In January, our association celebrated its 6th anniversary. To mark this special occasion, we hosted two online events on January 31st. Many of our dear members joined us to share their favorite moments from the past year – whether it was participating in our tea courses or meeting our team at tea conferences and festivals.
We were also joined by our expanded team, including our founders, Simona, Matsu, and Anna, as well as our education and admin specialist, Machi, and our intern, Suzuka.
During the event, we reflected on our achievements over the past year, celebrating the milestone of bringing together over 1,300 members from more than 50 countries and having Japanese Tea Hubs in eight countries.
Looking ahead, we have an exciting year planned. Once again, we will offer two Japanese Tea Master Courses, scheduled for June and September, for those eager to deepen their knowledge of Japanese tea. Additionally, we will host two Japanese tea conferences this summer – one in Tokyo on 19th July and another in Kyoto on 26th July, where participants can learn about the new developments in the Japanese tea world while enjoying teas from different regions of Japan.
We also introduced our latest initiative, the Inter-College Tea Circle for university students. Matsu-san shared our vision of creating more opportunities for students to actively engage with Japanese tea through inter-college activities in Japan and internationally.
And this is just the beginning! We are excited about the many projects that will emerge throughout the year and look forward to sharing the beauty and depth of Japanese tea with you!