Mariko's Tea Journey
Stepping off the d:matcha shuttle bus in Yubune this summer felt like entering a scene from my favourite childhood movies. Everything looked like a piece of art, from the wave-like rows of tea plants and rice fields to the wooden houses on the hills.
As an intern at d:matcha, I was able to see how this beauty is reflected in the process of growing, preparing, and serving tea. Daiki-san, Misato-san, and the d:matcha team exemplified how tea is an art that takes time to master, with the care and thought that goes into the organic farming process, and the creativity involved in producing the final products. Each lesson on how to brew sencha, matcha, koicha, or a matcha latte showed me how much attention to detail goes into a single cup of tea.
During the internship I had the opportunity to combine my love for painting with the inspiration and materials on the tea farm. My project was to create paintings of the farm and tea using a mix of conventional paint materials as well as matcha as ink. Small portions of matcha that would otherwise have gone to waste, such as the leftover matcha powder from tea tasting demonstrations, were used as paint in some of the pieces.
Painting with a natural material such as matcha was a unique experience. The fresh paintings start out vibrant and green, with a strong aroma of the matcha used. Like drinking tea, it is possible to recognise the differences in colour and smell between the varieties of matcha used on paper, and I could appreciate the vibrancy and freshness of okumidori, gokou, and kanayamidori in a new way. As the matcha oxidises over time, the paintings evolve into a softer muted colour.
While painting with a more sustainable material, I was also able to learn about how the organic farming process brings change to the fields over time. Due to the organic process, d:matcha’s organic tea fields are full of life. During a day working in the field it is possible to see the dragonflies, frogs, praying mantis, wide variety of spiders, and other insects that live in the tea trees and surrounding plants. As Daiki-san and Misato-san explained, this ecosystem can take years to build up as the insects return to the field and reach a healthy balance. Organic farming requires more work than conventional farming, but the benefits on the surrounding environment are clear when you see the life that thrives around the tea plants.
d:matcha is a unique example of how the natural environment combined with the tradition of tea can create a product that is an art form of it’s own, and I hope that this vision will continue to inspire others as it has for me.
