2013 Shincha is here! - Over 100+ New Pots Added To WaSabiDou site!

JUNE 2013

It’s that time of year again…shincha is in! The annual new tea harvest in Japan occurs in May, and we usually receive our shipment around June. It’s always an exciting time of year for Japanese tea drinkers, and this year is no exception. We’re continuing to carry two of the new teas added last year; Usuki Organic Sencha from Oita, and Tsuno Sencha from Kouchi. This year, we’ve added two new teas that we are proud to offer; another wonderful tea from Kagoshima Prefecture, Hayato Sencha from Kirishima City, and a smooth & sweet Tamaryoku Sencha from the famous tea producing city of Ureshino in Saga Prefecture. Our Asahina Karigane (stems of Gyokuro,) from Okabe in Shikuzoka, is also back in stock. We hope you’ll enjoy all of our tea offerings! Visit the shopping pages of our Charaku Fine Japanese Tea website to see all. 

There is still a limited quantity of 2012 harvest teas available at a 20% discount. As many of you know, our teas are nitrogen-flushed and individually small-packed in Japan to maintain maximum freshness. We never buy in bulk and re-package. Therefore, even these 2012 teas will stay fresh, unopened, well into 2014. If you’d like to stock up, or see what’s still available, just drop me a line. Stock is limited and subject to availability.

We also have LOTS of new pottery inventory posted on our craft site, WaSabiDou. Over 100 pieces of new work are available from the father & son potters, Isamu and Munetoshi Tagami, from Mashiko; George Gledhill, Sachiko Furuya, and Hanako Nakazato. There is also still a good selection of yunomi from John Miller as well as a vast library of classic books on Japanese arts and crafts. Just visit the site, go to “Ceramics” from the home page, and then enter a term in the search bar. Or, browse through all 200 hundred items under the Ceramic heading!

Plate: Hinata Kiln, Mashiko

Wood-fired Tea Bowl, George Gledhill

Shino & Bamboo Ash Glaze Vase,
Sachiko Furuya

 

Porcelain Sake / Whiskey Cups
Hanako Nakazato

 

Tokoname Kyusu,
Yoshiki Murata

Yunomi, John Miller

We also recently acquired these fantastic woodblock prints from Serizawa Keisuke, who was designated a National Living Treasure in 1956. These prints were issued by the Japan Folk Craft Museum over a few years, and these prints (one in English and one in Japanese) were hand printed in 1970. They are maps of the traditional folk kilns of Japan and are quite rare!

Tin-lined Tea Shipment Box

Also, here are some more vintage tea export items that I began discussing in my June 12th post. I hope that those items have been enjoyable to view. 

And, as always, thank you all for another year of the opportunity to share tea. 

Sincerely, Tatsuo Tomeoka, Charaku – WaSabiDou.   

Lid Interior Detail

     

Black Bird Brand Tea Box              

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