| Harvest at the Birthplace of Uji Tea |
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| - Shincha News Flash! |
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| Seasonal Topics & Items |
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| Dear Sir and Madam, |
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| We at Hibiki-an THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your continued patronage and support.
We are pleased to offer useful information for your healthy life and continued
enjoyment of Japanese green tea. In this issue, we talk about 'Harvest at the Birthplace of Uji Tea (Shincha News Flash!)'. |
| We have been following the green tea sprouts from early spring when the tea trees put out their first new buds to the harvest of Shincha, the first tea of the year. Now, we bring you the latest breaking news and information from Hibiki-an's tea farm in Ujitawara in Kyoto! |
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Around May 7: (Harvest at the Birthplace of Uji Tea) |
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| Obuku is the first place where tea trees were planted in the Uji region of Japan. |
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| Tea sprouts, which will be picked very soon. |
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| Sencha grown in the Obuku area was presented to the Japanese Emperors for many years. |
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| Sencha Pinnacle and Sencha Super Premium, which are grown at Obuku area and specially picked by skilled hands. |
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| Idle banter is one of pleasant times for hand-picking ladies. |
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| Everyone is very happy, because we can savor the joy of the harvest. |
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| Obuku area is surrounded by rich nature, which is an ideal place for Japanese green tea to grow. |
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| Young tea sprouts are gathered into big bamboo cages, and carried to a tea processing factory. |
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Now is the time for the Shincha (Sencha) harvest that we have all been waiting for! Shincha harvest started in the Uji region some days ago.
Obuku, where is located in mountain ravines, is the first place where tea trees were planted in the Uji region of Japan. Sencha produced in the Obuku area was presented to the Japanese Emperors for many years.
Today most tea leaves are trimmed by machine and traditional hand picked Sencha is rarely grown and is therefore very precious. The flavor and aroma of hand picked Sencha is much more mellow and refreshing than tea trimmed by machine.
One of the difficult aspects of the hand pick harvest is to assemble the team who will pick the tea. The farmer must decide the harvest date a week before at least due to the issue. Rain dew can ruin the harvested tea sprouts, so tea harvests are unable to be done during and after rain. Besides, this season's weather is quite uncertain. And it is said that tea leaves grow one sprout every four days during this season, and the best harvest timing is when three or four new sprouts appear. If too early, the harvest yield would be low, and if too late, the tea quality would be low. The ideal hand pick Sencha harvest date is just a few days every year.
To decide the harvest date, the farmer carefully checks the growth of the tea sprouts, weather forecast, and the temperature changes from the past few years.
Even a skilled tea harvester can hand pick just up to 6 to 8kg of fresh tea leaves all through the day. The picked fresh tea leaves are processed and finished, at which point the total weight of the tea leaves is only about 18% of the fresh tea leaves. Even if about 20 skilled tea harvesters pick all through the day, we can only gather around 25 kg of finished precious hand picked Sencha. From the time the sprouts appear to the time the leaves become too large to harvest is just a few days. So tea leaves for Shincha (Sencha) must be harvested as quickly as possible in one long stretch. Therefore it is never easy to pick large amounts of tea leaves by skilled hands in just a few days.
Top grade tea, hand picked Sencha is grown only in quite a small amount, because there is only one small place in all of the world perfect for farming this special tea - a tiny area of land located right here in the Uji region of Japan. Therefore, hand picked Sencha is very precious.
At last, we can celebrate the first tea harvest of the year with Shincha and enjoy its wonderful fresh flavor!
(The tea leaves for our Sencha Pinnacle and Sencha Super Premium are grown in the Obuku area, the birth place of Uji tea, and picked by skilled hands.) |
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Shincha teas: Shincha (the first tea of the year) is harvested starting at the beginning of May in Kyoto.
We are now arranging for some limited edition Shincha teas only available this Shincha harvest season. They will get available soon. Celebrate our first tea harvest of the year with Hibiki-an's Shincha and enjoy the remarkable fresh flavor, which can only be experienced once every year! |
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| What is Shincha?: click here |
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| Are you enjoying your green moments? Hibiki-an encourages those who love to drink green tea. If you have any requests or questions regarding our teas or services, please don't hesitate to contact us. We sincerely hope that you enjoy genuine Hibiki-an Japanese green tea direct to you from Kyoto, Japan. |
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| Sincerely yours, |
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| Atsushi Yasui |
Seasonal Topics & Items
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[New & Limited] Matcha Bowls / Accessories (Spring and Summer) |
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We have arranged for 15 limited edition. The 15
limited editions are all available only this spring
and summer season. The new and limited edition tea ware includes Matcha
Bowls mainly from Kyo Yaki. Some Matcha bowls are simple but very sophisticated,
and others well match with spring and summer season.
We have chosen items that are of exceptional quality yet reasonable in price. They will certainly enrich and enhance your green moment. |
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Matcha Bowls |
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Starter Sets |
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| Matcha Bowls / Accessories shopping category: click here |
| Teapots / Cups shopping category: click here |
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ANAGAMA Matcha Bowls: One-of-a-kind piece / Now Available |
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We have begun to sell very special Matcha Bowls fired in the most traditional kiln, ANAGAMA by the ceramic artist Mr. Eizan Okuda.
ANAGAMA is an ancestor of the climbing kiln, a traditional style of kiln built on an upward incline. There is never one ANAGAMA the same as any other. Each work is one of a kind.(So, once sold, it will be out of stock.) ANAGAMA pottery is the art of the combination of earth and fire. It fascinates the artisan and touches the heart. Last autumn, Mr. Eizan produced some very beautiful and unique pieces of ANAGAMA pottery. The kiln firing continued from September 7th to 10th.
We, at Hibiki-an, are fortunate to be able to offer some of his ANAGAMA pottery. Please take a look. You are sure to fall in love. |
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[ANAGAMA Matcha Bowl] HOHJYOH-no-DAICHI (by Eizan Okuda): US$2,680.00
(One-of-a-kind piece / Now Available)
HOHJYOH means fertile, when the land is fertile and crops grow well. DAICHI of this name means the earth in Japanese. HOHJYOH no DAICHI refers to the generosity and strength of the earth which gives us a bountiful harvest. A special clay created by Mr. Eizan Okuda was used to produce this dark brown Matcha bowl... |
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[ANAGAMA Matcha Bowl] MINORI-no-UTAGE (by Eizan Okuda): US$2,080.00
(One-of-a-kind piece / Now Available)
MINORI means crop or harvest and UTAGE means celebration in Japanese. The name evokes a lively celebration where people gather to welcome the bountiful harvest from the earth in autumn. This Matcha bowl was made using a hand-building technique. First Mr. Eizan Okuda makes coils and places them around the edge of the base in spirals... |
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[ANAGAMA Matcha Bowl] KANSETSU (by Hozan Tanii): US$2,080.00
(One-of-a-kind piece / Now Available)
KANSETSU means snowcap. This Matcha bowl looks like a snowcapped mountain reflecting the sunlight. A thin covering of natural ash glaze created this beautiful white color during firing in the kiln. This KANSETSU Matcha bowl evokes the snowcapped mountain which towers with its majestic nobility... |
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[ANAGAMA Matcha Bowl] SOHSYUN (by Hozan Tanii): US$2080.00
(One-of-a-kind piece / Now Available)
SOHSYUN means beginning of spring. The green gold color of BEEDORO glaze looks like new sprouts just starting to grow. The white color of this Matcha bowl looks like snow on the ground. A thin covering of natural ash glaze created this beautiful white color during firing in the kiln... |
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[ANAGAMA Matcha Bowl] KUSANO-SHIRATSUYU (by Eizan Okuda): US$3,280.00
(Sold / Not Available)
KUSA means grass, and SHIRATSUYU means white dew in Japanese, but it also refers to a day on the calendar, September 10th. This bowl was unloaded from the kiln on September 10th. This Matcha bowl has many fine aspects, such as its BEEDORO glaze, white and greenish brown spots, gradation color of HIIRO, and so on... |
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| ANAGAMA Matcha Bowls - Eizan Kiln page: click here |
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(Notice) Now Shipping to Most Countries (COVID-19 issue)
As shown in the below chart, at last, we are now able to ship to most countries, though the situation is still not fully back to normal.
Orders bound for some countries (like the US, Australia, Singapore, etc.) still can be temporarily accepted only with DHL Express International NOT Standard International.
We are still temporarily unable to ship to some countries, such as Israel,
Russia, Ireland, Ukraine etc. And deliveries can be delayed due to each country's
situation. (more info, click here)
We strongly recommend that you choose the Express International Delivery option, which is fast and trackable. Or you may wish to order after the COVID-19 crisis calms down and conditions return to normal...
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Latest Flight Status (as of April 15th)
- 'o': Almost normal delivery time, though there are some delays.
- '-': Significantly delayed, though flights are not stopped.
- 'x': Stopped flights
| Flights (bound for) | Express
International
(Postal) | Standard
International
(Postal) | DHL Express
International |
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| United States | x | x | o |
| Canada | x | x | |
| Australia | x | - | o |
| United Kingdom | o | - | |
| Switzerland | o | - | |
| Italy | o | - | |
| Germany | o | - | |
| Singapore | o | - | |
| France | o | - | |
| Spain | x | x | |
| Norway | o | - | |
| New Zealand | o | - | |
| Israel | x | x | |
| Russia | x | x | |
| Netherlands | o | - | |
| Hong Kong | o | - | |
| Sweden | o | - | |
| Denmark | o | - | |
| Belgium | o | - | |
| Czechia | o | - | |
| UAE | x | x | o |
| Finland | o | o | |
| Austria | o | - | |
| Thailand | o | - | |
| Hungary | o | - | |
| Ireland | o | o | |
| Bulgaria | o | - | |
| Ukraine | o | o | |
| India | x | x | |
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| Flights (bound for) | Express
International
(Postal) | Standard
International
(Postal) | DHL Express
International |
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| Romania | x | x | |
| Brazil | x | x | |
| Croatia | o | - | |
| Indonesia | o | - | |
| Lithuania | o | - | |
| Poland | o | - | |
| Slovakia | o | - | |
| Malaysia | o | - | |
| Mexico | o | - | |
| Philippines | o | - | |
| Iceland | o | - | |
| Turkey | o | - | |
| Latvia | o | - | |
| Serbia | o | - | |
| Saudi Arabia | x | x | |
| Taiwan | o | - | |
| Lebanon | o | - | |
| Luxembourg | o | - | |
| Vietnam | o | - | |
| South Africa | o | - | |
| Ecuador | o | - | |
| Qatar | o | - | |
| Cambodia | x | x | |
| Portugal | o | - | |
| Kazakhstan | o | - | |
| Belarus | o | - | |
| Estonia | o | - | |
| Slovenia | o | - | |
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Account info
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