Our teahouse has been named after Anna Maria Russell, the Seventh Duchess of Bedford , who is popularly credited with introducing the idea of Afternoon Tea. Incidentally, the nickname of the owner of the Teahouse Anna Maria during her student days happened to be Anna.

Located in Arashiyama, famous place of scenic beauty in western part of Kyoto City, Anna Maria is an ideal place for tea lovers.

Pass through the gate of a traditional Japanese style residence and cross a cozy moss garden by the stepping-stones, then, once you open the sliding door of Anna Maria, you will find completely another dimension of western style teahouse. Also available are tables at Japanese style veranda facing moss garden as well as a cozy Tatami room (for six to eight persons).

Our teahouse is not a kind of deceptive shops which tend to be seen in tourist spots, but we always treat the customer with complete sincerity, as though it were a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity the way as respected in traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony.

So, please do visit us freely and enjoy authentic teas and sweets along with the international service in superb atmosphere.

The garden of Anna Maria is a typical Japanese dry scenery moss garden which was built in 1982 by a famous gardener, Kouki Hiraoka, who received the Yellow Ribbon Medal in 2002.
The pebbled area in the central part shows the river, where the stone in the middle and the flat stone on this side show a boat and a jetty. On the other side of the river, you can see seven rocks on a small hill covered with moss which symbolize the Seven Gods of Good Fortune.

The garden has been taken care of by Yoshimichi Hiraoka, the eldest son of Kouki Hiraoka.

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