Shincha 2017 has come! - Tea Nouveau-

Japanese tea season starts from the southern part of Japan.

Tanegashima, Kagoshima prefecture is one of the earliest places where the Shincha (the first flush Sencha of the year) begins to be put on the market.

Usually, it’s around the end of March, but this year it just started because spring came a bit late. It’s the first time in 23 years since their Shincha put on the market  in April instead of March.

Whatever it is, much-awaited Shincha (literally means; new tea) season has come! Shincha season is going up north including to Kyoto and Shizuoka.

frm Shojuen

Japanese-ish :-)

These days, Japan is thronged with tourists from overseas. We see more souvenir stores here and there for them. Going in, you often see just "GREEN" area!! Sometimes, green for Wasabi, sometimes, green is for TEA!

I often find an interesting stuff that I don't see the regular supermarkets Japanese usually go to. This is one of them: Matcha Latte Liqueur.

I don't buy anything from those stores, but it is fun to see what they have. They have a lot of things which are "Japanese-'ish'".

Taste of Belover Home -Tohoku-

At 2:46 PM on March 11^th , 2011, it happened. It’s been 6 years since the disaster of the magnitude-9.0 quake, tsunami and nuclear power plants hit in Tohoku area.

As of March 10^th 2017, the death toll is 15,893, and the number of people left missing is more than 2553. And still more than 120,000 people remain displaced. It’s been 6 years, but we still have a long long way to go.

I was at a Tohoku fair held at a department store in Osaka at 2:46 PM today, and bought some food at the fair. 

This is one of them, called " Cream Box". It seems a very popular snack at Koriyama city in Fukushima. A guy of this store from Fukushima was saying, " This is just a slice of bread which cream is spread on, and you may not think "Wow, this is great!', but this is taste of our beloved home!!"

On the right time, all of customers and the staff members there observed a one-minute silence. I will appreciate the Fukushima's tastes including this cream box at home.

"Discover Premium Green" Year in Kyoto

Through this coming April till March in 2018, Kyoto will be full of tea!

Lots of tea events named “Discover premium green” will be held here and there in Kyoto throughout the year.You will be able to enjoy some hands-on experiences like tea-picking and tea processing, tea-ceremony at a golden house, and have special food and drink at the restaurants and tea rooms or so.

If you happen to visit Kyoto during the special year, you will find the fascination of tea in Kyoto!

"Discover Premium Green" ( in Japanese only)

http://ochahaku.kyoto/

Strawberry Tea + Creamy Vanilla Snack = !???

♪♪　I have a strawberry  tea, I have a creamy-vanilla Pocky (or Mikado) snacks, ah “strawberry layered cake”!????? 　♬ 

.........Can’t be!!

But Kirin Beverage Co.,Ltd,and Ezaki Glico Co.,Ltd, have turned into reality. 

Bottled "strawberry-flavored tea" by Kirin beverage and "Creamy vanilla-flavored Pocky (Mikado)" by Ezaki Glico appeared on the market on February 21st as a collaborative project. They say if you have this snack with this strawberry tea, you will enjoy the taste of  "strawberry layered cake" in your mouth!

This is not the first time for the two companies to work together. It's the third part of the series since the last two collaborative products were very popular. Does it mean they are good???

Whatever it is....it seems catchy especially among younger Japanese people.

Chagayu -Tea Rice Porridge-

I took part in a chagayu get-together hosted by Ms Takemura from a tea shop “Takemura Gyokusuien” in Kyoto. 

Chagayu, literally means tea rice porridge, is unsweetened and savory rice porridge cooked in tea. Rice porridge (called kayu or o-kayu) cooked in seasoned water is very common throughout the country, but chagayu is not. It’s customarily eaten in some areas including Nara, Wakayama and the southern part of Kyoto, not in the Kyoto city.

At the event, three different types of porridge cooked in three different teas including Sencha, Hojicha and very very smoky flavored Bancha were prepared. The nice aroma of teas were coming out while the teas in a bag were being boiled, which made me hungry.

Once tea is ready, put some rice into a pan and boil until ready. Put a lid on and wait for another several minutes. And then, here we are!

*Sencha one (on the left) : It tastes very refreshing.

*Hojicha one (on the right) : The toasty aroma is wonderful!

*Bancha one (on the top) : It's cooked with sweet potatoes: Very very very smoky aroma of the tea, which I love, is really good with the potatoes. It’s bit stickier than the others because of, I think, the potatoes.

Some other dishes accompanied by the porridge were also tasty. They were all made by Ms Takemura. She is really good cook! 

It is said that it's been more than 1200 years since people, mainly the Buddhist monks in Nara, started to eat chagayu. It is a simple dish, but I think chagayu is more than just that especially for people in some areas.

*Web: Takemura-Gyokusuien (in Japanese)   http://www.gyokusuien.com/index.html

They don't serve the porridge at the shop, but they have a great selection of teas. 

Spring Starts! -To the “Hachiju-hachiya” -

It was a lovely day today, an ideal for the first day of the spring!

Yes, today is called "risshun" referring to the first day of the spring 2017 according to the traditional Japanese calendar. 

And, if you are interested in Japanese tea. just wait another 88 days.The 88^th nights from "risshun" is the most important tea day known as “hachiju-hachiya (lit; eighty-eight night)”. In 2017, it falls on May 2. It is believed that drinking green tea made from tea leaves picked on Hachiju-hachiya will bring you good health for the year. So, tea on the day can be called “good luck tea”. 

Tea festivals are annually held at tea-producing areas including Kyoto and Shizuoka on the day. Lately, a lot of tea lovers from overseas will join the event. If you happen to be in Japan on that day, why don’t you visit the tea areas!