Slowing Time Down: Tea Time in Japan

I ended up in Japan in October of 2025. Some business meetings and attending the Hololife Summit, formerly known as the Biohackers Summit. My first 3 days were a blur of meetings, dinners and talks at the conference. And plenty of delicious food. Tokyo, like life in general, can be a frenzy of activity. 

But by Sunday I was pretty tired. So I ended up sleeping in and relaxing. I spent the afternoon at one of my favorite Japanese tea places in the heart of Ginza called Jugetsudo. Enjoyed some delicious Hochi tea. 

What made it special was the preparation. I was instructed to pour hot water into a special cup and let it sit for 2 minutes. Then you pour the water into a small tea pot and let it sit for a minute. You open to cover for 20 seconds and then you pour the tea into your cup to drink. A slow process. Took me a few tries to get it right. 

Not only was it delicious but calming. The process allows you to slow down which goes against all my instincts, training and attitude living in tech land America. I feel like I need to be doing stuff all the time, keeping busy, meeting up with people. Exploring more of the city. Doing something for the sake of doing something. Lots of FOMO. 

Yet a quiet tea is exactly what I needed to relax. To calm my monkey mind. Sitting there. Enjoying the tea and with nowhere to go and nothing to do except read. What a lovely afternoon. 

This is a reminder to slow down every once in a while. To rest & reset. You slow down to move faster after.