Japanese tea house lets visitors drink from $25,000 antique bowls
CNN
At Tokyo's Gallery Okubo, an antiques dealer offers the traditional Japanese tea ceremony experience with a twist -- a choice of bowls ranging from new to more than 300 years old, with some of the older pieces worth as much as $25,000.
(CNN) — Participating in an ancient Japanese tradition, sipping from a $25,000 antique bowl and even finding a bit of a 1970s "Austin Powers" vibe.
All can be part of the experience at Gallery Okubo in Tokyo's Yanaka district, where antiques dealer Mitsuru Okubo and his family offer the traditional Japanese tea ceremony experience with a twist -- a choice of bowls ranging from new to more than 300 years old, with some of the older museum-quality pieces worth as much as $25,000.
The idea behind the gallery is that the visitor gets to feel the bowls and taste the drink as the Japanese masters of the tea ceremony would have wanted it -- and at an affordable price. It's art and history accessible to the masses.