
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 to tea houses on weekends with my family. Just like that it entered my life as something I loved enjoying every day. During middle school, I got into loose-leaf teas and Japanese culture, which then united into my passion for Japanese teas. All these elements brought me here to Obubu. I’ve been here for a bit more than 3 months, and time has flown by super-fast!
If there is one thing I love doing here in Wazuka, it’s lying in the pebbles in front of the house, looking at the stars, no matter if it’s hot or cold. Being quite remote, the town has very little light pollution. The sky is on full display, and while you can’t see the Milky Way, the view is still spectacular.

This being my first time in Japan, and having wanted to come for many years, I was excited to embark on my journey to Wazuka. I arrived in the middle of a typhoon, but luckily, aside from my flight being slightly delayed, I enjoyed smooth sailing.
With my giant luggage, in the middle of summer’s heat, I slowly made my way to Wazuka by train. I arrived at Kamo Station and took the infamous bus 65, the only bus to Wazuka! I was greeted by a sea of tea fields all around. The quiet town was alive with the cicadas chirping and dragonflies buzzing about. Never had I seen so many dragonflies!
When I arrived at Obubu, I was welcomed by a merry group having a fun tea tasting competition. In the morning, I felt a bit nervous not knowing everyone and how things ran. I was going from place to place, feeling lost as I was shown around and given my first tasks. Thankfully, the whole team was super welcoming.
I soon experienced my first tea tour as a guest. I had Pau as my brewer and Jack et Holden as presenter and assistant. Together with me enjoying the tour were the newly arrived Interns CC, Beatrice et Julie.

here was a party soon after, where I said goodbyes to people I just met and many hellos to those I would be spending the next few months with. The party was crazy and confusing, it was a lot of fun!
On September 5th, I had my first pizza in Japan! A pepperoni pizza with Genmaicha in its dough; it was tiny but delicious, baked in a cozy shared café.

Soon after, I had my first hand-rolling experience, making 手揉み茶 (Temomicha), on the traditional tea hand-rolling table, the 焙炉 (Hoiro). The tea that came out was delicious, although it had a bit of a bitter aftertaste. Hand rolling really takes a lot of back-breaking work as you stand over the hoiro for hours!

Soon, I got to make 玄米茶 (Genmaicha), a tea made with bancha and sometimes sencha leaves, along with 玄米 (Genmai), toasted mochi rice.
Learning how to present tea tours was a lot of fun; sharing knowledge has always been enjoyable, and tea tours are just that—plus, you get to drink a bunch of tea!
Not long after, I started learning the other side of tea tours: brewing. As a brewer, I had the chance not just to present but also to prepare tea for the guests, slowly perfecting my brewing techniques for each tea tour, which was a lot of fun. But soon, the season changed; a lingering summer left us behind, and the chill of autumn was upon us. Just like that, I had to readapt the skills I had learned to the new climate. Before, I was rushing to cool down the water, and now I found myself struggling to keep the water from cooling down too quickly!

My first time farming was on an awfully hot day, but thankfully we were blessed with some clouds occasionally gracing us with cool air. Me, CC, Beatrice, Jack, Holden, Julie together with Pau et Miwako-san we had our first harvest! The leaves from that day went on to become sencha of the autumn moon—a really refreshing tea, if I may say so.

This season, I was lucky to have the pleasure of traveling with some amazing people: the Oolong Gang! Together, we visited many different locations, from discovering Ine and a small tea shop on the sea front to going to Tokoname and seeing where a lot of famous pottery came from.

Now winter has come and like autumn the interns have left. Now alone in the house I’m left thinking of what’s to come. Next seasons is going to be fun!
