#4 Sarah Mazza – Italy

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BEFORE OBUBU

Hi! I am Sarah, Assistant Managers #4 at Obubu! You might have seen me around already, since only last year I first came to Obubu as an intern.

Coming from a background in Anthropology of Food, with a research focus on tea supply chain and consumption, I joined Obubu as an intern in Spring 2023 to learn more about the production of Japanese tea. On my first day in the factory, supporting the processing of Jean’s sencha, I fell in love with making tea. That’s the day I decided I wanted to keep making tea, and applied to the Assistant Manager program!

AT OBUBU

If I were to write all the things I learned in one year at Obubu, you will be reading this page for the next few hours, so I will try to keep it short. Practically, I have learned how a small company works, what its needs and challenges are; I learned more on tea agriculture and processing, and I got to make my own batches of teas.

I have seen Obubu transforming under my eyes, but still keeping its values at its core. Throughout this time, interns and staff have worked together to create more spaces to welcome tea lovers, and activities involving the community of Wazuka. One intern batch after another, Obubu has been always getting better, as Hiro-san says, and kept being the frame in which tea lovers would meet; I have seen life-long relationships forming over a cup of tea.

My favorite tasks were trimming with Akky-san and leading the farming and the processing in Aoimori. I particularly enjoyed working in the factory and being able to see the leaves transforming from plant into the finished product. Miwako has been the greatest teacher, patiently explaining how the machines work, how to organize the work in the factory, and how to check the leaves, and always had a kind word and a smile when I thought I messed up!

During the weekend, drinking tea around the kotatsu was one of my favorite activities, together with exploring Wazuka. 

Throughout this year, I got the chance to meet farmers from Wazuka, and to take part in some community events. Wazuka community center has been hosting most of these events, such as chakabuki (tea tasting competitions), tea hand rolling events, and tea festivals.

I am very grateful to have had the chance to support George in the video-project, learning how to organize filming with people from companies we collaborate with. For instance, with George and Kayo-san, I visited the factory of Kawane Chabako, and we also met the master potter from Tokoname Umehara-san. 

As an Assistant Manager, it has been an honor to welcome the new interns, and to see their journey across the three months, gaining confidence and learning new skills, as well as learning and sharing their tea knowledge. I cherish the time shared with each of them, and I deeply keep in my memories the time spent drinking tea together around the kotatsu, or making tea together in Aoimori tea field and with Akky-san. Nonetheless, it has been a privilege to meet (and meet again) the previous interns that have come back to Obubu in these 12 months. 

At Obubu, one never stops learning, particularly from all the people around. I have been so lucky to be surrounded by people I did and will always look up to. Hiro-san and Matsu-san, with their determination to make dreams come true, have been incredibly inspiring. Having the chance to farm for a whole year with Akky-san, learning from his experience, has been a privilege I cherish a lot. Kayo-san, Miwako and George have been extraordinary teachers, and thanks to them, I got to grow professionally, but also personally. The Assistant Managers Jean, Pau, Alix and Mac have been the best team-mates (and friends) I could have asked for. Not only do they work every day to make Obubu “always getting better”, but they also made me “always getting better”. 

AFTER OBUBU

As I progress in my tea-learning journey, the feeling that I know so little increases. After Obubu, I want to learn more about other tea-producing regions. I will spend a little bit of time in Taiwan and China, then I will be heading back home to Italy. 

If there is something that I will bring home from Obubu is the fact that I am allowing myself to have dreams, and the willingness to transform them into plans and to work towards them.

Moreover, being at Obubu, and working in a farm, made me realize how little I know about agricultural production in my own hometown, which, like Wazuka, is a farming town. So in a way, being away made me develop a newly found attachment for my home place, which I have disregarded for years. So, for now, after being away for around 8 years, my dream is to settle back in my hometown and to spread “Japanese tea to the world” starting from there.

For the future Assistant Managers, you have no idea of how enlightening and inspiring this experience is going to be, and how many cool and amazing people you will meet on the way. I also had no idea, until now that I am looking back at the whole experience. So, my wish for you is to take the most out of it!

At Obubu we start the tea tour sharing the proverb “Ichi go Ichi e”, translating to “one moment one encounter”, which is an invitation to embrace the moment. You’ll be tired after a day of trimming at Jinja tea field, or of harvesting at Aoimori, or after hosting a tea tour, but you will still feel that that has been the best day of your life so far! It’s like spending a whole day in the factory rolling your black tea, and it’s night already, but you still get to be moved by the fact that the tea that you harvested the day before is now smelling of green apple and cocoa. That to me is the sense of “Ichigo Ichi e”.

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