An unexpected party – Assistant Manager Blog by Marcello [Autumn 2024]

My name is Marcello, and I’m from Italy. I recently joined the Assistant Manager Team as its 7th member. I studied at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Piedmont. But my passion for tea started at an early age while I lived in the UK. As well as drinking it daily I also went […]

Awabancha Adventures in Shikoku

As the golden colors of autumn spread across the Japanese countryside, there’s a special kind of magic that happens here at Obubu in the fall. This season marks a time of both reflection and preparation. It’s a period of transition—where the heat of summer slowly gives way to the crisp, cool air of autumn. With things beginning […]

Assistant Manager Blog by Alix [Summer 2024]

Hello everyone! You might have read my Spring Blog about my first quarter at Obubu. If you are interested in learning more about what assistant managers get up to in the summer and what I did in my second quarter here, keep reading! Summer in Japan is no joke: 37°C at 80% humidity is what the […]

Assistant Manager Blog by Pau [Summer season]

After the spring harvest, we had a bit of a downtime from extensive fieldwork like harvesting. Soon after, we switched to farming mode again to prepare for summer harvest and also had the chance to do some deep cut trimming in our somada field, where we harvest our kabuse sencha. Usually, tea bushes get a […]

Assistant Manager Blog by Pau [Spring season]

Spring is by far the busiest period of the year at the farm. It is high season for tourism, so we welcomed many guests for our 4-hour tours and our other experiences. For farming, the season started with a late winter harvest for Kyobancha. Then we started with early trimming, shading and many other preparations […]

Exploring the Art of Photography and Tea Farming: A Journey Through Light and Leaf

Photography, in all its forms, has been a lifelong passion of mine. From the  tactile experience of darkroom work to the precision of digital imaging, each method offers a unique view of the world, reflecting vision in different ways. You’re probably wondering what a tea farm has to do with this type of art? Surprisingly, […]

Assistant Manager Blog by Sarah [2023.09月 – 2024.09月]

One year as an Assistant Manager at Obubu みなさん こんにちわ! This is Sarah and, together with Pau, I joined Obubu as an Assistant Manager in September 2023. It is now the end of my program, and I wish to give a brief summary of how incredible this year at Obubu has been. Following on my […]

Assistant Manager Blog by Alix [Spring 2024]

Hello everyone ! My name is Alix and I am Assistant Manager #6 at Obubu. I come from the North-West of France (Brittany and Normandy !) and I studied agriculture and food engineering. My combined interest in Japanese culture and high quality products of origin pushed me to apply for this amazing opportunity. I am so excited […]

Assistant Manager Blog by Pau [Winter season]

After the Autumn harvest, and having had the chance to process the autumn moon tea and plenty of Bancha, we headed to the fields to do some trimming work. Trimming quickly became my favorite filed work activity, it is a bit more technical than harvesting or other activities. It requires a lot of attention to […]

Assistant Manager Blog by Mac [2024.04月]

Hi! I’m Mac :) My journey with Obubu Tea Farms began in 2015 when I was accepted as an intern to the Obubu Internship Program. This incredible program takes place in the heart of Japan’s beautiful countryside. It’s a place where the art of tea cultivation blends with centuries-old practices, and where every leaf represents […]

Assistant Manager blog Sarah [2023.12月]

Hello again! Hope you are all staying warm in this winter month! Sarah here writing about flowers, for the month of December! This month, in all private gardens and on the side of the houses, manryō (万両) has been proudly displaying its red berries, appearing so vivid in contrast to the grey sky of winter. Manryo, […]

Assistant Manager blog Sarah [2023.11月]

みなさん こんにちわ! This is Sarah, and for the month of November I would like to write about a very special flower: the tea flower! Camellia sinensis is an evergreen plant that, besides its delicious leaves, also produces flowers and seeds. The flowers are around 3 cm, they have white petals and yellow anther and filaments. […]

Assistant Manager blog Sarah [2023.10月]

On a cold Thursday evening of October, as we entered Nakai Sensei’s tearoom, Sara, Jean and I noticed an unfamiliar object. Moe, another student of our teacher, was practicing sado (tea ceremony) using a mizusashi (water container) that was particularly tall. Nakai Sensei explained to us that this shape of pot was only used in […]

Assistant Manager Blog by Pau [Autumn season]

Hello, my name is Pau, one of the new assistant managers here at Obubu. This is my first monthly journal in the blog. I hope to show you my experiences living in Wazuka and working in its beautiful tea fields. I arrived on the 7th of September, already three weeks. Time has gone by so […]

Assistant Manager blog Sarah [2023.09月]

みなさん こんにちわ! My name is Sarah and, together with Pau, I have recently joined Obubu as a new Assistant Manager. Actually, you might have seen me before, trotting around Obubu’s blog and social media [The (not so) Secret Life of An Intern – May 2023] as last spring I first joined Obubu as an intern […]

Assistant Manager blog WJ Justin [2023.02月~03月]

Hello everyone! It’s me, WJ Justin! Coming back with updates from February to March. It feels like time flies so fast! February and March passed in a flesh! How was your February and March? Well, for me, I think it was very intense with a lot things happened at Obubu. And, I would like share […]

Assistant Manager blog Jean [2023.04月]

Hello everyone! My name is Jean, and I am working as an Assistant Manager at Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms in Wazuka. I am also a former intern at Obubu. You are presently reading my first blog post! Yaaaaaay! This blog will be about my life in Japan and what Obubu has been up to. You […]