My wife and I wanted to go to Osaka because the city is famous for its food.
I hadn’t been there much, even when I lived in Japan. Besides, I wanted to meet a a friend of mine which I had only talked to online: Tyas Huybrechts.
Tyas is the owner of The Tea Crane, and he’s also a qualified instructor of the Japanese tea ceremony under the Enshu school.
For a Japanese tea lover like me, he’s definitely a very interesting person to meet.
We met at the Hankyu department store in Umeda, which is a commercial district in Osaka.
Tyas was working at an event that had something to do with kimonos. He performed the tea ceremony for anyone that stopped at his stand.
Once he was ready, we went to have dinner.
Osaka is famous for a dish called okonomiyaki. It’s similar to an omelette, or perhaps a pancake.
Eitherway, it’s delicious! My wife and I were very excited about eating the real okonomiyaki from Osaka π
Tyas took us to a restaurant called Tsuruhashi Fugetsu (ιΆ΄ζ©ι’¨ζ).
The okonomiyaki was delicious. It’s also a great experience because it was prepared right in front of us.
Naturally, we talked about tea.
Tyas is very passionate about it. It’s actually his main job.
I hope that one day I can live off tea like him.
At the end, he gave me a wagashi in the form of “a persimmon that fell to the ground”.
I’m not sure if this was a joke from Tyas or not π
I ate it that night at the hotel and liked it very much.
If you will be visiting Kyoto or Osaka (both are quite close to each other), I highly recommend that you contact Tyas for a tea tasting or a demonstration of the Japanese tea ceremony.
January 11, 2017
My husband and I know of a nearby persimmon tree. We anxiously look for fallen persimmon fruits as they are at their ripest and taste as sweet as candy! How interesting the Japanese also realize how special a fallen fruit is.
January 11, 2017
Hi Deynise
I had no idea they were special π
There are no persimmons in my country. I’ve only tried a few in Japan.
January 11, 2017
γͺγγγΌ ε ζ°οΌ
still not forget Japanese?
I didn’t know you like japanese tea.
How about visit to UK?
January 11, 2017
δ½³δΈγγγγδΉ γγΆγγ§γγ
Yes, I kept at Japanese after I left Japan. As you can see I’m a fan of Japanese tea π
If ever travel to the UK, I’ll be sure to tell you so that we can meet.
January 12, 2017
I was under the impression that Tyas Huybrechts / Tea Crane was in Nara. Are they in Kyoto? Would love to meet him when I am in Kyoto next time.
January 13, 2017
Lochan, Thank you for your comment. We have facilities where we conduct tea ceremony workshops in Kyoto, but I work throughout the Kansai region, Nara, Kobe, and live in Osaka.