Picking tea leaves (茶摘み)

Hi, how are you? We feel it is getting warmer in NY but it can also changes to cold again quickly.

Today’s blog is about picking tea leaves.

The start of tea harvest is in April or May. Each leaf is carefully plucked by hand one at a time. It is said that we would be able to spend a good life without sickness if we drink green tea during the first harvest. Matcha is a high quality tea because it is made from the first harvest leaves of the year when they are still budding. In the case of Matcha, the leaves are grounded to a fine powder. I remembered we can see the mountains of green tea leaves fields in May at Shizuoka, Japan. Shizuoka is also a famous place for green tea production. There is an old song about picking tea leaves and we want to share it with you.

———————————————————————————- Song Title : 茶摘み (“Cha-tumi” / Picking tea leaves) 夏も近づく八十八夜野にも山にも若葉が茂るあれに見えるは茶摘みじゃないか茜だすきに菅の笠 ———————————————————————————-

This is our translation:

夏も近づく八十八夜 Summer is getting closer as 88 days passed (*This 88 days starts from Spring February 4 to May 2) 野にも山にも若葉が茂る Thick young leaves grows on the field and mountains. あれに見えるは茶摘みじゃないか Will we see tea leaves being picked at the scene? 茜だすきに菅の笠 They wear “madder sash” and “moth hat”. The “madder sash” is a red color sash that helps control bleeding in case of an accident. During the process of picking leaves, people also wear a moth hat. The moth hat acts like a sun shade because it blocks ultra violent light from the sun.

Thank you very much for reading and taking your precious time with us. See you again on our next blog.