Kai’s Kitchen- Nothing more appetizing than a good appetizer

Kai’s Kitchen Nothing more appetizing than a good appetizer         Hello all! Welcome back to Kai’s Kitchen. This week we kick things off by leaning a bit into the savory side of things. Japanese Tea is very well known for its insane umami flavor. Umami is a word overused and not very well […]

The 88th Day: Spring tea picking tradition!

Hachijuu-Hachiya, the 88th Day  八十八夜 The 88th day of traditional Japanese calendar, which falls right around May 1st or 2nd, is famous as an important date for farmers, and especially tea farmers. For several hundred years, the 88th day has been considered the best day to start the spring tea harvest. Those tender new shoots […]

Exploring Wazuka: Shrines and Temples

Shrines and temples are everywhere in Japan, from the huge buddha at Todaiji in Nara to tiny Jizo statues along roadsides, and Wazuka has its own collection of beautiful cultural sites, several of which are part of our hiking tea tours. Tenmangu Shrine The picture at the top of this page is of Tenmangu, the […]

Wazuka: 800 Years of Tea

Today’s post is about the history of tea in Wazuka, the beautiful hometown of Obubu, where all our teas are grown. Chagenkyo, Wazuka’s nickname, means the home origin of tea, or Teatopia, as we like to translate it. In fact, Wazuka has cultivated tea since the Kamakura period, over 800 years ago, when Japanese green tea […]