Hello, everyone,

I am living in Tokyo, and a friend of mine back in my home country asked me a question about tea ceremony schools, and I thought I should get some help here.

She has been toying with the idea of dedicating herself to mastering the tea ceremony for years, but now she seems willing to take the plunge. So, she wants to know about schools that teach the tea ceremony, that accept foreigners, and preferably in Kyoto.

I once visited one such school in Tokyo, so I know they exist, but if any of you guys could give some information, I would be very grateful.

I studied 茶道 for a year in Japan, and it wasn't at a school.
There might be big schools, I don't know, but I doubt it. The most common way of learning it is to train it at the teacher's house. They also have classes at the community centers, but they're usually not that good (too many people, not enough practice per member etc.)
Does your friend speak Japanese? If so, I'd just recommend her going to Kyoto and ask around for people teaching 茶道. You won't have any problems finding teachers in Kyoto!
Learning the Tea Ceremony is really challenging, but really fun! I made a lot of friends, improved my Japanese and learned a lot about Japanese culture by studying it

Well, my friend's Japanese level is pretty much zero, she barely knows hiragana yet.

Still, I was happy to read your reply, and I really do appreciate it. I will pass her on that info. If anyone else has any input, I'd like to hear it as well.

A friend of mine is currently studying tea ceremony at the Midorikai in Kyoto (http://wiki.chado.no/Midorikai). You have to pay for it (there's a scholarship for people from Finland, but not for other students AFAIK), and you're housed in a dorm in Kyoto for the year. She has really enjoyed it - they cover a lot of aspects of tea ceremony, not just the ceremony itself, though that is the focus of course.

More information and an application appear to be here: http://www.urasenke.or.jp/texte/ici/index_ici.html

Good luck to your friend!

This school in Kyoto holds lessons in English
http://www.urasenke.or.jp/texte/ici/index_ici.html