A 'Kami' Retreat With Tea and the Trees

Tea ritual in Japan dates just after the Nara period, a time in which kami - among the country's earliest concepts of spirituality, was said to have dwelled in trees and forces of nature.

Set inside the forest of Japan's Kansai Region, this peaceful Nara Park Tearoom (below) truly encapsulates the essence of kami as a predecessor to Japanese tea culture...and that mellow, earthy feeling of a warm mug in hand.

Nara Park has been called one of our world's "Places of Scenic Beauty" by MEXT: the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.