Keishi's Tea Journey

During my internship at d:matcha kyoto, I gained hands-on experience in a wide variety of tasks, starting with agricultural work in the tea fields, as well as packaging tea into bags and preparing for tours.

The very first farm work I experienced was trimming the tea bushes. Since it was my first time and I wasn't used to the movement, my arms were sore the next day. However, on a personal level, it was the most enjoyable task of the entire internship!

After that, I also got to experience covering the tea plants (shading) and weeding the fields. Furthermore, because my internship took place during the second-flush (nibancha) season, I was able to participate in harvesting the tea leaves as well.

Harvesting was one of the tasks I had been looking forward to even before starting the internship. In practice, the hardest part was loading the large, heavy sacks filled with freshly harvested tea leaves onto the truck. They were much heavier than I had imagined, and loading bag after bag was quite a physical challenge.

Even so, I was thrilled to actually experience the harvest I had been anticipating, and I really enjoyed working together with everyone as a team. Including the tough parts, it became one of the most memorable moments of my internship.

Experiencing everything from the harvest to the loading process firsthand made me realize just how much labor and effort goes into making a single cup of tea, and gave me a close-up appreciation for the hard work involved in tea production.

Besides working in the tea fields, I also had the chance to chop wood to clear out areas surrounding the tea fields. What I found particularly fun was watching Aka-san's energy levels soar higher and higher as soon as we started cutting wood! It wasn't just the tea cultivation itself; simple, casual moments like these with everyone became wonderful memories.

I also had a fantastic time after work back at the dormitory. I played games with Emma, went shopping in Shigaraki with my housemates on the weekend, and went to the movies with Sora-san, Alan-san, and Emma. Being able to spend time with everyone outside of work made my internship experience even more enjoyable.

The entire team at d:matcha was truly warm and kind, always taking the time to teach me patiently whenever I had questions. While some of the tasks were physically demanding, it was because I was working alongside everyone that I was able to enjoy every single day.

Being able to work alongside the d:matcha team during such a vital period as the second harvest, and learning about tea and agriculture directly on-site, was an invaluable experience. Not just the farm work, but all the time I spent at d:matcha, including the hours after work and my days off, has become an unforgettable memory that I will always cherish.