* The tea experience is a service for guests visiting us to shop.
A matcha tea ceremony on tatami, in Asakusa.
At Liberato TOKYO you whisk your own bowl of matcha, guided by our director, who holds certificates (kyojo) from the Urasenke school of tea. It makes sense even if it is your first time.
Sit on tatami and taste a bowl you made yourself. About 30 minutes.
How it goes
1. The utensils and the tea
Natsume, chashaku, chasen, chawan. We start with what each one is called and what it does, and how matcha itself is made.
2. Watch the host
We make the first bowl. Watching the movements up close is the quickest way to understand them.
3. A Kyoto confection, then a bowl of tea
You first enjoy a sweet from a long-established Kyoto maker, such as Tsuruya Yoshinobu's Kyo-kanze, then we serve you a freshly whisked bowl of Uji matcha from Marukyu Koyamaen — one per person.
4. Now you whisk your own
We swap places. From folding the fukusa cloth onwards, we show you each movement close up, one step at a time.
Choose your bowl from Seto, Mino, Hagi, Karatsu and others.
5. Your own bowl
Drink it yourself, or serve it to the person you came with.
The matcha and the sweets
Matcha | Marukyu Koyamaen, Uji
A tea house that began growing and making tea in Ogura, Uji, in the Genroku era (1688–1704).
It has taken first prize more than 20 times at Japan's National Tea Competition, and in 2020 received the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Award in the tencha category — the leaf that is ground into matcha.
Sweets | Tsuruya Yoshinobu's "Kyo-kanze" and others
Tsuruya Yoshinobu was founded in 1803 in Nishijin, Kyoto — a confectioner with more than 200 years of history.
Kyo-kanze, created in 1920, is the house's signature confection.
Layers of azuki yokan and murasame (a crumbly bean paste) are rolled by hand, one by one, by its artisans.
Depending on the season, we serve sweets from other long-established Kyoto makers.
Held in English
We guide the session in English and hand you a printed step-by-step sheet with photos, so you can follow along at your own pace.
Why a shoe brand serves tea
What we serve is matcha in the orthodox manner. Nothing has been adapted.
Matcha is something you receive on tatami.
You take off your shoes, sit on the mat, and accept a bowl.
Liberato is the brand that took that tatami — the igusa rush it is woven from — and put it inside shoes.
So this is not a product demonstration.
It is half an hour to taste, on tatami, the thing we are trying to put underfoot.
Tatami Green Tea
Our own blend of matcha and igusa — separate from the orthodox matcha we serve during the session.
You cannot buy it anywhere else in Japan. Light and flat, so it travels well.
Details
Fee: from ¥2,500 per person
Duration: about 30 minutes
Included: a bowl of Marukyu Koyamaen matcha, Kyoto sweets such as Tsuruya Yoshinobu's Kyo-kanze
Group size: up to 3 (for 4 or more, please ask)
Age: 5 and over
Offered with a shopping visit — tea-only bookings are not accepted
By reservation only
Liberato TOKYO / 2-12-2-101 Azumabashi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo
7 min walk from Asakusa Station, 3 min from Honjo-azumabashi Station (Toei Asakusa Line)
Questions
Q. Do I have to buy something to join?
A. A purchase is not required. However, as this is a service for guests visiting us to shop, we do not accept bookings for the tea experience only.
Q. Do I need any experience?
A. No. Most guests are doing it for the first time.
Q. I can't sit on the floor.
A. We can provide a chair — just tell us when you book.
The tea is prepared at floor level, so we do not offer the table-style (ryurei) format.
Q. Can I choose the bowl?
A. Yes — from Seto, Mino, Hagi, Karatsu and others.