Chabana Sanso: A Taste of Beauty in Kyoto's Mountain Village

The press release describes "Chabana Sanso" (茶花山莊) located in Mizuo, a small village deep in Kyoto, beyond Arashiyama. Mizuo is a place chosen by Emperor Seiwa over a thousand years ago for his final days, filled with the scent of yuzu and the quietness of the valley.

Chabana Sanso is a small space cultivated over a long period by a creator who has traveled between France and Japan, pursuing pottery, calligraphy, seal engraving, photography, literature, and the way of tea. It features two galleries and a yuzu field, where activities centered around beauty and tranquility have already begun.

In 2025, the first calligraphy contest was held, themed around "Wakan Roeishu" (Collection of Japanese and Chinese Poems for Recitation). "Wakan Roeishu" is a thousand-year-old collection of Chinese poetry and Japanese waka, and many of the poets included lived during Emperor Seiwa's reign, making it the most deeply connected calligraphic source to Mizuo. The winner was awarded the entire harvest of a yuzu tree, and their family came to Mizuo to harvest it. It was a moment where a connection born from the beauty of calligraphy led to the soil and bounty of the mountain village.

On the first Saturday of every month, the "Kyoto Pu-erh Tea Gathering" is held. In Japan, opportunities to encounter truly high-quality Pu-erh tea are still rare. In particular, there are almost no places to taste young raw tea from farmers – that rustic, powerful tea whose expression changes with each brew. However, its raw vitality deeply resonates with the mountain air, the wabi aesthetic of pottery, and the culture of taste that Kyoto has refined over a thousand years. Tea lovers from across nationalities gather in Mizuo, bringing and sharing their own teas. It is a place where a single bowl of tea connects people before words do.

Pottery is also a dialogue without words. Kneading clay, applying glaze, entrusting it to fire. When one picks up a fired tea bowl and pours tea, a connection beyond words is born between the maker and the drinker.

My dream is for these activities, within the quietness and depth of Mizuo, to slowly but surely open up to the world. People drawn to beauty, from France, China, Taiwan, or places yet unknown, will visit this mountain village, drink tea, admire calligraphy, touch pottery, and then return to their own places.

What Mizuo teaches us is that beauty is not found far away, but deep within.

Chabana Sanso wishes to be an entrance to that depth.

**About Chabana Sanso**
Located in Sagamizuo, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto, Chabana Sanso is a base for creative activities spanning pottery, calligraphy, seal engraving, and tea. It has two galleries and a yuzu field, and conducts cultural activities such as the monthly "Kyoto Pu-erh Tea Gathering" and the annual "Wakan Roeishu" calligraphy contest (the deadline for the second contest is October 30, 2026).
Web: kumado.net/chabana
Contact: barbery@gmail.com