When it comes to my books and Japan, tea is an important part of the story. In the Nogiku Series, Sanaa loved her coffee and Jiro loved tea. They did business at Shofu-an, the Minamoto's tea house in Ku 6, and drank tea during negotiations. In the Miso Cozy Mysteries Series, Mei opens a tea shop where she specializes in helping her elderly clients and those around town. She loves her tea shop and everything it represents for her future.
So, when I sat down to write these books, I looked for some good inspiration on how I would picture them in my head so I could describe them for my readers. If you'd like to learn more about tea houses, definitely check out this post on Tea House Names and Ceremonies. Today, I'm going to show you some of the inspirational photos I collected especially for writing THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE OPENS A TEA SHOP.
I love this building. It has such charm. This is how imagine most of the buildings in Chikata.
Japan-Kyoto-Uji-City-Kanbayashi-Mitsuboshi-en-Tea-Shop-and-Museum-Byodo-in-StreetView-2-April-2004 by tiarescott, on Flickr
And here are some more storefront inspirations that helped me picture Oshabe-cha, Mei's tea shop.
Tea Shop @ Uji by Tim Yau, on Flickr
tea by henrie tsai, on Flickr
Wonderland by Lilac and Honey, on Flickr
When it comes to the inside of the shop, I really wanted to have the place be warm wood and eclectic clutter, much like Mei. Remember that she inherited Etsuko's bento box collection from THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE BRAVES THE WINTER, so I picture them on shelves around the shop.
Kaikado – Tea Caddy Shop, Kyoto by Christian Kaden, on Flickr. © Christian Kaden / www.Japan-Kyoto.de
Green Tea Shop by Mathieu Thouvenin, on Flickr
tea shop by sparkle glowplug, on Flickr
Ocha no Kanbayashi, Tea Store in Uji by Christian Kaden, on Flickr. © Christian Kaden / www.Japan-Kyoto.de
I love those photos! They're truly inspirational. Hopefully they fire up your imagination for when you read the Miso Cozy Mysteries series!
(All photos in this post are used in accordance with Creative Commons Licenses.)
Loved the photos! They really help bring the setting to life in my head.
I’m glad you liked them! They were all very inspirational while I was writing.
I like seeing all these inspirational pictures. It definitely helps solidify the image I have in my head of the Mei’s teashop. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!
They were so fun to find and use as inspiration for the books. :)
Comments are closed.