Amazing Matcha Tour with Amazing Local Guide Sanae - While planning our trip to Japan, my partner and I wanted to find a fun event where we could learn about the matcha ceremony and buy good matcha in Uji. We stumbled upon this tour and decided to sign up, not knowing what to expect. The tour was a small group of my partner, me, and our tour guide, Sanae. Before attending the matcha ceremony class, we stopped by some temples in the area and some local shops. The whole experience was elevated by the knowledge and personality of Sanae who was able to give historical context of not only that day, but also some previous days. The Matcha ceremony was also a blast. Sanae introduced us to Toby who showed us how to grind matcha and what goes into different grades of matcha. My partner and I would happily recommend this tour to anyone who will be travelling around Kyoto especially if you can get a tour with Sanae.

Tasty, interesting and informative tour of Uji - This was a lovely tour of the town of Uji, given by Tomas and Dani. It blended food tastings with the history of Uji (and Japan), along with a visit to the oldest original Shinto shrine in Japan and an ancient Buddhist temple. Our food samplings started after our shrine visit with a lunch of matcha soba (thin noodles with a very pleasant, mild matcha taste) and tempura. After walking through the town, we stopped for a hands-on lesson in grinding matcha (note... it's a good upper arm workout), preparing the tea (note... frothing the tea is harder than it looks!) and properly enjoying the tea. And we finished the tastings with matcha ice cream that was very good. Our final visit was to the Byodo-in Temple, which is spectacular, and the adjoining museum, which has some lovely artifacts from the temple, including originals of the phoenix sculptures from the roof. We enjoyed the temple so much, in fact, that after saying goodbye to our guides at the end of the tour, we spent more time on the grounds admiring the temple and the colorful fall foliage reflected in the surrounding water. Transportation from Kyoto is on your own, but the train is very easy to take there (just be sure to arrive at the Keihan Uji station rather than the Japan Rail Uji station). I'd highly recommend this tour, and hopefully you'll get either Tomas or Dani as your guide.

Must-do tea tour - Sanae with arigato Japan was a wonderful tour guide! we saw some great sites, ate delicious food (and lots of it), and the tea of course was 11/10. Definitely will be the highlight of our time in Kyoto.

Uji Matcha & cultural tour - Sanae was a fantastic host - we were able to see so much of Uji (more than just matcha). She was incredibly knowledgeable and we enjoyed our time together - highly recommended!

Wonderful Uji Tour - Wonderful walking tour exploring the town of Uji, its temples, a lovely lunch along the river, and ending with a tea ceremony at one of the oldest matcha/tea stores in town. Our guide, Sanae, was absolutely wonderful - very knowledgeable and a delight to chat with. Would recommend to anyone!

Beautiful Uji - This Uji tour was a great way to learn about all the wonderful things the area has to offer. Our guide (Mickey) was fantastic. She brought us to important historical sites and helped us understand their history and importance. She explained some of the religious customs and practices which enriched our experience when visiting the religious sites. It was so nice to have someone to organize all the food, our tea making and be able to ask questions of all the tea shop owners. I would recommend this tour of Uji; it is beautiful, quiet, calm and a different side of Kyoto.

We are not tea enthusiasts. This tour was still a highlight. - I was hesitant to book this tour given the fact that nobody in my family really drinks matcha, but WOW… We are so happy we did! Mickey (Miyuki) was an outstanding guide who took time to explain the cultural relevance of Uji’s local shrines, people, food, and history. Our kids, (21,18,14) loved her too. The lunch was delicious (soba and tempura)… the tea house experience also fascinating and fun. We had an absolute blast. This was our fourth guided tour in Japan and second with Arigato Food Tours. Both Arigato Tours have been significantly better than our other tours.

A must do - More then expected, Thomas the guide was great, interesting and informative guide that included the context if matcha with a number of different types of matcha and food. The highlight was the matcha tea house, meeting and making matcha with the famous matcha tea maker. This tour was so good, that it made me want to try the other tours.

Green tea tour - Ayaka was a gracious and informative guide! We took a walk around beautiful Uji and ate a delicious meal with green tea themes, visited a temple and shrine, had matcha ice cream (hojicha was the best!), and ended with a traditional matcha ceremony (except much less formal!). Great for a lot of information in 3 hours with a friendly tour guide!

Green tea and Japanese food tour in Uji - Warm welcome and gracious hospitality on our recent green tea and Japanese food tour in Uji (Kyoto). Without their permanent advice and constant attention to detail, we would not have enjoyed ourselves nearly so much during this cultural tour. Thank for such an enjoyable, as well as profitable, time visiting this great place.