Japanese culture, savored through all five senses.

Nihoncha Nichigetsu

The room next to the cafe is a 4.5-tatami tea room named "Soseian." Plaster walls, Sapporo soft-stone stepping stones, a handmade ryurei tea table, and well-used tea utensils come together for a clean yet warm atmosphere. This space is available to rent, and tea ceremony lessons through the Urasenke school are held here regularly.
The tea utensils and tools were gathered naturally over time — some picked up during visits to tea-producing regions in Japan and China, others gifted by acquaintances. Nothing was newly purchased for the shop's opening. In the room beyond the tea room sits a workbench for making hand-rolled tea, also sent by a tea farmer in Shizuoka.

Seasonal fresh wagashi are delivered weekly by a specialist confectioner. The variety and content are left entirely up to the maker, something Aketa herself looks forward to. That same confectioner speaks in a gentle Kyoto dialect, and perhaps because of that connection, the shop sometimes receives "konashi," a type of Kyoto-style confection rarely seen in Sapporo these days.
Even within the single category of sencha, the leaves and flavor vary enormously by individuality. Cultivated over long stretches of time to best match the local water and food culture, the variety and growing methods differ from region to region. We were served sencha from Kawane, in tea-producing Shizuoka, along with a precious hand-rolled tea. Carefully measured for temperature and steeping time and poured to the very last drop, each cup carried a gentle umami and aroma. It was a moment that touched on the generous yet delicate depth of sencha.