🌳Lead-In
While visiting Omiwa Shrine in Nara, I stopped by a tea room within the shrine grounds, where I enjoyed freshly prepared matcha while looking out over a peaceful garden.
Although Tanabata is traditionally celebrated on July 7, many regions in Japan still observe it according to the old lunar calendar, which falls in early August. That’s why bamboo decorations and colorful wish strips could still be seen around the shrine during my visit.
After walking around the shrine in the summer heat, sitting down with a bowl of matcha while overlooking the peaceful garden felt wonderfully refreshing.
🍵 Tea with the Spirit of the Season
The first thing that caught my eye wasn’t the matcha itself—it was the beautiful Tanabata tea bowl.
Tanabata, also known as the Star Festival, celebrates the legendary meeting of Orihime and Hikoboshi, represented by the stars Vega and Altair. If you’d like to learn more about this beautiful summer tradition, you can read my earlier article here.
🔗 What is Tanabata? Japan’s Star Festival
The colorful bamboo decorations and wish strips quietly celebrated the season before I had even taken my first sip.
Beautifully prepared matcha served in a seasonal Tanabata tea bowl.
The matcha was served with a traditional ohigashi sweet shaped like the leaves of Miwa.
I was excited to see them.
Delicate red and white ohigashi sweets shaped like the leaves of Miwa.
Perhaps it was meant to be—I had missed out on the omogashi that many people would probably have chosen, and I would have loved to try it too.
But instead, I was able to enjoy this charming little ohigashi made with the shrine’s leaf motif, and somehow it felt just right.
A quiet summer tea moment, with matcha and ohigashi beautifully served together.
Looking closely at the bowl, I noticed even more delicate Tanabata details painted around its sides.
The delicate Tanabata motif painted around the bowl.
A closer look at the Tanabata motif.
One of the things I love about the Japanese tea tradition is that even the tea utensils change with the seasons.
The bowl itself becomes part of the experience, quietly reflecting the beauty of that particular time of year.
The complete Tanabata design after the last sip.
Only after I finished the matcha did the full design reveal itself.
I loved that the bowl could be enjoyed both before and after drinking.
The flower arrangement featured kikyo (Japanese bellflower), another flower closely associated with summer.
Looking out over the peaceful green garden, I found myself slowing down after a hot afternoon of walking.
The peaceful garden viewed from the tea room.
It became one of those quiet travel moments that stay with you long after the journey is over.
🌿 Kaha’s Note
Although I didn’t take a photo of it, a simple arrangement of kikyo (Japanese bellflower) added another gentle touch of summer to the tea room.
The Tanabata tea bowl, the Miwa leaf-shaped ohigashi, the peaceful garden, and the seasonal flowers reminded me that a Japanese tea experience is about much more than simply drinking matcha or enjoying sweets.
It is a chance to appreciate the season through every detail—the tea, the sweets, the tea bowl, the flowers, the garden, and the peaceful atmosphere surrounding them.
Sometimes, a single bowl of tea can become a memory of an entire season.
The tea room where I enjoyed this peaceful summer tea experience.
🌈 Explore More
Continue your journey through Omiwa Shrine, one of Japan’s oldest sacred places.
🌿 Divine Thread #4 │ Divine Union at Mount Miwa – A Shamanic Princess, a Serpent God, and the Springs of Power
https://8rainbow.work/%f0%9f%a7%b5-divine-thread-4-divine-union-at-mount-miwa-a-shamanic-princess-a-serpent-god-and-the-springs-of-power/
🌲 Divine Thread #4-2 │ The Sacred Cedar of Mount Miwa – A Monthly Pilgrimage into Living Tradition
https://8rainbow.work/%f0%9f%a7%b5divine-thread-4-2%e2%94%82the-sacred-cedar-of-mount-miwa-a-monthly-pilgrimage-into-living-traditionDiscover more everyday travel moments, beautiful finds, and little joys from Japan on Rainbow Awakening.
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