Spring Tea Picking – New Tea "Hachijūhachiya" Now Available Online
Known as the first flush, new tea—"shincha"—is typically harvested from mid‑April to early May each year. This year, to celebrate the shincha, we held a tea-picking event at SPAC Art Park on May 3.
Hachijūhachiya - ChaChaCha's first flush
In tea culture, "Hachijūhachiya" refers to picking the early tea leaves on the 88th day from the beginning of spring—usually mid‑April to early May. This timing signals the end of frost risk, and traditionally, gathering shincha at this moment is considered ideal.
As the young leaves vigorously grow toward summer, it's the perfect period for tea harvesting. We picked this year's shincha right at that moment.
Our Hachijūhachiya shincha is now available for order in our online store. Quantities are limited, but we invite you to enjoy its fresh flavor at home.
Only for This Season: A Field of Vibrant Green
Just before the shincha harvest, the tea garden is awash in vivid new green. Every year when we see this sight, we feel both pride—"We grew the tea safely again this year"—and deep emotion at how much has grown.
We're also reminded of our responsibility to protect this landscape so that it can be passed on to future generations. This sense of duty becomes a powerful motivation to keep going, year after year.
Since last year, ChaChaCha has been expanding tea fields in Shizuoka Prefecture, greatly increasing the scale of our spring picking. It got to a point that we couldn't handle it with just the Ishii family.
In that regard, the support of guests at the event and friends who came to help through various connections was truly encouraging and a great pillar of support. Thank you all once again!
Mini Interviews
We asked two helpers, Matt and Eari, about their impressions of ChaChaCha's tea garden experience.
Matt
Matt – a student from Thailand who arrived in Japan in February and now attends a language school in Tokyo. This trip was his first visit outside Tokyo.
"I decided not to take the Shinkansen, but to go by local trains. I enjoyed watching the scenery, and I felt like we arrived faster than I expected."
He stayed in Shizuoka for three days and two nights, visiting not only our tea-picking event but also other tea farms and sites of tea production.
"Matcha has been popular in Thailand as well, and when I was in high school, I often had matcha lattes from cafes like Starbucks. "
"But this was my first time in a tea garden. Ishii-san taught me many things—like the need to wear gloves to avoid injuring your hands, and not to wear perfume or anything with scent because it affects the tea's flavor. I learned a lot of great things and had a lot of fun."
At the “PLAY! PLAY! PLAY! Garden” event held in Suruga Castle Park in Shizuoka, Matt naturally became something like the “friendly face” of the ChaChaCha booth. His warm smile and cheerful conversations with visitors made the booth feel even more welcoming.
Eari
Eari joined us for the first time this spring, drawn by an interest in ChaChaCha's activities. It was also her very first visit to a tea farm in Shizuoka.
"When I first saw the tea fields, I was deeply moved by the beauty of nature and by the amount of care and effort that goes into making tea. Standing before the wide-open landscape, I could really feel the story behind every cup of tea. It made me appreciate the tea I drink every day even more."
During her stay, Eari took on a variety of challenges—not only picking tea leaves in the fields, but also helping with tea processing at the factory and supporting sales at our event booth.
"I observed how Japanese black tea is made. It was fascinating to see how the scent, appearance, and even the weight of the tea kept changing with each step of the process. Lifting the machine bags full of harvested leaves and loading them onto the truck was heavier than I'd expected—it really takes some physical strength!"
At the event booth, where she helped introduce ChaChaCha's teas to customers, she shared: "It was more difficult than I thought to explain a product's appeal in words and have people actually pick it up and try it."
"Learning about the tea-making process and realizing how important communication is—both in how you present something and how you engage with people—became a valuable experience that I feel will help me in future work and activities."
From fieldwork to factory processing, all the way to selling the finished Japanese black tea at the event—Airy helped us every step of the way. The handwritten sign displayed at our booth was created by Eari herself, who is skilled in calligraphy.
It must have been a series of first-time experiences, but we were truly impressed by how dedicated she was and how she did her best to explain the teas she had just learned about to our customers.
Thank you both so much! We hope you'll come visit ChaChaCha's tea garden again anytime.
At ChaChaCha, we always welcome those who are interested in experiencing the world of tea. Whether you're a student or working professional, you're more than welcome. If you're interested, feel free to reach out via our contact form.