D&Department is a decades-long project founded by Nagoka Kenmei in 2002 and is known for its innovative focus on Long Life Design. D&Department’s activities include workshops, exhibitions, travel guides, events — and much more — all of which foster the development of close relationships with producers, […]
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Tokyo is a wonderful place to enjoy the exceptional adventures that are only possible in a large metropolitan center with a seemingly endless range of globally influenced food, art, and culture available 24/7. After spending a few days in a dense concentration of urban opportunity, visitors […]
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Welcome to the final segment of our four-part series on notable tea regions in Japan! In this post, we land in Kyoto Prefecture’s Uji region to experience the cultural heart and history of tea in Japan. If you are just now joining us, check out our […]
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Welcome to part three of our four-part series on notable tea regions in Japan. So far, we’ve covered both Kagoshima Prefecture and Fukuoka Prefecture. Today we will spend some time at the base of Mt. Fuji in the tea fields of Shizuoka Prefecture. Next time, in […]
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Perhaps you’re ready to start brewing Japanese tea at home but not sure where to begin. Today’s post will share a few basic, but essential tea utensils that can help transform a mundane tea experience into a simple, but beautiful and deeply flavorful experience that can […]
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Most tea lovers know that all tea comes from the same plant – camellia sinensis. Whether you’re drinking green, black (also known as red), oolong, pu-erh, or yellow tea, camellia sinensis is the steeped leaf you are consuming. It can be kind of astonishing to keep […]
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Kyle Wittington is a dedicated chajin (tea person) with wide-ranging skills and interests in tea ceremony and practice. He not only makes tea, but also creates tea related textiles, stages public tea events and even hosts a tea reading group online. For today’s interview, we enjoyed […]
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Maiko Tea is a company based in Kyotanabe, Japan and offers a variety of Japanese green teas. They are also the only sellers of Yamashita Toshikazu’s gyokuro — a suite of award winning tea that have helped make this part of Kyoto Prefecture world-renowned for producing […]
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Congratulations! You’re about to attend your first Japanese tea ceremony. Or, maybe it has simply been a long time since you’ve been to a ceremony, and a few reminders regarding basic tearoom protocol would be useful? Depending on the context, the ceremony you attend could be […]
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TEA AS PERSONAL REVELATION If you’re reading this blog post in a busy place, perhaps surrounded by a lot of people moving around, it might be helpful to put on a pair of headphones and move to a quieter place. Or maybe you’re actually multi-tasking at […]
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