Tag: Japan
Urasenke Ceremony at Nagoya’s Sanshotei Tea House
Ancient symbolism and practices are essential aspects of Chanoyu the Japanese tea ceremony, although much of the experience is about enjoying the present moment. Many Japanese consider chanoyu the quintessential artistic expression of Japanese hospitality.
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Mexican Couple Shares Their Love of Japanese Tea Culture
Discover how two Mexican nationals living in Japan have embraced Japanese tea culture, in this heartwarming story of how they found their calling as practitioners of the Hoenryu tea ceremony in the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto.
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Have You Tried Ichō Yet?
Withering Enhances Florals in Japanese Tea
Ichō or ichoucha is withered tea. The first process in producing Japanese green tea is steaming the leaves as soon as they are picked to stop oxidation and keep their strong green color. However, by withering them first, the leaves undergo a slight oxidation between harvest and steaming, bringing out the floral notes.
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Drinking Tea History in Nara, Japan
The Butsuryu-ji Temple grounds are a treasure trove of historic tea memorabilia that includes statues of the famous Japanese Buddhist monk Kukai and his disciple Kenne and artifacts so significant to Japanese heritage that the national and local governments registered them as cultural properties.
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Hand Processing Tea in Yamazoe, Japan
Farmers and other locals run the five-hour tea-making workshop near Japan’s Yamazoe Village. Tea Journey contributor Greg Goodmacher attended to learn from teacher Kenichi Ikawa Sensei how to select, pan-fire, and hand roll freshly picked raw leaves transforming them into sencha tea using centuries-old techniques.
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Misako Lelong-Nohsoh, a Tea Ambassador’s Journey
Misako Lelong-Nohsoh shows us that Japanese green tea is nothing to fear. She takes away the formality of the Japanese tea ceremony and introduces us to Japanese green tea as she wants us to experience it: as a beverage like wine, coffee, or black tea that is woven into the everyday fabric of our lives. This is the delightful story of her journey from Japan to France and from violist to Japanese Green Tea Ambassador.
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Gyokuro: Deep Sea Savory and Sweet
The aroma that swirls from a package of gyokuro, especially one of the highest grades, is so extraordinary that you could stop right there and be satisfied. The aroma that swirls from a package of gyokuro, especially one of the highest grades, is so extraordinary that you could stop right there and be satisfied.
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Japan’s Cultural Tea Bridge to Europe
The currents of Japanese tea culture are flowing outward to Europe. In the past 50 years, Europeans have been diving and delving into the green waters. What is it about Japanese tea that attracts Europeans, and how is it pouring into European culture?
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Three Mindful Tea Drinking Experiences in Japan
The originators of the Japanese tea ceremony believed that the simple activity of sharing tea with a friend was like the path of a falling cherry blossom. It is a fleeting encounter on a path that can never be exactly repeated.
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Amazing Lessons on Japanese Tea at Cafe Seisui-an
Tea farmer, seller, event coordinator, gourmet, and nationally certified tea appraiser, Yasuhiko Kiya radiates love for his tea-growing neighborhood, Japanese tea, and his son, who will become the fourth generation to run the family business.
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Kakuzo Okakura and the Cup of Humanity
Kakuzo Okakura first described Japanese tea culture to a readership in the U.S. in The Book of Tea in 1906. Since then, his book, his ideas, and Japanese tea culture have traveled across the world.
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Time-lapse of Japan’s Shincha Harvest Tea
KYOTO, Japan — This time-lapse video captures the beautiful birth of this year’s shincha harvest. A special video camera, positioned at the Nakakubo Tea Farm, advanced a few frames every 5 minutes for about 30 days last month to show us the dance of the new leaves. The digital […]
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Tea for Generations to Come
KITSUKI, Japan Small family-owned tea gardens are inseparable from the economic and social past of historical places such as Kitsuki, a scenic coastal city and authentic samurai town, home to a castle that dates to 1394. Tea permeates the culture here, having entered the fabric of Japanese society beginning in […]
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ORIGINS: Japan’s Higashiyama Tea Grass Gardens
In the foothills of Mt. Fuji lies the village of Higashiyama where Chagusaba agriculture, a UN-designated Globally Important World Agricultural Heritage System, is a way of life for tea farmers.
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HARVEST REVIEW 2016: Japan
Tamiko Kinezuka: “We make tea with great effort, and hope you will drink our passion with your tea. As my father says, ‘Please taste the tea in one half of your cup, and the heart of its farmer on the other.’ “
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