Lipton Company Tea Salon Far East Branch

Atlas ObscuraAug 7

Sir Thomas Lipton Tea House in Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto is famed for its tea, especially green tea produced in the neighboring city of Uji and its environs, and then brewed into high-quality matcha. But what is less known is that it’s also the birthplace of another kind of tea. In 1930, tea trader Heizo Fukunaga opened a tea room in the Sanjo district of Kyoto and partnered with the Sir Thomas Lipton brand. For the first few decades, the “Lipt…