This tea was one of several Shizuoka black tea gifts that I received recently. Nukumori-en Yururi is a traditional farm in Ogouchi village, Shimizu Ward, central Shizuoka, operated by the Nishiyama family. The closest train station would be Okitsu Station on the Tokaido line, but you'd need a car to reach the place. The Nishiyamas … Continue reading Tea tasting: Organic black tea (Nukumori-en Yururi)
tea tourism
Special Focus on Shizuoka: Traditional hand-rolling experience at a tea farm
Before the advent of tea-making machineries, sencha was hand-rolled. This manual method known as temomi was invented in 1738 by Nagatani Souen. The method resulted in high quality and refined green tea with leaves that are bright and needle-like in shape. Today, temomi is no longer widely practised in Japan, but are preserved as a … Continue reading Special Focus on Shizuoka: Traditional hand-rolling experience at a tea farm
Special Focus on Shizuoka: A Tea Dyeing Experience in a Former Post-town
The historical district Mariko in western Shizuoka City was one of the 53 authorised post-towns on the ancient Tokaido road connecting Edo (present-day Tokyo) and Kyoto. A post-town was where travellers find food and rest before moving on to their next destination. It is also known to be where Japanese black tea or wakoucha was … Continue reading Special Focus on Shizuoka: A Tea Dyeing Experience in a Former Post-town
Special Focus on Shizuoka: Tea blending experience in the heart of Shizuoka City
Single-origin tea may be all the rage now, but tea blending or 合組 (gougumi) is still an essential manufacturing process in tea production. In Japan particularly, gougumi is a traditional method that has been perfected over time and performed by highly skilled tea masters. The tea farmers produce excellent crude tea (aracha), which is the … Continue reading Special Focus on Shizuoka: Tea blending experience in the heart of Shizuoka City
Special Focus on Shizuoka: Enjoy teatime at a farm with superb views of Mt Fuji
Many tea farms on the elevated parts of central Shizuoka offer glimpses of the distant Mt Fuji, located on the prefecture's east. On certain elevations, when the weather conditions permit, one will not only have a superb view of Mt Fuji but also a sea of clouds that appear to suspend over the lush green … Continue reading Special Focus on Shizuoka: Enjoy teatime at a farm with superb views of Mt Fuji
Special Focus on Shizuoka: An organic artisanal tea farm in Kawane
Kawane-cha is widely lauded as top-quality tea since the Edo period. It even made its mark abroad as early as 1893 when it earned an award for 'exceptionally fine, quality of infusion' at the Chicago's World Fair. Since then Kawane-cha is constantly winning awards, both domestically and internationally. Its home is Kawane, located at the … Continue reading Special Focus on Shizuoka: An organic artisanal tea farm in Kawane
Special Focus on Shizuoka: Seafood, teatime and more in Yaizu
The history of Yaizu, a city facing the Suruga Bay in central Shizuoka, can be traced back to ancient times. It was even mentioned as 'Yakitsube' in the Manyoushu, the oldest collection of Japanese waka poetry compiled during the Nara period. These days it's a well-known commercial fishing port city. In fact, the fisheries industry … Continue reading Special Focus on Shizuoka: Seafood, teatime and more in Yaizu
Special Focus on Shizuoka: Revisiting Makinohara Plateau, the largest area of tea plantations in Japan
Makinohara Plateau is one of Japan's leading tea producing areas and also its largest in terms of acreage, home to many tea plantations and tea-related facilities. Earlier this year I have written about two tea plantations of different sizes found in this area. In this post I will highlight on the tea museum and a … Continue reading Special Focus on Shizuoka: Revisiting Makinohara Plateau, the largest area of tea plantations in Japan
Japanese Tea Marathon (Finale) +thoughts
Day 15 (Aug 8) of Japanese Tea Marathon was also the final day of this amazing virtual event. We finished off in Shizuoka, the top tea-producing prefecture in Japan, having ranked No.1 consistently since 1883. However, as reported by Kyodo News in May, Shizuoka has been overtaken by Kagoshima in terms of green tea output, … Continue reading Japanese Tea Marathon (Finale) +thoughts
Japanese Tea Marathon (Days 11-14)
The virtual journey across tea regions continued in central Japan for two days before heading up to northern Kanto. Day 11 (Aug 4) Mie Place:Mie, currently the third largest tea-producing prefecture in Japan. Are we still in Kansai region? Technically or geographically, yes, but Mie by modern demography standards is considered as part of central … Continue reading Japanese Tea Marathon (Days 11-14)
Japanese Tea Marathon (Days 8-10)
In the past three days, the Japanese Tea Marathon took us to the tea production areas of the Kansai region. If you have missed my previous summary posts, they can be found here (Days 1-4) and here (Days 5-7). Day 8 (July 31) Kyoto Place:Kyoto, an ever-popular tourist destination, is also the headquarters of the … Continue reading Japanese Tea Marathon (Days 8-10)
Japanese Tea Marathon (Days 5-7)
I've decided to split my summary of the Japanese Tea Marathon into two parts at this point so that I don't forget what was covered during the sessions. I have my written notes but it's good to type them out before impressions fade. There were really so much information packed into two hours each day. … Continue reading Japanese Tea Marathon (Days 5-7)
茶柱 The Floating Tea Stem 