Tea diaries: Making the Tea Tour

Currently in Shizuoka.

Hello, tea friends!

I should probably be getting some sleep after back to back 12-hour days of site visits, but my mind has been buzzing with excitement. I also wanted to document what went into the first day of this leg of the trip, which was all about “making the tea tour.”

We kicked off the morning with an in-person discussion on why we put this tour together. It took more than a year of planning to get the right team together, but we wanted to create a special experience highlighting tea and craft while also making new connections with Suruga-based artisans.

The area of Suruga, which includes the central part of Shizuoka, is known as the home of Mt. Fuji, tea production, and rich agriculture. This area is often considered the “road less traveled” compared to more popular areas in Japan. Shizuoka, interestingly enough, is only about 1.5 hours away from Kyoto and Tokyo—definitely an area you can comfortably visit in between major travel destinations. It’s also a great place to enjoy tea and the mountain air.

After the meeting, it was time for the experiences—matcha calligraphy, Japanese tea blending and food pairing from a chashi (tea master), and reconnecting with our beloved tea partners. Check out these BTS photos of my day.

Morning breakfast and meeting with the SURUGA Marketing & Tourism Bureau and tour partners.

Japanese green tea blending experience with Iwazaki san. He is a chashi (tea master) and a Japanese green tea blending champion.

9-course dinner tea pairing

Drinking fresh tea leaves with Terumi san in her tea room.

Thank you again for all the sweet messages during my travels. Now, let’s see what happened on day two.. to be continued.

Cheers,

Amy

Photography by Studio Luniste