Healthy roots grow healthy leaves. September 2022, the typhoon hit Japan with unprecedented speed of wind and amount of rain, from Kagoshima on the southern island to Shizuoka on the main island. Thank you for your thoughtfulness as I received emails from those who...
I was raised in a city that is famous for its Japanese pottery, Seto ware. Seasonal “Seto ware festivals” were held twice a year and I was surrounded by pottery and porcelain at home. Thanks to my parents’ appreciation for Seto ware, I also developed...
Throughout the past fall and winter, our beloved “Samurai Tea Master” Mr. Sakamoto and his family were busy preparing the healthiest tea garden to produce superior Gyokuro and Matcha with a richer flavor and a rounder aftertaste. Tea Master, Mr. Sakamoto, made a video...
Shade-grown tea in Japan is getting really popular. During our Japan Tea Tour 2019, shown in the above picture, we visited a tea master, Mr. Sakamoto, at his tea farm in Kagoshima, Japan. Our friend and tea maestro, Bruce Richardson, wrote an article about the visit...
Truly One of A Kind of Experience This spring, as many of you know, we flew to Japan with our new friends gathered from all over the nation. 12 of us flew to Japan separately and joined together in Kyoto. We all spoke English but with different accents! And we all...
Today, we zipped down to one of the suthern islands of Japan, Kyushu, on Shinkansen (bullet train). Kagoshima is located on the southern tip of Kyusyu island. Kagoshima is the second largest green tea producer after Shizuoka, Japan. It is predicted green tea...
Our Japan tea tour became even more interesting and insightful with our amazing Tea Master and Historian, Bruce Richardson, as he shared his abundant knowledge with us throughout the itinerary, including Japanese influence over American architecture, Japanese tea...
Tea: Local business evokes Japanese culture SEI MEE TEA By Kana Oliver For Wallowa County Chieftain, April 10, 2019 Kiyomi Koike, owner of local business, Sei Mee Tea, came to the United States 25 years ago from Japan and now is a United States Citizen and proud...
You may be surprised to learn how many Japanese words you already know. Probably you have heard of “Tofu,” “Sushi,” “Tempura,” etc… These are Japanese words. Yes, they are all foods! Japanese food, “Wa-shoku,” is...
BRIDGE TO ANOTHER WORLD— SEI MEE TEA JAPAN TOUR with TEA HISTORIAN BRUCE RICHARDSON March 22-29, 2019 DAY 1 Fri 22 Departure JL 069 1:45pm Los Angeles DAY 2 Sat 23 Arrival 6:15pm Osaka, Japan Kyoto Kansai Int’l Airport to Hotel Kyoto Century Hotel...
As green tea is gaining popularity, more specific names of green tea are used as product names. If you are a tea fan, probably you’ve heard “Gyokuro.” Gyokuro is pronounced ‘g-yo-koo-ro’, and its Kanji characters, 玉露, mean...
Can kids drink green tea? Would you be surprised if I tell you even toddlers drink green tea in Japan? I have been asked, ‘Is it OK to give green tea to my teenage kids?’ That question surprised me since I’ve grown up in a culture where green tea is given...
