We are almost at the door to 2021. So it is just right to look back at 2020 – the year that no one could have predicted, one last time before we close the door shut behind. Celebrating the one-year anniversary of our association at the end of January 2020, we were hopeful and excited […]
Have you heard of Obukucha – the special tea that people in Japan drink around the new year? The name Obukucha (大福茶), translated from Japanese means good fortune tea. It is usually drunk on the first days of the new year to bring good luck and good health for the coming year. The tradition was […]
At the end of the year it is time to look into the future. And Japan is actually looking 5 years ahead. The government set on a plan to significantly increase export of agricultural produce by 2025. The export of Japanese tea is expected to more than double from ¥14.6 billion in 2019 to ¥31.2 […]
November brings a beautiful change of colours in Japan, however, the situation in the tea world continues to be a difficult one. Many tea producers and sellers have experienced a drop in sales and profits this year. To assist the tea farmers, some tea regions, like Yokkaichi in Mie, are providing financial support. Perhaps the […]
Tea education is one of the core activities of our association. We have been holding tea courses for several years and now have three levels on Japanese tea: Foundation, Intermediate and Master. Believing that the best way to learn is to experience it yourself, we strive to provide as much hands-on experience as possible. Most […]
October is almost the end of the autumn tea harvesting season. The last few tea leaves will be harvested in the next few days and then will come a long period of rest. With the decreasing amount of the field work, there is more time for promotion. Many tea producing prefectures in Japan have been […]
At our monthly Meet the Tea Farmer event on 28th October our guest tea farmer was Yuji Kurihara – a 4th generation tea farmer from Yame, Fukuoka Kurihara-san manages his family tea farm together with his brother. They produce many different teas, like gyokuro, sencha, wakoucha, hojicha, genmaicha and more. Some of them, especially gyokuro, […]
On 23rd September we held our third monthly Meet the Tea Farmer event and our guest tea farmer was Kenta Hosoi – the 5th generation tea farmer from Wazuka, Kyoto. Hosoi-san enjoyed tea farming from early days and knowing that he would want to continue his family’s tradition he went to study about tea farming […]