Every spring, “Sakura ‘kaika sengen (lit: opening flower announcement)’” is issued. People start to think where and when they should go to see Sakura.
After Sakura, tea people wait for “hoga sengen (budding announcement)’”. Hoga sengen is issued when about 70% of new buds of “Yabukita” variety (the most common variety to produce green tea) cultivated at a research institute are grown about twice as big as the size of leaves which are wrapped the buds.
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| photo by T |
And Kyoto tea authority issued the announcement on April 3, 2013, which is three days earlier than usual thanks to warmer March.
Usually, about one month after the announcement, tea is ready to be picked. For sure, tea front line is now moving north throughout Japan.
