Akihiro Kita, the President of Obubu Chaen, has been a tea farmer and processor for about 25 years including his training period. From the emotional encounter with a cup of Kabuse Sencha Tea by experiencing a part-time job at a tea farm in Wazuka, Introduction to Japanese Tea Akky 16 years ago?! He dropped […]
Hello everyone! How are you doing? I think there are many people who are having troubles or are having a hard time due to the influence of the new coronavirus. I hope that these things will come to an end quickly. At times like this, everyone is amazed with the power of Japanese tea. For […]
This blog post is the creation of one of our amazing previous interns Carly De La Cruz. She came to Wazuka to learn about tea and she delved into the rich history and culture with fervour. It’s always a pleasure to see people so passionate about tea and so keen to learn more about how […]
There are many ways to make tea, and just as many kinds of teapots. Today we’re going to talk about the three types of Japanese tea ware we use most often at Obubu: the chawan, houhin, and kyusu. Chawan 茶碗 Chawan, or tea bowls, are used together with bamboo whisks for making matcha in the […]
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 […]
During tea tours, we are often asked whether there are different types of plants for different teas. Read on for the answer! Tea Cultivars A cultivar is a group of plants that have been bred by farmers for desirable characteristics. Cultivars can be more or less suited to weather conditions (frost hardy or early […]
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 […]
As we’ve seen in the “What’s in a Name?” blog series, Japan is famous for producing green tea in great variety. There’s sencha, tencha, matcha, gyokuro, kukicha, bancha, genmaicha, and houjicha. These have been central to Japanese production for hundreds of years. However, if we look beyond green tea, there is even more delicious tea to […]
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 […]
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