Matcha

The White Castle: Matcha — the green Bridge, the Tea Fields and the Outskirts of Himeji, Geishas and Chasen, the Path of Tea, the Pond and the Tea House, scoring and solo changes.

Short tag: [Matcha]

The tea ceremony comes to Himeji: a fourth Bridge with green dice, a new kind of clan member — the Geisha — and a new Resource, the Chasen (tea whisk).

Components

Picture	What it is
	Board extension — green Bridge, Tea Fields, Outskirts of Himeji, the Tea Garden with its Path of Tea, Pond and Tea House (FAQ, FAQ, FAQ, FAQ, FAQ, FAQ, FAQ). The entrance counts as part of the Path; Geishas get the reward where they stop, and end-of-round activations resolve player by player.
	4 Domain boards with a green die line, a Chasen track and a Ceremony tile space (FAQ). The base Personal Domain action cannot activate the added green line.
	5 green dice and the green Bridge.
	10 Ceremony tiles (yellow and blue sides; FAQ, FAQ). A Geisha may move from the entrance, and you collect the reward of the space where she lands.
	8 Water Lily tiles for the Pond (FAQ). The Pond icon takes these rewards; it does not invoke the paid blue Ceremony action.
	16 Outskirts cards — 8 Flower Arrangement, 8 Calligraphy (FAQ, FAQ). Resolve the Lantern action before adding the card; it replaces the matching Domain card.

Also: 20 Geishas and 4 Chasen markers, 9 Castle cards, 6 Garden cards, 4 Training Yard tiles, 5 Starting cards, 3 Solitaire cards, coins and +120/+160 tiles. Every face is in Cards & Components. Expansion cards and tiles carry a teapot mark.

Setup changes

The setup checklist adds these steps with the Matcha expansion option:

• Shuffle the expansion cards into their decks and the Yard tiles into the others. First game: an expansion Yard tile in the 1-Iron Yard.
• Use the expansion Domain boards; put your 5 Geishas on them and the Chasen marker on 0.
• Board extension below the main board: the green Bridge with players + 1 green dice, 3 random Water Lily tiles in the Pond, the Flower Arrangement and Calligraphy decks face up (2 players: without ◆ cards), 3 Ceremony tiles yellow side up in the Tea House and 1 blue side up at the Pond Overlook.
• A random Ceremony tile, blue side up, below each pair of Starting cards; you take it with your pair and put it on its space of your Domain board.

Playing the game

Still 3 rounds, but each player takes 4 turns a round; the round ends when 4 dice remain on all the Bridges, the green one included.

New places for dice

The green Bridge

Green dice work like the others, with the Lantern on the left. They can’t go into the Castle (there are no green Die tiles), but they can go to the Well, Outside the Walls, the green line of your Domain and the two new places.

The Tea Fields

Any colour. Up to 2 dice can be stacked on each of the 2 spaces (never with 2 players). A die here gives the Geisha action.

The Outskirts of Himeji

Any colour, same stacking. A die here lets you do the actions of the 2 curtains lined up with that space, in any order: a yellow curtain (a reward) and a blue curtain (pay 1 Seal for an action).

The Personal Domain

The new green line works like the others. When you place a die there you gain the visible rewards and, if you pay 1 Seal, you may do the action of the Ceremony tile you took during setup.

The base game’s Personal Domain icon never activates the green line.

Geishas and Chasen

Chasen

Chasen are a fourth Resource track (0–7). They move Geishas along the Path of Tea. The base icon never gives Chasen; only the Chasen icon does. You may also pay 2 Seals for 1 Chasen (or for any Resource).

The Geisha action

Like the Courtier action: up to two different things, one or both, in any order:

• Enter the Tea Garden — pay 2 coins to put your leftmost Geisha at the entrance (unlimited room).
• Walk the Path of Tea — pay 2 Chasen to move one of your Geishas 1 step, or 5 for 2 steps (not split between Geishas).

From the entrance a Geisha goes either left to the Pond Overlook (one step, then she stops there) or towards the Tea House; she can’t change direction. Paths hold any number of Geishas; the Pond Overlook holds 1 Geisha per clan, each Tea House room 2 per clan.

Where she stops

• 1st or 2nd step of the path: take the top Flower Arrangement or Calligraphy card, do its yellow curtain and put it straight into your Lantern Area (it never goes onto your Domain board). If it is the last card, do the curtain but leave the card.
• Pond Overlook: gain the 3 Water Lily rewards or pay 3 coins for the Ceremony tile’s action there.
• Tea House: choose 1 of its 3 rooms and do the action of its Ceremony tile. Each room scores differently at the end.

You gain only the space where the move ends, not the ones crossed.

End of the round

The round ends at 4 dice left. Turn order as usual; the Gardens step also looks at the green Bridge.

• The Pond: if green dice are left, each player with a Geisha at the Pond Overlook takes the 3 Water Lily rewards or pays 3 coins for its Ceremony tile — the Pond acts like a Garden. Gardens and Pond can be done in any order.

Scoring Geishas

Final scoring adds Chasen to the Resources (1 point for 3–6, 2 for 7), and Geishas:

Geishas at the Pond or on the path don’t count for the rooms. Past 120 points, swap the +40/+80 tile for the +120/+160 one.

Solo changes

• Setup: draw 2 Starting Resource cards, 2 Starting Action cards and 2 Ceremony tiles (blue side) and keep 1 of each; add the 3 new Solitaire cards.
• If the rival must lose points, coins or Influence it can’t, it loses what it can (possibly 0).
• Path of Tea: when a rival Geisha reaches a path step, discard the top Flower Arrangement or Calligraphy card of your choice; in the Tea House it takes the room worth most to it now.
• Any Geisha move it can’t do scores the round number, as usual.
• Its Geisha at the Pond counts as a Gardener for the end-of-round points.