My friends and I took a day trip to Uji, which is about an hour away by subway from us—though honestly, it didn’t feel that long. We knew it was going to rain that day, but we grabbed our umbrellas and decided to go anyway.
One thing I’ve noticed about using umbrellas in Japan is how narrow some streets and sidewalks can be. You have to be pretty mindful of the people around you. I often found myself raising or lowering my umbrella—or tilting it to the side—so I wouldn’t bump into others or their umbrellas.
Since most of the shops we were interested in didn’t open until 10 a.m., we started our day at Byodo-in Temple. It costs 700 yen to enter, but we were also able to look around a museum, so I thought it was worth it. Also, this temple is actually featured on the 10-yen coin!
After exploring the temple grounds, we made our way to Nakamura Tokichi Honten, the main store famous for its matcha parfaits, snacks, and matcha powder. Even though we arrived just 10 minutes after they opened, we were already the 61st group waiting to be seated. While waiting we first looked around their store section, but they had already sold out of their matcha powder, so we bought some snacks to try.
After that we checked out a few other stores known for their matcha products, but most had also sold out of matcha powder. We quickly realized that if we really want to buy any next time, we’ll need to arrive earlier and line up before the stores open.
After wandering around for about two hours, we finally returned to Nakamura Tokichi Honten. We didn’t get the powder, but we did try the parfait and a matcha latte—both were delicious and surprisingly filling. I would recommend coming here early since the parfait is known to sell out quickly as well.
Later, we explored more shops and were amazed by how many foods included matcha—everything from matcha ramen to matcha gyoza and even matcha takoyaki! We also visited a small snack shop that was run by a sweet elderly couple, they recommended some snacks and even a temple to visit. We went so see the temple and we were honestly a bit surprised by how pretty it was and yet not many people were there.
By the end of the day, I was definitely a little matcha-ed out, but I really enjoyed trying so many different kinds. I was also happy to find a few treats I want to bring back home to share with my family and friends.
DU Abroad 