Now that you know exactly what we got up to during our two weeks in Japan, I wanted to focus on some of the cultural experiences in Japan that really made our trip special. While the experiences themselves ranged from “touristy” to very local, I’m still grateful to have taken part in each one, and each taught me something about Japanese culture.
Here are the three cultural experiences in Japan you shouldn’t miss during your visit.
1. Tea Ceremony with Kimono
Tea ceremonies are an important part of Japanese culture, so I thought it would be cool to take part in one. Even though I don’t really like tea very much. But I figured… when in Japan, right?
So we booked a traditional tea ceremony while we were in Kyoto — Kyoto is the birthplace of tea ceremonies, so it seemed like the perfect place for this experience. And it turned out that the particular tea ceremony we booked, Tea Ceremony Maikoya, included the opportunity to wear a kimono.
While it sounded cool to wear a kimono, I was actually a little worried this would be considered cultural appropriation. But after reading about it a little bit, apparently in Japan, foreigners wearing kimonos is actually welcomed and appreciated by locals! It’s seen as a way that visitors are connecting with Japanese culture, so as long as the kimonos are worn with respect, it’s not a problem.
When we arrived for the tea ceremony experience, the ~12 people who would be in our group were split up by gender. All the women were taken across the street to a kimono shop, where we got to choose any kimono we wanted. And I felt like a Disney princess, because after I chose mine, I stood in front of a full-length mirror and two women worked together to dress me! After that, I went to the hair-styling station, where another woman did my hair and then helped me pick hair accessories that matched my kimono. It felt so nice to be taken care of like that. 🥰
Next, we came back and met up with the rest of our group, and the men had also chosen kimonos to wear. Matt was wearing one with dragons on it. They gave us a few minutes to take pictures in the garden before we went into the tea room.
We took our places on the floor behind a small bowl filled with matcha powder and a bamboo whisk. (If you didn’t want to sit on the floor, you could also request a chair.) We had two hosts for the ceremony, and they took turns explaining the ritual of a Japanese tea ceremony. Something I learned was that so much of it is done in silence! Obviously ours wasn’t, because they were literally teaching us about the significance and everything, but it seems like if you were to attend a tea ceremony, there are so many rules to follow — and one of them is silence.
But also, so much of the practice of a tea ceremony seems to be about mindfulness and appreciating the present moment exactly as it is. Our hosts shared a Japanese idiom, 一期一会 (ichigo ichie), which means “One time, one meeting.” It means realizing that every moment is fleeting and can never be replicated exactly ever again.
Finally, it was time for our hosts to fill our matcha bowls with hot water, and we learned how to use the bamboo whisk — called a chasen — to perfectly mix our matcha until it was foamy. They also served some traditional sweets, called yatsuhashi, alongside the matcha.
When the tea ceremony was over, we were able to take some more pictures in our kimonos — apparently, with the tea ceremony company we used, they allow you to wear your kimono for the rest of the day if you want! But we just snapped a few more pics before returning ours.
Thinking back on the experience, I felt like I learned a lot about tea ceremonies and their importance in Japanese culture, and I loved wearing the kimono — I felt so pretty in it, and I also loved seeing everyone else in our group in theirs! And I also appreciated the mindfulness aspect of the tea ceremony, which I thought was a nice touch.
Book Your Japanese Tea Ceremony in Kyoto
Viator: Tea Ceremony Maikoya Nishiki <~~ this is the one we did
GetYourGuide: Tea Ceremony in a Traditional Tea House in Kiyomizu
Klook: Traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony Culture & Matcha Tasting Experience
2. Kintsugi class
A few years ago when we went to Mexico City, I signed up for a class where I got to paint my “Aztec spiritual protector” using pre-Hispanic dyes, and I loved the idea of taking a traditional art class in the city I was visiting! Because then not only do you get to learn something about the culture you’re in, but you also get to walk away with a cool souvenir.
That’s what gave me the idea to sign us up for a kintsugi class while we were in Tokyo. I feel like kintsugi has gotten kind of famous in the last decade or so thanks to the internet, but if you aren’t familiar with it, it’s the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with gold lacquer in the cracks. The idea is that you take something that’s broken and make it even more beautiful in the repair.
There are quite a few options for kintsugi classes in Tokyo, but we signed up for one with an apparently-famous ceramics master named Taku Nakano. While he offers different levels of classes, depending on what you want to kintsugi (and how much you want to spend), we went with a slightly higher-priced class — one where we could repair pottery to food-grade quality, and where we were more likely to be taught by Master Taku himself! We were like, well it is our honeymoon after all. 😉
When we arrived at the studio — it was a little bit hard to find, because it’s kind of in a basement — there were about six other “students” in the class. But we were divided into two groups of four. The other group was doing a different class and had a different instructor. Our group was going to work directly with Master Taku, which was exciting!
First, our group was given aprons and sleeves to cover our clothing and our skin. I had been worried about what to wear to the class, so this was very much appreciated. Then, we sat back down at our table and Master Taku shared some information about the history and importance of the practice of kintsugi in Japan. And then it was time for us to select our own pieces of broken pottery that we would be repairing.
Master Taku walked us through the whole process — from finding the “charming” points in our broken pieces, to smoothing them down, to gluing them back together and filling them in and brushing them with gold powder. There were a lot of steps in the process, and a lot of unfamiliar tools, so it was kind of hard to know whether we were doing it right. But luckily, we had an expert beside us the whole time to make sure we stayed on the right track.
When we were finished, they gave us each a small plastic bag that had a moist paper towel inside, and told us to put our pottery in there to “cure” for at least two weeks. And then they gave us a small tupperware with some packing peanuts (and a little plastic display stand) to help us keep it safe during our travels. We did this kintsugi class only about four or five days into our trip, which meant we were carrying it around with us for almost five more weeks. But the tupperware really did help keep it safe! Everything made it safely home to Spain. 🙂
While I’m using mine as a jewelry dish right now, I love having such a unique souvenir from our trip to Japan!
Book Your Kintsugi Class
Viator: Authentic Pure Gold Kintsugi Workshop with Master Taku in Tokyo <~~ this is the one we did
GetYourGuide: Kintsugi Art Repair Workshop
Klook: Japanese Traditional Kintsugi Experience in Tokyo
3. Traditional Onsen
As I was researching the best experiences in Japan, one thing I kept seeing was visiting an “onsen.” An onsen is a traditional hot spring in Japan, but most of the time it seems like you book a private one in your hotel or in a guesthouse. We already had all our hotels booked, so we decided we’d check out the other type of onsen: public ones.
There was just one catch, though: pretty much all public onsens are gender-segregated. And that’s because you have to be naked.
But once again, we said “When in Japan…” and so one evening while we were in Tokyo, we ventured out to a suburb to a public onsen called Toshimaen Niwa-no-yu. We chose it because it said it was half-price on weeknights after 6 p.m. When you’re overwhelmed with so many choices of places to go, it’s nice to have something simple like a half-price deal to help make your decision easier. 😅
We arrived at the facility, which was kind of like a gym/fitness center type of building. There was a big sign outside stating that you wouldn’t be allowed in with tattoos, which was luckily not a problem for me and Matt. (But if you have tattoos, be sure to do your research on tattoo-friendly public onsens before making the trek to any onsen!)
When we got inside, we had to store our shoes in the shoe locker before going to the reception desk. After paying, we were each handed a bag that had a large towel, a small towel, pajamas, and a locker room key on a rubber wristlet. And they also gave us an English instruction guide along with illustrations to help us understand what we were supposed to do.
There were essentially two parts of the onsen: the “Hot Baths Zone,” which was where you had to be naked and separated by gender. There was also the “Bade Zone,” which was essentially a huge swimming pool in the central area where everyone was allowed. And swimsuits were required in the Bade Zone, so you could rent one if you didn’t bring one of your own.
Matt and I made a plan to go our separate ways and then meet up in the Bade Zone when we were finished in the Hot Baths Zone. After splitting, there was no way to get in contact with each other because phones/cameras were strictly forbidden inside the facility. Hence why any pictures you see here are pulled from the onsen’s website/publicly available images from onsens. Hope you understand. 😉
In the women’s locker room, I was armed with the instruction paper but I put it in the locker and then I didn’t have access to it anymore. There were some signs but they were all in Japanese and I didn’t have my phone to translate them. So I wandered around for a few minutes before I realized where I needed to go take my shower before entering the hot baths.
I was a little nervous about getting naked in front of a bunch of strangers, but I decided to suck it up and just do it. And I got over it pretty quickly! I actually really liked being around so many women and so many different body types. No one was acting shy or ashamed of their bodies, so I thought, why should I? It was actually kind of empowering.
And then I was really able to enjoy trying all the different hot mineral baths. Some were inside, and some were outside in a pretty Japanese garden. It was kind of crazy to be sitting in a hot bath outside, naked, and looking up at the stars.
After a while, I changed into my swimsuit and went out to meet Matt in the Bade Zone. He was already out there and was surprised that I’d stayed in the mineral baths so long, but I guess I was really enjoying it, lol. The best part of the Bade Zone was the really strong massage jets — they felt great on my feet, even though we’d only been in Japan for about a week at that point, we’d already done a lotttt of walking.
Overall, it was a bit unexpected but I think that going to the public onsen was both of our favorite experience in Japan. There was just something about doing something SO out of the norm that made it so special! And I’d 100% do it again next time we go to Japan. 🙂
So… now you know my top three picks for the best cultural experiences in Japan. Have you ever done any of these, or what would you add to the list? Let me know in the comments!
-Cathy
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Wow! Great post! We always live our best lives when we get out of our comfort zones. Bravo!