Terrific Tea in Uji - Atsuko was our tour guide and she is amazing! I would definitely recommend her. She was very knowledgeable and taught us a lot of the history of the temple and shrine we visited on the tour. She is very organized and made sure we were having a good time. She had a binder to make sure she talked about everything and even gave us recommendations on where to eat while in Japan. She is what made the tour one of the best we’ve taken. The lunch was delicious and we got to pick what we wanted from a local restaurant and the matcha making part was very informative.

Must do tour when travelling to Uji especially for first timers - Had an amazing day with Atsuko with my family. She have shared history and cultures about Uji and goes into depth with the religious places and their practices. Had a great time making the matcha and the correct way to drink it. And ending the tour with an awesome lunch and matcha ice cream.

Amazing Matcha Tour with Amazing Local Guide Sanae - While planning our trip to Japan, my partner and I wanted to find a fun event where we could learn about the matcha ceremony and buy good matcha in Uji. We stumbled upon this tour and decided to sign up, not knowing what to expect. The tour was a small group of my partner, me, and our tour guide, Sanae. Before attending the matcha ceremony class, we stopped by some temples in the area and some local shops. The whole experience was elevated by the knowledge and personality of Sanae who was able to give historical context of not only that day, but also some previous days. The Matcha ceremony was also a blast. Sanae introduced us to Toby who showed us how to grind matcha and what goes into different grades of matcha. My partner and I would happily recommend this tour to anyone who will be travelling around Kyoto especially if you can get a tour with Sanae.

Tasty, interesting and informative tour of Uji - This was a lovely tour of the town of Uji, given by Tomas and Dani. It blended food tastings with the history of Uji (and Japan), along with a visit to the oldest original Shinto shrine in Japan and an ancient Buddhist temple. Our food samplings started after our shrine visit with a lunch of matcha soba (thin noodles with a very pleasant, mild matcha taste) and tempura. After walking through the town, we stopped for a hands-on lesson in grinding matcha (note... it's a good upper arm workout), preparing the tea (note... frothing the tea is harder than it looks!) and properly enjoying the tea. And we finished the tastings with matcha ice cream that was very good. Our final visit was to the Byodo-in Temple, which is spectacular, and the adjoining museum, which has some lovely artifacts from the temple, including originals of the phoenix sculptures from the roof. We enjoyed the temple so much, in fact, that after saying goodbye to our guides at the end of the tour, we spent more time on the grounds admiring the temple and the colorful fall foliage reflected in the surrounding water. Transportation from Kyoto is on your own, but the train is very easy to take there (just be sure to arrive at the Keihan Uji station rather than the Japan Rail Uji station). I'd highly recommend this tour, and hopefully you'll get either Tomas or Dani as your guide.

Must-do tea tour - Sanae with arigato Japan was a wonderful tour guide! we saw some great sites, ate delicious food (and lots of it), and the tea of course was 11/10. Definitely will be the highlight of our time in Kyoto.

Uji Matcha & cultural tour - Sanae was a fantastic host - we were able to see so much of Uji (more than just matcha). She was incredibly knowledgeable and we enjoyed our time together - highly recommended!

Wonderful Uji Tour - Wonderful walking tour exploring the town of Uji, its temples, a lovely lunch along the river, and ending with a tea ceremony at one of the oldest matcha/tea stores in town. Our guide, Sanae, was absolutely wonderful - very knowledgeable and a delight to chat with. Would recommend to anyone!

Beautiful Uji - This Uji tour was a great way to learn about all the wonderful things the area has to offer. Our guide (Mickey) was fantastic. She brought us to important historical sites and helped us understand their history and importance. She explained some of the religious customs and practices which enriched our experience when visiting the religious sites. It was so nice to have someone to organize all the food, our tea making and be able to ask questions of all the tea shop owners. I would recommend this tour of Uji; it is beautiful, quiet, calm and a different side of Kyoto.

We are not tea enthusiasts. This tour was still a highlight. - I was hesitant to book this tour given the fact that nobody in my family really drinks matcha, but WOW… We are so happy we did! Mickey (Miyuki) was an outstanding guide who took time to explain the cultural relevance of Uji’s local shrines, people, food, and history. Our kids, (21,18,14) loved her too. The lunch was delicious (soba and tempura)… the tea house experience also fascinating and fun. We had an absolute blast. This was our fourth guided tour in Japan and second with Arigato Food Tours. Both Arigato Tours have been significantly better than our other tours.

Unprepared and not worth the cost - We were so excited as we love Matcha and were ready for a great experience. When we arrived, it was hard to tell if our guide was really with Arigato Tour. There was no branding on his shirt or bag and the folded-up sign he was holding was a crinkled piece of paper in a sheet protector. Our Guide Russ was doing the best he could with the first Rainy day he's had in his 6 years of being a guide. Arigato tours should have their guides set up for things that may come up. We booked through 3 companies while in Japan- Arigato Tours, Viator and Get Your Guide. Arigato Tours was the least professional and least prepared and by far the most expensive. Most of the tour was outside and there was no umbrella's provided by the company- Russ gave up his personal umbrella and stood in the POURING rain to start the outdoor tour. He felt bad and we could tell he wasn't sure what to do. Due to this pouring rain and all of us being soaked, we sidetracked and did the Matcha making first. They said they could accommodate the time-change, which they could not. We could tell the attention the tour should had have was not there. First there was a small intro/history of this Oldest Matcha Making company and we had a QUICK tour with the owner. Then a group came in and they whisked us off to the matcha making room where there were 3 set-ups (there were four of us that paid for the tour)- we mixed our newly ground matcha then moved to another seat. We were then scooped Matcha powder from a container and NOT our matcha we just freshly ground. They then pumped water from a countertop dispenser. It would have felt more authentic if we had been served our hot water from something as simple as tea kettle. The Matcha treats were, one wrapped cookie and one wrapped candy. The worst part - and there were many, was the lunch (see photos below to compare). What we got was noodles and a piece of fish. That was not the meal we were expecting. We then went to the temple which was fine. Then we went for Matcha Ice Cream which was delicious. We were then to go on another walking tour- still a bit rainy- and we passed as did the other 2 - there was no chance of this tour getting any better. Don't waste your money. Go on your own, there was nothing on this tour you can't go and do yourself for 1/4 of the cost.