Stillness
Conversation is welcome; hurry is not. Phones rest in a cedar box at the door, and the only sound is the whisk against the bowl.
Our History
Four Centuries of Quiet Craft
In 1624, a tea master named Sen no Sadashige established a modest tea room in the hills above Kiyomizu-dera. His intention was simple: create a place where travelers could pause, drink a proper bowl of tea, and remember what they were searching for.
The room grew. The garden deepened. Twelve generations later, the tea house sits tucked behind a cedar fence on a side street in Gion, invisible to hurried footsteps but unmistakable to those who know to look for the indigo noren.
We do not rush. We do not simplify. Every tool has its place, every motion has its reason, and every guest is received as if it were the first time they walked through our gate.
- 1624 — Founder Sen no Sadashige opens a single-room tea house above Kiyomizu-dera.
- 1789 — Third-generation master relocates to Gion; the moss garden is planted.
- 1947 — Post-war restoration; the tearoom is rebuilt with original joinery methods.
- 2024 — The twelfth generation serves matcha in the same room, to the same view.
