Text Size largest larger medium (normal) smaller smallest Back number Vol.1 Vol.2 Vol.3 Vol.4 Vol.5 Vol.6 Vol.7 Vol.8 Vol.9 Vol.10 Vol.11 Vol.12 Vol.13 Vol.14 Vol.15 Vol.16 Vol.17 Vol.18 Vol.19 Vol.20 Vol.21 Vol.22 Vol.23 Vol.24 The shop boasts over twenty varieties of tea. It also has a café, where you can take your time trying the different teas. This balance was used for currency exhange during the Edo period, and until the end of the Meiji period was used to weigh tea. These pots lined up inside the shop are from the Edo period. Tenth generation shopkeeper and his wife. Carefree and easy to talk to, they’ll tell you anything you want to know about tea. Whenever friends or family come to visit me from New Zealand, I always make sure I take them here. This is the oldest store in Kitsuki, with a 260-year history of selling only tea. You can sence the beautiful culture of Japan in every part of it—its white walls and tiled roof, large black pillars, antique tea sets.... You can actually relax here, because although Kitsuki is a tourist spot, it has maintained its true authenticity without becoming a tourist destination. I just love to drink sencha or gyokuro while listening to the landlady’s stories. I learned here for the first time that real high-quality tea has a refined fragrance and a sweet, calming taste. The house, built in the early Meiji period, is made strictly with wood and doesn’t use a single nail. It seems to tell the story of its long history all by itself. Tomoya Teas 385 Shinmachi, Kituki City Tel/0978-62-21349    Fax/0978-62-2878 Store hours: 9:00AM – 8:00PM Closed: Open every day Whether it’s the beautiful dirt and stone walls of “Suya slope,” the old and still-used school gate, “Hanko gate,” or the samurai family residence, bukeyashiki, and stone tatami, ishidatami, the Kitadai area is a must-see landscape in Kitsuki where much remains that feels like a “town below the castle.” My family and friends are always glad and excited when I bring them here. Amongst all these, the Ohara mansion shows us the real splendor of Japanese carpentry. It’s a spot where I like to take my time walking through its gardens. Ohara Mansion 207 Kitadai, Kituski-aza, Oaza, Kituski City Tel/0978-63-4554 Hours: 9:00AM – 5:00PM Closed: December 29th – January 3rd Entrance fee: 210 Yen, 160 Yen (for groups over 30), 100 Yen (elementary and middle school students) Copyright(c) 2007 Oita Prefecture. All rights reserved.