before entry were just a handful of Rikyu’s contributions.

Though many people drink tea,
if you do not know the Way of Tea,
tea will drink you up.
-Sen no Rikyu

According to Rikyu there were four fundamental qualities that should be exemplified in a tea ceremony. These qualities are harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility. He also believed that these qualities should be exemplified by tea ceremony practitioners in their daily lives. If not, the tea would “drink them up” instead of the other way around.

The Death of Rikyu

Even though Rikyu and Hideyoshi were basically bros for life at this point, Hideyoshi ended up ordering Rikyu to commit seppuku. While the true reasons behind this order remain shrouded in mystery (military related disagreements, arguments over respect, etc), it is known that Rikyu ended his life in Kyoto in 1591.

According to Okakura Kazuko’s Book of Tea, Rikyu’s last wish was to hold a lavish tea ceremony. After serving the guests, he presented them each with a wall scroll and an item from the tea ceremony. The bowl, however, was destroyed by Rikyu. He said, “Never again shall this cup, polluted by the lips of misfortune, be used by man.” If I was Rikyu, I would have been salty too.

Rikyu’s last words were penned in a death poem that he addressed to the dagger with which he ended his life. The poem is as follows.

Welcome to thee,
O sword of eternity!
Through Buddha
And through Daruma alike
Thou hast cleft thy way.

The Legacy Lives On

A year after Rikyu’s unfortunate death, Hideyoshi remarked that he wished that the new residence he was building would have been pleasing to Rikyu. Hideyoshi was known for his moodiness and was said to have expressed much regret with how he treated Rikyu at the end.

Rikyu’s unique sense of simplistic beauty also left its mark on the world of ceramics, architecture, and design. Not only did he influence the tea ceremony itself, but also the aspects of the tea ceremony that can be extended to other aspects of people’s lives as well as the world around them.

Rikyu’s grave is at Jukoin temple in Kyoto and memorials are observed annually by many Japanese tea ceremony schools. There was also a movie made to honor this great man in 1989. The title of the film is “Rikyu“, and it even won a handful of awards. There are a handful of other movies featuring the man, but “Rikyu” seems to be the most quintessential.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO9lLWJ8QL0']

And if that wasn’t enough, they’re making another movie about Rikyu entitled “Ask This of Rikyu” which comes out in Japan in December of this year.

And for more information about Mr. Rikyu and all things tea ceremony, check out the links at the bottom of the post.

So tell me, have you heard of this mysterious tea wizard before? What do you think about what he’s done for Japan and their tea ceremonies? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Sites Referenced:
Japanese Tea Ceremony Wikipedia
Zen Stories of the Samurai
Japan-101: Sen no Rikyu
Sen no Rikyū Wikipedia

Well, tea is the most popular drink in Japan and is an important part of their culture, so tea is a great thing to drink there. You can find it pretty much everywhere, and often it is served for free at restaurants, just like water. Below you’ll find a list of the most common and popular varieties of tea in Japan. I like some, and dislike others – but everyone’s tastes are different. Let’s explore.

Green Tea (Ryokucha)

Green tea is undoubtedly the most popular tea in Japan. As expected, green tea is green in color, and comes in various grades. The various grades are determined by when the leaves are harvested and how much sun exposure they’ve seen. Green tea is also probably the most popular Japanese tea consumed outside of Japan as well.

Green tea has a mild, earthy, grass-like taste to it. While I’m not a huge fan of straight up green tea, I do enjoy it when it is flavored. Even something as simple as lemon and ginseng can really brighten up this tea for me. Overall green tea is pretty good. I just don’t particularly care for it in its unaltered form.

Green Tea With Roasted Brown Rice (Genmaicha)

This tea is a popular alternative to the standard green tea. Unpolished brown grains of rice are roasted and mixed with green tea leaves to create this tea. It is yellow in color, and the flavor is distinctly different from that of regular green tea. It was originally drank by the poor as the rice served as a filler to reduce the price of the tea.

This tea’s flavor combines the grassy taste of green tea with the aroma of roasted rice. If you like green tea and also enjoy (roasted) rice, then you’ll probably enjoy this tea as well. This tea is also referred to as “popcorn tea” due to what can happen to some of the rice kernels during roasting as you can see in the photo above.

Roasted Green Tea (Hojicha)

Similar the the above, this green tea roasts the leaves and forgoes the brown rice. The roasted leaves become red-brown in color and as a result of the roasting, this tea is sweeter. The tea is also less astringent due to the high temperature roasting process.

I don’t think I’ve ever had this tea, but the taste is said to be a mild, toasty, caramel-like flavor. It doesn’t sound too bad, I’m just usually not a fan of toasty type teas. Because it is so mild, it makes for a good after dinner tea and is also favored by young children and the elderly.

Residual Green Tea (Konacha)

This tea uses all the leftovers from regular green tea. It’s composed of tea dust, buds, and small leaves. Basically it’s all the stuff that isn’t good enough to go into regular green tea. This is the kind that you’ll most often find for free at restaurants because of how low a grade it is. It is popular to drink with sushi though, which is why most of the restaurants you’ll find this for free at are the cheap sushi places.

I think you’d expect this tea to have a weaker flavor, given it’s just low grade tea – but the flavor for this green tea is actually quite strong. If you really like green tea, you probably won’t mind that though, especially if you are having it with sushi. I don’t prefer konacha myself though.

Powdered Green Tea (Maccha)

Apparently maccha is the highest grade of green tea, but I think it is probably my least favorite. The highest quality tea leaves are dried and ground into a fine powder which is then mixed with hot water. It’s also the kind of green tea you’ll find served at a tea ceremony.

Maccha is also a very popular flavor for sweets and ice creams in Japan. You’ll find everything from maccha flavored ice cream to maccha flavored Kit Kats. Due to this, I really wish I liked maccha more. I think it’s okay when mixed with something else, or in small doses, but overall, I think maccha is just average. It has more of a bitter, vegetable-like taste that I don’t particularly care for.

Oolong Tea (Oolongcha)

Oolong tea is a type of Chinese tea that takes oxidized tea leaves (leaves that are left on their own in a climate-controlled room where they turn progressively darker due to the oxygen exposure) and then steams or roasts them to halt the oxidation process, ranging anywhere from 8% to 85% oxidization. Brown in color, this tea can be served hot or cold and is found all over Japan.

Oolong encompasses many different flavors and varieties. Oolong can be sweet and fruity, or thick and woody. Or any combination in between. I prefer the sweeter, fruitier varieties, but that’s just me.

Black Tea (Kocha)

Kocha actually means “red tea” in Japanese, the color of the tea is a dark ruddy brown, and the English name of it is “black tea”. Science. These tea leaves are even more oxidized than oolong’s, and it is found most often at Western style cafes and restaurants.

Ah, black tea. I like black tea. Western black teas, Japanese black teas, they’re all great in my book. There are many varieties of black tea as well, but if you’ve had any kind of black tea before, you have a good idea of what you’d be getting yourself into with a black tea in Japan.

Jasmine Tea (Jasmine-cha)

Jasmine tea is most popular in Okinawa, but not so much in mainland Japan. It’s made by combining jasmine flowers with either green tea or oolong tea, giving the tea a subtle, flowery taste.

I like how this tea smells, I just don’t like how it tastes. I’ve never really been big on eating things that taste like flower petals, and jasmine tea is one of those things. It’s just weird to me.

Barley Tea (Mugicha)

I hate barley tea. For some reason this is a popular summer drink, where it is served cold – possibly the worst way to experience this tea. It is made by infusing roasted barley into water, and it tastes much like you would expect. Like grain water. It has a burned, bitter taste to it. The best way I can think to explain it is like drinking Cheerios in liquid form. Cold. Blech.

Kelp Tea (Kombucha)

Okay, so honestly I didn’t even know this was a thing until writing this post, but really? Kelp tea? That sounds terrible. Maybe I just don’t like the ocean enough.

This drink is made by mixing ground or sliced seaweed into hot water. I’m guessing it would taste just as you’d expect. Like the ocean. I dunno about you, but drinking hot ocean water sounds anything but refreshing. Apparently this tea is sometimes served as a welcome drink at ryokans. Pretty risky tea to serve as a welcoming beverage if you ask me.

Also, if anyone has actually experienced kelp tea, please tell me about it in the comments. Is it as icky as it sounds?

Tea, Tea Everywhere!

So, have you picked a favorite from the above list? Well where can you find it? Teas of all varieties aren’t really that hard to find in Japan, fortunately. You can find teas at vending machines, restaurants, convenience stores, and supermarkets. You can even find it being served at festivals, temples, and gardens – sometimes for free.

Whether you want some tea in a mug, cup, or bottle, hot, cold, or tepid, instantly, or for later – you’ll find what you are looking for somewhere in Japan. Many bottled varieties are available in Japan’s fancy vending machines as well as convenience stores and markets. Hot tea is less widely available in the summertime, but Japan on the whole thinks that hot drinks are mostly for winter and cold drinks are mostly for summer.

While Japan has teas from all over the world available to them, these are the teas that are either Japanese by nature, or molded into Japanese culture. Japan was first introduced to tea by the Chinese in the 700s, and tea has been a huge part of Japanese culture ever since.

So tell me, which Japanese tea is your favorite? Least favorite? If you happen to dislike all of them, which other variety of tea is your favorite? (Mine’s Earl Grey). Leave your tea thoughts in the comments!

It’s been a little while since the last Baka Gaijin post, but today I’d like to explore the world of Japanese tea ceremonies. For such a simple little ceremony, they can be pretty intimidating and a bit confusing to the uninitiated. Fortunately for you, though, we’ll be learning about some common mistakes and things to avoid in order to prevent yourself from looking like a baka gaijin. So let’s get to it – what does it take to be a baka gaijin at a Japanese tea ceremony?

1. Don’t Wash Up

Sure, there’s an area outside designated for guests to wash their hands and rinse out their mouths with water to clean up and cleanse their palates, but you came here to drink tea, not water. Besides, you already washed your hands earlier today, right? Not like you touched anything that might’ve been dirty on your way here. And besides, the people you’ll be sharing the tea with have no idea how dirty or clean your hands are. Their health is their own problem, not yours.

So if you’re presented with a basin of some sort to cleanse yourself with, just remember this handy phrase: “Baka gaijin da kara, iranai yo,” (バカ外人だから要らないよ). This means, “Please kind sir or madam, I’m a baka gaijin so that’s not necessary, oh ho ho…” This phrase can apply to many different situations, so feel free to use it as you see fit. Your new Japanese friends will be equally impressed with your command of the Japanese language as they are with your impeccable baka gaijinity.

2. Make Yourself Comfy

Upon entering the tea ceremony area, you might see others sitting down seiza style, or perhaps even Indian style. These sitting methods are for babies, so don’t follow their lead. You’re a big, strong, and adult-like baka gaijin, so you need to sit down with purpose. That being said, you’ll want to make sure you sit down sprawled out, taking up as much room as possible, and have your bare feet pointing in the direction of others because, as you might recall from How to be a Baka Gaijin (in the House), sitting like this is a particularly baka gaijin thing to do in any sort of polite setting such as this.

Do you know how long Japanese tea ceremonies last? Way longer than they need to, in your opinion. You just want to eat some snacks, drink some tea, and be on your merry little baka gaijin way. Unfortunately, these tea ceremonies can last up to four hours which is way, way too long for anyone to sit properly and politely for. Might as well just start off sitting comfortably and stay that way instead of putting yourself through all that pain and agony of sitting in seiza the whole time.

3. Gobble Down the Sweets as Soon as They’re Presented

While the tea wizards are doing their magic with the preparation, they’ll present their guests with some sweets to snack on. You should gobble these down as soon as they’re presented instead of waiting politely for them to start making the tea and warming the water and all that other tea magic that you don’t quite understand. You’re a baka gaijin and you have needs. Needs for sweets and no time for waiting. So be sure to gobble them down as soon as possible. It’ll be a good way to subtly hint at the hosts that you don’t really want to be there and they should just hurry up the entire process. Might as well eat everyone else’s sweets while you’re at it.

I’ve only been to one tea ceremony in Japan, but the sweet snack part was just about where things started to get confusing. We got little bean paste cakes or something along those lines and a toothpick. We saw some others using the toothpick device to cut up the sweet and eat very small bites that way so we all followed suit, despite it being very difficult. Later we were told that was a bit overkill, but nobody really told us how to go about doing things. Bottom line here is either have a Japanese person explain what to do beforehand or just follow what everyone else is doing and hope they know more than you do.

4. Guzzle that Tea Like There’s No Tomorrow

Finally. It’s tea time. The moment you’ve been waiting for. You’ve been sitting down for far too long and those sweets were too difficult to eat and not nearly filling enough for your baka gaijin belly. The time for tea has arrived. When it is your turn to drink the tea, you’ll want to be sure to not bow to anyone or thank them – again, you don’t have time for stuff like that.

You might see some other people doing wacky stuff like picking up the tea, putting it in the palm of their hand, rotating it, sipping the tea, and then wiping the brim before setting it down. That’s too much effort. The tea’s going to taste just the same regardless of what fancy maneuvers you do before drinking it, so why waste time? Just gulp it down as soon as you’re able.

The tea is usually pretty bitter (to balance the sweet sweets, you know – yin and yang and all that jazz) so if you don’t like the taste, make sure to twist your face into the most disgusted mug you can muster. This will let everyone know how you felt about the tea. If you’re lucky, after the ceremony they might even ask you to be a judge on the next episode of Iron Chef.

5. Stumble Out of the Room and Fall Over

Before we told you to sit down however you please. Maybe that’s not your style. Maybe you want to show everyone else how strong you are and how you can handle sitting in seiza for hours upon end and not have your legs atrophy beneath you. If you choose this route, you’ll want to make sure to get up as quickly as possible when the ceremony is over. This way you’ll be sure to come to a standing position well before you realize that one (or both) of your legs has fallen asleep without you realizing. Now you’ll be able to stumble about awkwardly, and perhaps take someone else down with you as you crash to the floor.

It’s not too often that I sit in seiza for a really long time, but I did at the tea ceremony I went to in Japan. I didn’t notice that one of my legs had fallen asleep, so when it was time to get up and go, I was a little wobbly. To avoid murdering everyone in the room, you’ll want to make sure all of your limbs are fully functional before arising from the mat. Otherwise, people will die. Just be careful about it and get yourself up slowly.

Mmm… Baka Gaijini-tea

At such a formal ceremony as this, it’s pretty easy to make a baka gaijin out of yourself. From not washing up prior to falling down and making a fool out of yourself post, there’s plenty of baka gaijin things to do at a Japanese tea ceremony. So, armed with this knowledge, you are now prepared to take on the wonderful world of Japanese tea. Show them what it means to be a true baka gaijin**

But in all seriousness, Japanese tea ceremonies are survivable and can be a very enjoyable experience. One thing I do recommend though, is definitely asking a Japanese person to actually show you how to do everything properly. I’ve even been to one before and I still forget some of the stuff you’re supposed to do. Luckily, the people putting on the show weren’t expecting much from us gaijin, so we didn’t embarrass ourselves too much.

And if you want to read more about Japanese tea ceremonies and such, please feel free to check out the links below.

Etiquette for Guests from JapaneseTeaCeremony.net
Japanese Tea Ceremony from ChinaTownConnection.com
How to Conduct a Japanese Tea Ceremony from eHow.com

So tell me, have you ever been to a Japanese tea ceremony before? What was it like? Did you see anyone messing up the procedures or making a fool of themselves? Share in the comments!

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**Please realize that this post is mostly satire and is supposed to be funny. I am aware that gaijin are not the only ones who perform the faux pas in this series of baka gaijin posts. They are just meant to draw attention to some mistakes people might make while in Japan in a humorous manner.
Hugs and kisses <3 J

The food museums are supposed to be “educational.” The food theme parks are supposed to be “fun.” But who are they kidding? We all know that they’re just excuses to go eat some delicious and interesting foods. I know that’s why I’d go. So, let’s not beat around the bush here. Although this list of places consist of museums, theme parks, and more, it’s all about EATING. Strangely, there are a lot of these types of places, too (and I’m sure I’m missing a ton, so let me know in the comments).

If you’re in Japan, you’ll want to visit a few of these. I know I will, now that I know about them (especially this first one, yum).

Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum:

The Shin-Yokohama Ramen museum can be found in Shin-Yokohama (duh), within walking distance of Shin-Yokohama Station (also duh). To get in, it’s a mere 300 yen for adults and 100 yen for children, though I expect you do have to pay for any ramen you want to eat… but boy do they have ramen. Besides having various educational offerings about ramen, they also have an area full of many of the various ramen styles from around Japan.

Delicious, right? My only regret is that I wouldn’t be able to try all of them. Normally, you have to travel all around Japan to try the different types of ramen (you should still do this, it’s a great reason to travel all over). But if you’re low on time, and in the Tokyo area (which you probably will be at some point if you’re in Japan), the Shin-Yokohama Ramen museum is probably the kind of place you want to visit. For a little more information on the types of ramen offered, you can find it here.

Japan, Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama, Kohoku Ward, Shinyokohama, ２丁目１４−２１
+81 45-471-0503

Before you leave, make sure you pick up some ramen to go, too. There’s plenty of dry ramen to choose from, though it’s never going to be as good as the fresh stuff. Speaking of dry ramen…

Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum:

Cup Noodles… You grew up on them. You ate them all through college… now you have high blood pressure and cholesterol. It’s all thanks to Momofuku Ando, the creator of Cup Noodles – and guess what? He has his own museum. Not only can you learn about the history of Cup Noodle (borrrring), but you can make your very own customized cup noodle (awesome!) to take home with you. Then, one sad night when you’re feeling lonely and craving some MSG goodness, you can crack open your shrimp-egg-peas-beef-chicken-corn flavored Cup Noodle and slurp it down. It will be delicious, I’m sure.

〒563-0041 大阪府池田市満寿美町８－２５
+81 72-752-3484

If the “non-fresh” stuff doesn’t interest you, you can actually have fresh cup noodle too. I bet it tastes pretty good, actually. If you want to know more about this place, we actually wrote about it when it opened up their Yokohama branch sometime last year. Go take a gander.

Ikebukuro Gyoza Stadium

In the Sunshine City Shopping Center in Tokyo you can find Namja Town, which is home to three (that’s right, three) different food-related theme parks. Seriously, if the girlfriend wanted to go shopping in Sunshine City, this is where I want to be dropped off. I promise I’ll be a good boy and only devour everything in my path.

Japan, 東京都豊島区東池袋三丁目1番1号
+81 3-3989-3321

Gyoza Stadium features many many gyoza-related stalls… and I gotta say, if there’s something I’d like to eat with my Ramen Museum, it would be this. Can you guys please combine into one delicious theme park / museum already, please? According to the website, they have over 100 varieties. I’ll have to have seconds (or thirds, or fiftieths).

But that’s not all Namja Town offers. There’s two more food-related theme parks that they hold.

Ice Cream City & Tokyo Dessert Republic

I hope you’ll excuse me, but I’m going to combine the two dessert theme parks in Namja Park into one section. I’m more of a salty-food guy myself, so I’m totally being dessert-racist right now. They all look the same to me. Whoops, did I say that out loud? I’m sorry but it’s true. I know you were thinking it.

Ice Cream City covers the ice cream side of things, and Dessert Republic covers the non-ice-cream side of things. Together, they form a sort of Captain Planet of Dessert places, or so I imagine. Personally, I’d be way too stuffed on Gyoza down on the second floor of Namja Town to even fathom walking up all those steps to get here, but for you sweet tooth folk, Namja Town is an all-in-one package. Both sweet and salty all in one building.

So what one would you visit first? Maybe start at the dessert places so you can just roll down the stairs…

Daska aka “Yokohama Daiseikai”:

Daska’s theme is “Shanghai in the 1920s-30s.” Sounds like a good enough theme to me. It’s in Yokohama’s China Town, and was originally opened up in order to be more buddy-buddy with Yokohama’s sister city, Shanghai. Although this place isn’t only about food, a majority of the floors (3-5) make up the food court, and all it does is serve Chinese Food. I hear it’s pretty good, too.

Japan, 神奈川県横浜市中区山下町102
+81 45-681-5572

So, if you’re in Japan and hankering for some Chinese food, this sounds like the (most touristy, but also good) place to go. You can find more information on their website, here.

Kirin Yokohama Beer Village

No food-related place list is complete without the breweries. If you love watery Japanese beer, this will be one of your four four Meccas. If you’re in Yokohama for one of the many other food museums, might as well stop here to get all that gyoza, Anpanman, ramen, ice cream, and cakes washed down.

Japan, 神奈川県横浜市鶴見区生麦１丁目１７−１
+81 45-503-8250

There are tours and (of course) beer tastings, so if you’ve always wanted to know how Kirin was made, this is where you’ll want to be. Even if you think you’ve had it all, Kirin does sport something pretty interesting. There’s a mini brewery there that’s modeled after the breweries of the Meiji Era. You can drink “fresh beer” and see what it was like to be drunk in the late 1800s Japan.

“I’m TOTALLY gunna overthrow the Shogunate”
“Shudduppp. I’m gonna do it. The emperor’s my BRO.”

I imagine it’s something like that, though I’d have to check my sources to be sure.

Yokohama Curry Museum:

As if there weren’t enough Yokohama-based food attractions… I think there’s some kind of foodspiracy going on, here. Though, I guess I gotta admit, if there’s any museum I’d want to go to (besides ramen… ramen always wins) I’d want it to be Japanese style curry. And, as I mentioned earlier, you can find this in Yokohama, the home to many, many food-museums and attractions.

Oh, did I get your hopes up? Sorry. This museum is closed now :( I just want you to know that you’re missing out on things like this:

If this doesn’t bring a tear to the corner of your eye, you are a heartless, heartless person. Shame on you. Let’s move on to happier (and existing) locations.

OchanoSato (Tea Village) – The World Tea Museum

I like tea… like, I’m addicted to it. In fact, one of my many retirement plans is to start a tea farm and tea company, just to feed my addiction. This will definitely be on my list of places to go sometime in the future. I must learn all their secrets (and consume raw tea leaves).

Japan, Shizuoka Prefecture, Shimada, Kanayafujimicho, ３０５３−２
+81 547-46-5588

The World Tea Museum has 90 different types of tea from 30 countries in the world. You can touch and smell these tea leaves, though not all of them are for tasting. A lot of the focus, however, is on Japanese tea (to be expected). You can even go to the teahouse and garden and try out some matcha (which is powdered green tea – it makes the tea super strong and super wonderful).

Sounds like a really peaceful excursion to me, especially if you’re the type that likes tea (or, your doctor told you to stop drinking coffee, so you have no other choice). There’s even tea festivals once a year, which in the past seem to be in May (hey, that’s pretty soon). There’s more info on their website, of course. Go brew yourself some tea before heading over there, though. It’s the least you can do.

Sushi Museum In Shizuoka:

Located within the S-Pulse Dream Plaza, there are two sushi-related attractions that you’re sure to enjoy (as long as you didn’t go to the world’s best sushi restaurant right before, ruining all other sushi for the rest of your life). If you want to learn about sushi, you can go to the Shimizu Sushi Museum. But, if you’re more like me, you learn by doing. That’s why you’ll find me inside the Shimizu Sushi Yokocho Shop section, where 10 different sushi shops try to outdo each other so you’ll go to them and not any of the other nine shops vying for your attention.

Japan, Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka, Shimizu Ward, Irifunecho, １３−１５
+81 54-354-3360

There’s a ton of other attractions inside the S-Pulse Dream Plaza, but this is a post about food-attractions, so you’ll have to check out their website to learn more about those other things.

Sapporo Beer Museum:

Out of all the main Japanese beer histories, I’d say Sapporo Beer has one of the most interesting (which actually makes it kind of cool that they have a museum). I won’t spoil that history for you, though, just in case you go (or in case you want to read about it). There’s tours at this museum (which is three floors of beer goodness!). There’s a restaurant and bar as well (how could there not be?), a beer garden, and even a shopping center. So, you can send off your lady friend to the shopping area (or vice versa) and get yourself a nice cold beer while you wait. I wish more shopping centers had this.

Japan, 〒065-8633 北海道札幌市東区北７条東９丁目１−１
+81 11-748-1876 ‎

Personally, I love the city of Sapporo (and all of Hokkaido) for food, so I wish there were more food/beer museums up here. I guess I can just manage to eat the regular not-museum food in the meantime. Those are pretty good.

Food And Agriculture Museum (Tokyo University Of Agriculture)

This is technically a university, but it has its own museum as well. And, because it’s a school that has to do with agriculture (i.e. food), it’s a food and agriculture museum. I have a feeling you have to be the right type of person to enjoy this place.

日本 〒156-8502 東京都世田谷区桜丘１丁目１－１
03-5477-2220

The idea of this museum is to showcase the things that the students have come up with showing the world what food-related inventions they’ve thought up. You can be that they’re a lot more useful than these unuseless inventions, at least.

Meatrea (The Meat Theme Park)

I’m guessing they didn’t mean to make this place sound like the word diarrhea, though I haven’t actually been here myself so I can’t say for sure (these people have been here though). Apparently this place is more like a glorified meat-related food court than a museum, though there is a very small meat museum in here (which is why it barely makes it on this list). It has a Spanish motif (the food court is called “Museo de Carne,” for example), and is actually run by Namco, strangely enough. Here’s where you can find it:

京王南大沢駅構内２丁目-１−６ Minamiosawa, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan
042-674-8145

The meat museum will only take a couple minutes to get through, so don’t plan a whole day trip around this place. Instead, come here to try the food… unless you’re vegetarian, that is, then you probably should go somewhere else… perhaps the Anpanman Museum?

Anpanman Children’s Museum

Any food list wouldn’t be complete without the venerable Anpanman: Bread superhero loved by children (and hungry people). This is more of a children’s thing, but if your kid loves Anpanman then… well… you’ve probably already been here.

Japan, 神奈川県横浜市西区みなとみらい４丁目３−２
+81 45-227-8855

You can see a lot more about the museum/mall at their website, but essentially you’re going to find Anpanman-related activities for kids, Anpanman-related food, and Anpanman-related… well… everything! If you don’t like Anpanman you probably shouldn’t come here (and you probably don’t have a heart).

While we’re talking about Anpanman, I should do a shout-out for the Kochi Anpanman Museum. They’re a little smaller, but it seems like a really cool place. If you have kids and happen to be in Kochi, pop on over and take a look.

１２２４−２ Kahokucho Birafu, Kami, Kochi Prefecture 781-4212, Japan
+81 0887-59-2300

Anpanman was actually born in Kochi, so if you’re an Anpanman lover, you should make the pilgrimage down here. Plus, Kochi’s a pretty cool place, you should check it out. Here’s the museum’s website in case you’re interested.

A Map Of Japanese Food Museums, Attractions, And Theme Parks

I also took the time to put together a map for you, so you can kind of visualize where everything is (hint: Everything’s in Yokohama, pretty much). It should also help you to go to the places you want to go to, in case you’re craving a fooducational experience.

View Japanese Food Museums in a larger map

While food museums and theme parks may not be the most exciting museums or theme parks, they do have a special place in my own heart stomach. I think personally I’d like to go to the Ramen one the most (why? Because I loovvvve good ramen), but then again I could just go to even better places if I was in Japan anyways, so I’m not sure why I’d go there.

Either way, which food museum or theme park do you want to visit most? They all seem pretty tasty to me.

Header Images: Ramen, Beer, Sushi