Ippodo tea is a popular shop for premium teas, including ceremonial matcha, plus classes, accessories & a tea room.

© Courtesy of Ippōdō Tea

Ippōdō Tea

Top choice in Downtown Kyoto


This old-style tea shop sells some of the best Japanese tea in Kyoto, and you'll be given an English leaflet with prices and descriptions of each one. Its matcha makes an excellent and lightweight souvenir. Ippōdō is north of the city hall, on Teramachi-dōri. It has an adjoining teahouse, Kaboku Tearoom; last order 5.30pm.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Downtown Kyoto attractions

1. Kyoto City Hall

0.19 MILES

Built in 1927, this imposing building takes up one block on the corner of Kawaramachi-dōri and Oike-dōri.

2. Kaleidoscope Museum of Kyoto

0.45 MILES

This one-room museum is filled with unexpected wonders in a wide variety of kaleidoscopes. Not sure who will enjoy this more, children or the adults…

3. Museum of Kyoto

0.46 MILES

This museum is worth visiting if a special exhibition is on (the regular exhibits are not particularly interesting and don’t have much in the way of…

4. Kyoto International Manga Museum

0.5 MILES

Located in an old elementary school building, this museum is the perfect introduction to the art of manga (Japanese comics). It has 300,000 manga in its…

5. Sentō Imperial Palace

0.57 MILES

The Sentō Gosho is the second imperial property located within the Kyoto Imperial Palace Park (the other one is the Imperial Palace itself). The…

6. Ponto-chō

0.59 MILES

There are few streets in Asia that rival this narrow pedestrian-only walkway for atmosphere. Not much to look at by day, the street comes alive at night,…

7. Rokkaku-dō

0.61 MILES

This tucked-away temple makes for a worthy detour when hitting the boutiques and restaurants downtown. The name refers to its unique hexagonal shape, and…

8. Kyoto Imperial Palace Park

0.63 MILES

The Kyoto Imperial Palace (Kyoto Gosho) and Sentō Imperial Palace (Sentō Gosho) are surrounded by the spacious Kyoto Imperial Palace Park, which is…