Gone are the hot and sweltering days and in with the cooler weather. It’s nice to finally be able to step outside and not immediately be drenched in sweat. During the first part of autumn I was able to visit Vietnam for a bit and even there I couldn’t detach myself from the world of […]
And so we reach the end. As I am writing this, the sun is going down behind the mountains, casting a soft light on the tea fields in the Monzen area. The trees dotting the hills in the back are turning – some faster than others and red and brown and some are slower, yellow […]
Before One of the questions you get asked (a lot) here at Obubu is along the lines of “So what brought you here?”. Typically, this line of questioning comes from our wonderful tea tour guests, with their abundant curiosity or our incredible interns, who spend their entire 80+ day stint here at Obubu learning – […]
This autumn, each autumn intern had the chance to harvest and process a batch of bancha from the Blue Forest Tea Garden (Aoimori) with either Miwako-san, Pau, or Katrina. In the mornings of these special tea-making days, interns would go with one or two of the staff members in a keitora through the forested road to Aoimori […]
Autumn has always been the most nostalgic season to me. As the days finally start to cool down and the leaves turn yellow, the bittersweet of the last part of the Assistant Manager Program really hits differently, trying to enjoy every moment to the fullest. While we are still experiencing a lot of “first times,” […]
September – November 2025 September In September, the crowns of the rice fields around Wazuka began to turn gold, and new autumn leaves brightened the tea fields with pale yellow. Towards the beginning of the month, we finished AME and began to focus more on our personal projects. At the same time, we also had […]
If you’ve read our previous newsletters, you will know that Obubu interns who are here during a harvest season get to make their own batch of wakoucha. Our autumn interns also had this opportunity, but their tea was extra special. They handpicked their tea leaves from Inari, the tea field we began to regenerate this year, marking Obubu’s first […]
“暑いですね?” (atsui desu ne?) or in other words, “Isn’t it hot?” is a phrase that you will hear EVERYWHERE you go in Japan in the summer and even here in the Obubu office every day. Hi everyone! Tran again, here to report that I survived my first Japanese summer in the sweltering heat! Truthfully, the […]
If Japan had a “Summer Wrapped,” it would surely read: “You have produced 86 liters of sweat.”
Maybe you’ve heard of the rise of a powdered green tea called matcha. Recently, Obubu staff member George, previous intern and co-founder of the Global Japanese Tea Association Anna (#50), and previous intern Maren (#156) were interviewed alongside other voices in the tea industry for a special on “The Rise of Matcha” by BBC’s The Food Programme. You can […]
July – August 2025 Among other things, Summer at Obubu was full of sweaty farming days, delicious Summer Sencha, insects, countless cold brews, beautiful sunsets, and black tea-making. It was hot yet beautiful and restful yet eventful. July One of the highlights of July was making Wakoucha with Tran (AM #12) and interns Zehra (#196), […]
And just like that, we’re halfway through our time here. The summer is here – formally hailing the arrival of Tsuyu (the rainy season) and informally, Frog and Bug Season. The frog choir in the rice paddy across from Hojicha House has now been joined by the cicada chorus, drowning out the hum of the […]
Goodbyeee winter, hellooooo spring! As long as we waited for the spring season, it came and left in a blink of an eye just like the fleeting sakura season that was brought with it. The cake making continued to flow from March into April as Pau and Miwako had birthdays during this month, just a […]
Are you ready for another thesis-length blog about how much I adored spring harvest? Buckle up and please bear (🐻) with me!!! It was the BEST!
This month, five students and instructor Nakano-san from Yokohama High School visited Obubu for a summer study trip. When they arrived, they embarked on a three-day experience during which they immersed themselves in the world of Japanese tea through a guided tour, handpicking and hand rolling, field work, group discussions, and more. We were so glad […]
Everyone tried to warn me about the Japanese summer and every time I would respond with confidence: “I am from Italy, I will be fine”. It was not. Summer has always been the strangest period of the year, full of very high ups and very low downs and…this year also was no different! Still, summer […]
Background I was born in a tea-producing region and currently work at a Japanese tea store.I believed that the internship program at Obubu Tea Farm could offer some clues to solve problems such as “labor shortages” and the “increase of abandoned tea fields” that have been great problems the tea industry, so I decided to […]
From the cold and dry winter we finally started stepping into the blooming season. Spring here has such an enchanting and magical power! The awakening of the season started in the most precious way! We took part in a handpicking and handrolling event held by Kenta-san, president of the Hand Rolling Preservation Society but also […]
May-June 2025 Hello again! Welcome to the second chapter of my assistant manager blog series. One of the most memorable parts of this quarter was the Spring harvest and processing. I still clearly remember the first day of Spring harvest, Hachiju-Hachiya. It was so incredible to see the factory alive this night and throughout the harvesting […]
I’d always heard the legends about winter being the “quiet season” for tea farmers—when tea bushes lie dormant and the fields, along with the tea tours, rest under the chill of the colder months. Well… my winter turned out to be anything but quiet. It was still very much genki—lively, bustling, and packed with exciting activities. In fact, I might even say it felt busier than autumn, thanks to all the tea-related shenanigans we dove into.
Spring in Wazuka comes suddenly. Our Sakura trees took what felt like forever to blossom, with trees in nearby Uji and Nara beginning to burst with pink and white weeks before the ones that overhang the river that rushes through Wazuka town. The cold hung on until early April, and the cool mornings that trickled […]
This month, interns Zehra (#196), Garance (#199), Izzy (#200), and KD (#201) had the chance to make their own Wakoucha! They harvested Yabukita leaves each from Blue Forest Tea Garden, divided the leaves into 4.75kg each, and each created their own unique batch of Japanese black tea! While the general steps for processing black tea are […]
Hi everyone! Tran here, former intern #141, now back as assistant manager #12! It’s been two years since I’ve completed my internship and as you know, “many things happen” at Obubu and boy has many things happened indeed. This first month back was a little bit of me just reliving my intern days, mostly doing […]
Hi everyone, welcome to my first AM blog page! So excited to be writing it finally! Presentations first! I’m Marilena, AM #11, I’m from Italy and I came to Obubu just after my undergraduate program. I graduated in Food Science, and during my studies I had the opportunity to meet a friend from China that […]
On May 4th, Obubu hosted a handpicking event for the Kansai Tea Competition! Obubu staff, assistant managers, interns, and volunteers plucked fresh spring tea leaves from one of Akky-san’s fields in Monzen. Together, they picked 45.73kg of tea leaves, which were driven straight to the factory behind Wazuka-cha Café. Here, under the close supervision or Akky-san, […]