Foreign Student (hereinafter FS): Since Japanese tea is healthy, in recent years non-Japanese have also started drinking it. In terms of tea, what kinds are available? Teacher (hereinafter T): Most tea produced in Japan is ryokucha (green tea). Sencha – typically made by steaming, crumpling, and drying tea leaves – accounts for two thirds of total production. FS: Gyokuro (high-grade green tea) is delicious, but how is it made? T: Gyokuro is made from shoots that have been covered for about 20 days by reed screens or straw. By blocking out the sunlight bitterness is reduced and the taste is improved. FS: I’ve heard the words ichibancha and bancha, what kinds of tea are these? T: Ichibancha is tea made from the year’s first harvest of shoots, and the term shincha (new tea) is generally used to refer to the same thing. Bancha is not Japan’s staple green tea, and is made from the leaves that come out after ichibancha has been picked. FS: Houjicha and genmaicha are sold in vending machines. What sorts of tea are they? T: Both are fragrant teas. Houjicha is a roasted tea made of sencha, bancha and other ingredients. Genmaicha is a tea made from roasted genmai (unpolished rice), which is soaked in water and steamed, to which is added about the same quantity of teas such as sencha and bancha. You can enjoy its simple taste. FS: Besides tea ceremonies, maccha (powdered green tea) is also used in ice cream and cakes. How is it made? T: The tea leaves are not crumpled after being steamed, but dried as they are, and ground into powder with a stone mortar just before shipping. In conveyor belt sushi restaurants, powdered green tea left over from the purification process of tea is used. FS: Is there any way to improve the taste of tea? T: The key is the temperature of the water. For sencha tea leaves are soaked in water heated to 70 to 80 degrees (centigrade) for about 30 seconds, and for gyokuro in water of about 50 to 60 degrees for one to two minutes. For drinking tea all you need is a kyuusu (teapot) and a chawan (tea cup). For sencha a small kyuusu and a thin chawan are said to be desirable. Recently teabags have become more popular, making it easier to serve tea. In addition, a variety of bottled teas can be easily purchased from vending machines and in convenience stores and these also taste good. FS: Which place is famous for tea production? T: That honor goes to Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan’s number-one producer of teas. Its warm climate, clean water, fertile soils, and clear skies make it suitable for the production of delicious teas. FS: It is said that in Japan tea is not only a drink, but also a spiritual practice called sado (tea ceremony). What is this exactly? T: In sado, tea plays an essential role in encounters between people. You do not simply drink together, but the intention is to wholeheartedly entertain guests who you may never see again by sharing a refreshing experience. Tea is essential to Japanese cuisine. Japanese food – including ochazuke – which uses tea as a base flavor has now caught on in other parts of the world.