【Event Report】“Sakura of Hadano to the World 2022” Project
On April 15th through April 17th, we held our “Sakura of Hadano to the World 2022” Project in Hadano City, Kanagawa Prefecture.
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Why did we decide to organize this project?
There has been increasing demand for Obubu’s Sakura Sencha from both in and outside of Japan. Knowing that Hadano City produces the most flowers of the 八重桜(Yae-zakura) variety of sakura in Japan, we planned a collaboration with a cherry blossom farmer, Mr. Ono, and Takanashi Tea Farm in Hadano City to make Sakura Sencha using hand picked cherry blossom flowers and leaves.
With that, “Sakura Project” was born.
As the name suggests, through this project, we hope to spread the beautiful cherry blossoms of Hadano, along with Japanese tea, to the world!
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It was our first time to hold the event, and 63 people came to Hadano from not only Kanagawa Prefecture but all around Japan to participate in the project over three days.
On the 17th of April, which was the last day, more than 40 students in the international course of Yokohama Hayato High School, where we held “お茶の間[1]留学プログラム Ochanoma Study Abroad Program”, joined us for the event.
(If you are interested in learning more about お茶の間留学プログラム, here is the link to the blog
👉https://www.obubu.net/oblog/33101.html).
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During the event, we first picked the cherry blossom flowers in the fields.
We then headed to the tea factory where we dried the flowers.
We removed the stems from the flowers to separate them before drying.
(During the break we enjoyed a cup of the Sakura Sencha that was produced last year.)
Then, we observed the drying process of Sakura flowers in the tea processing machines.
For break time, we enjoyed gelato made from Japanese tea by Takanashi Tea Farm together.
On the third day, we picked the Sakura leaves, which are vital for the flavor of Sakura Sencha.
Mr. Takahashi Masakazu, the mayor of Hadano, visited us and had a few words of encouragement for the participants.
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It was the first time for almost all of the participants to hand-pick Sakura flowers. Some were hesitant, thinking “Is it really okay to pick these pretty flowers?” Some were startled at the small bugs on the branches and inside of the flower petals, and others were happily showing off their baskets full of Sakura flowers to each other.
While many participants were nervous at first, they soon got the hang of hand-picking and filled up their baskets in no time.
While it was rainy on the first and third day of the event, there was a lively and fun atmosphere. We hope that each participant enjoyed their first experience picking Sakura flowers.
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When asked, “What impressed you the most about the project? ” participants responded:
・Picking Sakura
・The beautifulness of Sakura
・The smell of Sakura in the factory
・The procedure of drying Sakura flowers
It seems that the participants rediscovered the attraction of cherry blossoms through visiting the area, seeing the Sakura flowers close up, touching them, and being in the factory filled with the smell of Sakura.
Also, in the questionnaire, many participants expressed interest in participating in the Sakura Project again to learn more about food items (including tea) with Sakura in it and more about the production of Sakura flowers. We can see that the participants gained a new appreciation for Sakura not only as a flower but as a food item as well.
(▶Here is the results of the questionnaire (Japanese).
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jAiVt9L3K9QWGnEy7PI_B1S8D9KJJMrJ/view?usp=sharing)
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The flowers and leaves that the participants picked were brought back to Kyoto, and the beautiful Sakura Sencha was completed at our Obubu Tea Farms!
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Lastly, we would like to share with you the photos from the photo contest that we held on the third day of the event. (The photos were taken by participants during the event).
We received many nice photos that beautifully captured the event, and four of them were selected to receive prizes with the help of mayor Hadano.
Hadano City Mayor’s Award
Mr. Ono Takayoshi’s Award
Takanashi Tea Farm’s Award
Obubu Tea Farms’ Award
Thank you to all of the participants for their beautiful photos!
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Thank you so much again for those who joined the “Sakura of Hadano to the World 2022” and for those who helped and supported us before and during the event.
This project would not have been possible without the support from cherry blossom farmer, Mr. Ono, Mr. Takanashi from Takanashi Tea Farm, Mr. Sugimoto, one of our Tea Club Members, the teachers and students from Yokohama Hayato High School, including Mr. Nakano, and cooperation from general participants, especially those who supported the management side.
We appreciate your contribution from the bottom of our heart.
With the help of feedback from this year’s event, we all have already started getting ready for next year. Stay tuned for next year’s Sakura Project. We hope to see you at “Sakura of Hadano to the World 2023”!
See you next year🌸
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P.S. Ms. Iwama Saya, one of our Obubu interns, contributed a lot to the management of this project, including writing this blog, making and aggregating the questionnaire after the event, making an event report, and the management of the photo contest. Thank you so much.
[1] “Ocha no ma(お茶の間)”, which means a living room, literally means “the room of tea.”