Brushing the tea

Brushing the tea. Japan. A tea farmer inspecting his plantation in Wazuka, Kyoto. Taking care of tea growth is an essential part of farmer’s work because, depending on the period of the year and on the size of the leaves, the resulting tea will be very different.
This is one of the moments that I appreciated most during my visits to the tea fields of Wazuka: a simple gesture, brushing the tea, which shows how much the farmer is involved in what he does; there is not only the professionalism in knowing how to inspect the leaves to understand if everything is going well, but there is also an “emotional” bond towards the life that sprouts and grows. For me it was touching, in a certain way, to note that not everything is now mechanized and managed automatically, to maximize productivity but, in places like these, there is still a real closeness between man and nature. A knowledge handed down and refined with experience.

To capture this moment I’ve used my Pentax K-5 with the Pentax 100mm F2.8 tele lens; I loved this view so much that I visited this spot again in a different season to capture it again.

 

You can find the full blog post about the culture and history of tea in Japan at the following page: Tea culture in Japan: history, tradition and plantation of Wazuka