We are now calling the first 100 Pioneer Members! Our membership program is at the core of our organisation. It plays the key role towards fulfilling our mission to spark new growth in the Japanese tea world through global collaboration. We believe that by coming together we can address various domestic and international challenges Japanese […]
“The new tea season is here, limited stock only!” and so just as spring comes to full bloom, one cannot miss seeing announcements of fresh tea arrivals sprouting everywhere from their favorite Japanese tea shops around the world. Japanese fresh spring tea, Shincha (jp. 新茶) is truly special. Anticipated by tea connoisseurs around the globe, […]
Dear tea lover friends, you are probably reading these lines sitting at your desk or on your sofa at home, and you might have had several cups of tea since the early morning. Perhaps you also opened the cupboard where you store your selection and sighed as you gazed upon the Christmas limited edition from […]
Red Tea from Japan: that is the exact translation of Wakoucha. But we in Europe call it a black tea, and for us black tea comes from India or China or Sri Lanka, not from Japan. And in a nation where the production of green tea is so dominant that for the biggest part of […]
Miho museum in Shiga recently had a Bizenyaki exhibition. Bizen in Okayama prefecture is one of the 6 oldest kilns in Japan – pottery has been made here for over 600 years. Traditionally Bizen wares are fired unglazed in wood burning kilns. Because of that the result is slightly rough texture and primitive earthy colours […]
Every year Japan Tea Industry Association holds a conference to present the recent research topics on Japanese tea. Every major tea producing prefecture in Japan (such as Shizuoka, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Kyoto, Mie, etc.) has their research centers and they all work on making improvements on Japanese tea. The yearly conference gives them an opportunity to […]
The world of Japanese tea is wide and deep. By now many people know Matcha, Gyokuro, Sencha. Some other teas may not have been in the spotlight but they are also worth some attention. One of them is Kukicha, or stem tea, if translated literary form Japanese. What that means is that Kukicha mostly includes […]
When tea reached Japan, Chinese pottery and teaware were used to prepare and drink tea. It was only in the 15th century with tea master Murata Jukō that Japanese tea wares started to replace Chinese ones and a more rustic – and sometimes rough – style developed in tea ceremony. During the 16th century, when Sen no Rikyu developed […]