Best Matcha Cafes in Kyoto: 4 Shops Worth Trying

For matcha, Kyoto is still the place to go. This guide covers four shops in Kyoto Prefecture for matcha and traditional Japanese sweets: Nakamura Tokichi Honten, which serves matcha sweets in a converted Uji tea factory; Gion Tsujiri, the Gion shop of a Uji tea merchant founded in 1860; Kagizen Yoshifusa, a historic Gion confectionery shop known for kuzukiri, chilled arrowroot noodles; and Itoh Kyuemon Gion-Shijo, with a tea room right by Gion-Shijo Station. Nakamura Tokichi, Gion Tsujiri and Kagizen Yoshifusa are closely tied to the history of Uji tea and Kyoto sweets.

Why Uji is considered tea’s heartland

Japanese tea culture is generally traced to Tang-dynasty Chinese drinking customs that arrived during the Heian period. Cultivation started at Toganoo before spreading to Uji, which became known for producing Japan’s highest-quality tea. Around the 15th or 16th century, growers in Uji developed ooishita saibai, shading the tea bushes before harvest, and this is usually credited as the direct origin of matcha as we know it: shading reduces bitterness and brings out a brighter green color and stronger umami. Shaded high-grade tea (tencha, which is ground into matcha) was reportedly out of reach for all but the upper classes for a time. One secondary summary of records from 1413-1567 puts Uji tea at about 500 coins per kilogram, against 5-6 coins for an ordinary cup; since this comes from a secondary source, treat it as illustrative rather than exact.

Much of what is sold today as “Uji tea” is reportedly grown in neighboring areas such as Ujitawara, Minamiyamashiro and Wazuka rather than in Uji city itself, so “Uji” works more like a brand name for high-grade tea than a strict label of origin. Uji’s tea merchants are also credited with developing sencha and gyokuro, so most major styles of Japanese tea trace back to Uji. Nakamura Tokichi and Gion Tsujiri in this guide are both merchants who have long dealt in Uji tea.

In Uji: Nakamura Tokichi Honten

Nakamura Tokichi Honten is a historic Uji tea merchant that turned a former tea factory into a cafe, about a 2-minute walk from the south exit of JR Uji Station. The shop sells tea leaves and related goods, and the cafe serves matcha sweets and parfaits made with the shop’s Uji matcha inside the atmospheric old factory building. Tasting matcha in Uji itself is what makes this shop special.

In Gion: Gion Tsujiri

Gion Tsujiri is the Gion shop of a Uji tea merchant founded in 1860. Tea leaves are sold on the ground floor, and the upstairs cafe serves matcha parfaits and matcha soft serve made with Uji matcha, with a reputation for deep matcha flavor. It is about 3 minutes on foot from Keihan Gion-Shijo Station and open 10:30 AM-9:00 PM (soft serve last order 8:00 PM), late for a Kyoto sweets shop, so you can stop by after dinner.

Kyoto sweets beyond matcha: Kagizen Yoshifusa

By Gion-Shijo Station: Itoh Kyuemon Gion-Shijo

Itoh Kyuemon Gion-Shijo, opened in August 2019 by an Uji tea company with its main shop in Uji city, is a shop with an attached tea room. It stands on the southeast corner of the Shijo-dori and Yamato-oji-dori intersection, a 1-minute walk from Exit 6 of Keihan Gion-Shijo Station, which makes it one of the closest to a station in this guide. At opening, the official announcement listed 67 tea room seats over the second and third floors and introduced dishes such as the Premium Gion Parfait, a sweets plate and matcha curry udon (check the current menu before you go).

Combining with sightseeing

Gion Tsujiri, Kagizen Yoshifusa and Itoh Kyuemon Gion-Shijo are close to each other on Shijo-dori in Gion, easy to fit into a walk toward Yasaka Shrine or Kiyomizu-dera. You can visit more than one and compare a matcha parfait with kuzukiri.

Uji, home to Nakamura Tokichi Honten, requires a separate train trip from central Kyoto and pairs best with a half day around Uji’s sights such as Byodo-in. Plan a quick sweets stop in Gion on one day and an unhurried half day in Uji on another.

Which one to choose

To visit matcha’s source, choose Nakamura Tokichi Honten; for a serious matcha parfait during a day in Gion, Gion Tsujiri; and for a very Kyoto sweet that is not matcha, Kagizen Yoshifusa. For matcha sweets in the evening, Gion Tsujiri, open until 9:00 PM, is the easiest. For an Uji tea shop right by the station, Itoh Kyuemon Gion-Shijo, 1 minute from Gion-Shijo Station, is convenient.

Budget and souvenirs

Nakamura Tokichi Honten and Gion Tsujiri are in this site’s budget range of about 1,000 to 3,000 yen per person. Matcha parfaits are on the pricey side for sweets, so one per person is a good rule of thumb. Kagizen Yoshifusa’s price band has not been confirmed by this site. Nakamura Tokichi Honten and Gion Tsujiri both sell tea leaves, so if you like what you taste in the cafe, you can buy tea at the counter on your way out.

How to order

At Nakamura Tokichi Honten, Gion Tsujiri and Kagizen Yoshifusa, you sit down and order from a menu. Matcha parfaits often layer matcha ice cream, jelly, shiratama dumplings and sweet bean paste, so eating from the top down lets you enjoy the changes in flavor and texture. Kuzukiri is simply dipped in the syrup and slurped. If matcha’s bitterness is new to you, matcha soft serve is a gentler place to start.

Frequently Asked Questions