There is a tea brand called “Kaga-bohcha”, the Japanese stem tea in Kanazawa (that is the same as “Kaga”). You may know it as the tea frappe chino of Starbucks. Its characteristics is its aroma, and the color of the tea is brown and the taste isn’t tannic.There is one of their cafeterias in Higashi-chaya-gai in Kanazawa.
Higashi-chaya-gai is a popular sightseeing spot. Both sides along a central street have all traditional Japanese buildings. The front face of each building has a few beautiful big windows which are covered with art-craft grid patterns made by thin wooden sticks. The central street is made by flagstones. And over there behind the edge of the street is a hill covered with green leaves, you can’t see anything modern here and over there. Just upon entering into the town you shall feel that you are standing on a place of a different dimension. You may feel exited whether you can experience something you never have.
The tea café of the maker of the Japanese stem tea is on a corner of such an untouched field but it doesn’t freely open to you. It is similar to an expensive sushi restaurant. It is obviously open, but those of a traditional “noren”, a big Japanese textile in front of an entrance, and a beautiful wooden-made Japanese sliding door and the name of the café without a menu and cost-signage will make you hesitant because it must be very expensive. But yet remember that you felt excited on standing in the town. And let it go and open the door.
It is dim and quiet in the café even if other guests are sitting. You first may be nervous by the dimness and quietness, but It is set up to relax you. The staff members of the café shall take you to a seat with a subtle smile. All the staffs are women and they wear light brown blouses. The color of their blouses fits in with the dimness and everything seems to focus on enjoying the brown tea with good aroma.
After a short time, that is not long nor short, a staff brings a set of three tea cups with lids on a cutting board and set them on the table in front of you. And after passing a small paper to you she will explain what those are and will ask you which you select pouring hot water into the three cups including different stem teas. The small paper is the menu of the three teas, and information about the three teas and the costs are written. The costs of the teas and a sweet aren’t expensive, then it may relieve you and you are going to understand that the previous set up is for separating guests who want to enjoy a cup of tea from other travelers and for not spoiling the atmosphere of the café for the sake of making you concentrate on enjoying tea. The flavor of each of the three tea cups is all aromatic but individual, then you can select the one you love. The setting of the three tea cups is only for selection, so the staff takes it back and she starts to make your favorite tea. She brings a tea set with a good Japanese cup and a sweet. You can sufficiently enjoy your new favorite tea. While enjoying it you are given a little tea cup that is behind the menu. It is unsurpassably aromatic. You can enjoy it for no charge. You can totally know the depth of “omotenashi” only by tea, and it is the persistence of the stem tea maker.
The short story of the stem tea in Kanazawa
In the Edo period the green tea ceremony was popular among samurais or executive merchants in Kanazawa. Contrarily, the Japanese stem tea of Kanazawa has been for normal citizens. And the concept to make it has been tasty but cheap. And it has been developed to become better step by step. It might have been for answering to the opinions of citizens who want to drink better tea. Finally, the maker developed the special stem tea for Showa Emperor to drink in the latter part of the Showa period. He loved it and it fired the popularity of the stem tea in Kanazawa as the lovely tea of Showa Emperor.
It is the fundamental behavior of craftsmen in Kanazawa. In addition, the birth of The Japanese stem tea in Kanazawa is on the culture of Japanese tea ceremony. Samurais and executive merchants in Kanazawa have enjoyed the tea ceremony for several centuries, as a result, tea farms were made around Kanazawa. As the green tea ceremony uses only green leaves, so stem had been abandoned. Someone hit upon roasting stem for normal citizens who have never drunk green tea and he produced the stem tea. In addition, the behavior of the staffs of the tea café is in the invisible system of the tea ceremony. It is difficult to write about because it demands a lot of sentences. If you come to Higashi-chaya-gai and open the door of the tea café, you can immediately know through the behavior of the staffs.
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