As the name suggests in Japanese, “kabusecha” which means covered tea is grown by covering the tea leaves with a cloth called kanreisha before they are harvested. This shade growing cultivation method is called “hifuku saibai” (Japanese: 被覆栽培), and is also utilized for making gyokuro and tencha (tea that is the raw material for matcha), also teas made through shade growing cultivation. This shading blocks a certain amount of sunlight from reaching new tea leaves for a certain period of time, which changes the tea leaf.  Previously, I wrote a rather in-depth article with respect to shade g ..read more

On February 3-4, we visited Akemi Ishimoto, an 87 year old kancha tea farmer who is located in the Southernmost tip of Tokushima Prefecture.  You can learn about the kancha making process in a recent  article (How Shishikui kancha is made). Here we will expand on Akemi-san and weave together both information that we learned on our trip with information gathered from subsequent research.  "Kancha baachan" Akemi-san resides in Kuo village, a small mountain village that is a part of the greater Shishikuicho, Kaiyo town (located on the border between Tokushima and Kochi Prefect ..read more

Shishikuicho city, is in the southernmost district of Tokushima Prefecture, called Kaiyo. As its name Kaiyo (in Japanese: 海陽) suggests in Japanese, it is a "sea town" that is famous for its sea. It is quite well-known for surfing and diving. Additionally, those who are going on pilgrimage through the Shikoku pilgrimage may pass this town. However, in this region the mountains are also rich in their blessings. In fact, there is a treasured mountain tea from this area!  The treasured tea is called Shishikui kancha (寒茶), a tea that is currerently only grown in ..read more

As some of you may have been aware, February 6th marked the day of matcha in Japan. In a previous blogpost on Yunomi, we touched on some of the tea anniversaries in Japan so we will not get into that today.  Instead, we will delve into the day of matcha and touch on Nishio, one of the leading matcha producing areas in Japan.  The Day of Matcha  is on February 6th and was established in 1992 by the Nishio Tea Trade Association (Japanese: 西尾茶協同組合) to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Nishio Tea. For those of you who may be unfamiliar, Nishio, Aichi Prefecture is a region that i ..read more

Setsubun (節分) is a traditional Japanese festival that is held on February 2, 3 or 4, one day before the start of spring, according to the Japanese lunar calendar. The word Setsubun literally signifies the division of two seasons (winter and spring), and according to the lunar calendar, Setsubun refers to the closing of the winter season and the arrival of spring, specifically referred to as Risshun (立春). Setsubun’s calendar date depends on Risshun, which similarly depends on the lunar calendar and occurs between February 2nd to 4th. Interestingly, Setsubun has been on February 3rd in the last ..read more

The flowers of ume, the Japanese plum, bloom in February and March, announcing the beginning of spring. Around this time many people gather at parks and temples to admire the delicate and beautiful blooms. Ume blossoms have been an important motif in Japanese culture for hundreds of years for their symbolism of new beginnings and arrival of spring.     But ume’s importance in Japan goes beyond the charming flowers. One of the classics of Japanese flavours is umeboshi, a pickled fruit of the ume tree. Its sour and tangy flavour is often combined with rice. Ume fruit is also used for ..read more

Today, we will go over some of the main parts of a chasen, or matcha whisk. While the terminology for the parts of chasen are in Japanese, we hope that it will help you to familiarize yourself more with the chasen or to (re)appreciate certain aspects. Some parts are more elaborated on than others. At the end we also include frequently asked questions on chasen.  The parts of a chasen  Hosaki (Japanese: 穂先） The tines, prongs or teeth of the chasen. In general, chasen have approximately 80 ~120 prongs. However, the number of prongs can differ quite extensively with the minimum being ab ..read more

Since most of my writing on Yunomi is about tea, I thought I would mix it up a bit to write about a traditional and special type of sugar called “wasanbon”. Wasanbon sugar is made from a native variety called bamboo sugar (commonly known as fine millet). And this native variety is still cultivated in the regions of Tokushima and Kagawa Prefectures in the Shikoku area of Japan. It is one of the few domestically produced sugars that is made without the use of machinery.  The origin of the name, wasanbon The name “wasanbon” is a mouthful, especially if Japanese is not your mother tongue. Whi ..read more

As some of you may already be aware, November 1st was a day to celebrate Genmaicha day.  Genmaicha is a type of Japanese tea made by mixing sencha or bancha with roasted rice. By steeping this type of tea, the aroma of the roasted rice will be accentuated. There are various types of genmaicha but a 1:1 ratio of toasted rice and bancha is generally regarded to be the standard. It is also known as “brown rice tea” or “popcorn tea” due to the inclusion of popped rice kernels. My father-in-law calls it “rice krispies tea” and you may also have your own creative nickname for this tea.  To ..read more

German matcha consumption began picking up along with the foodie trend around the year 2012. Additionally, in the last four to five years Netflix and television shows have piqued people’s interest in coffee, with popularity of tea eventually following suite. In terms of hot, non-alcoholic drinks, Germany is typically thought of as a coffee drinking culture, which assuredly pairs quite well with a thick piece of chocolate cake or apple strudel. But they also have a long folk history of making plant infusions and they are also the largest importer, consumer, and processor of medicinal and aromat ..read more