シアトルでは友人夫婦宅に長らくお世話になりました。

友人夫婦といっても体験に来られたお客さんでもあり別の友人が体験に連れて来たことがきっかけでお世話になる事になったのです。

ボーイング社に勤めるご主人の計らいでボーイング社のファミリーDAYに参加しました。圧巻の工場見学は痺れました。

そして今日はこれまた体験に来られ開成町出身、シアトル在住の方のご紹介でアメリカで活躍するお茶メーカーの杉本TEAカンパニーさんを訪問しました。

スタッフの皆さんと長時間情報交換させていただきました。

杉本TEAカンパニーさんは静岡に本社があり早くからアメリカでの展開をしているいわばパイオニアです。

創業時の苦労話から現況、今後の展開など丁寧に説明してくれました。

海外から見た日本の茶産業、茶農家が今後どう進んで行くべきか、また快晴茶の可能性など多くのヒントをいただけました。

本社にお茶を送りお目に叶う物であれば取引できるかもしれないとの事、また体験の受け入れ先としての可能性にも言及してくれました。本当にありがたい限りです。

長らくミーティングした後、市内の取引先を何店舗もまわり傾向、現況、課題等丁寧な説明を受ける事が出来ました。

日本の茶産業の混乱と浮き沈みは我々一農家にとっても舵取り一つで即死活問題となります。

どこに可能性があるのか探りに来た旅ではありますが早くから先見の目を持ち海外で展開して来た杉本さんはまさにリーディングカンパニーでした。

杉本TEAカンパニーの皆様本当にありがとうございました。

小さなご縁がいくつも重なりこのような機会に恵まれた今回のアメリカ訪問もいよいよ終わりとなります。

溜まった農作業の事も頭から離れませんが、この旅で学んだことを必ず成果にしていきたいと強く思います。

During our stay in Seattle, we were fortunate enough to spend a long time at the home of a friend and his wife. They were not simply friends—they were actually people who had previously visited us for a tea-picking experience. They had first come to us through another friend, and that connection eventually led to us staying with them in Seattle. We are truly grateful for their hospitality.

Thanks to the kindness of the husband, who works for Boeing, we were also able to attend Boeing’s Family Day. The factory tour was absolutely incredible and left a lasting impression on us.

Today, thanks to another person who had visited us for a tea-picking experience—a Seattle resident originally from Kaisei Town—we were introduced to Sugimoto Tea Company, a tea company that is actively doing business in the United States.

We had the opportunity to spend a long time exchanging information and ideas with their staff.

Sugimoto Tea Company is headquartered in Shizuoka and began expanding into the U.S. market at an early stage. In many ways, they are a pioneer in the industry. They kindly shared with us the challenges they faced when starting the company, their current business situation, and their plans for the future.

We gained many valuable insights, including how Japan’s tea industry is viewed from overseas, how Japanese tea farmers should move forward, and what possibilities there may be for Kaiseicha.

They told us that if we send our tea to their headquarters and they find a product that meets their standards, there may be an opportunity to do business together. They also mentioned the possibility of becoming a partner for hosting tea-picking experiences. We are truly grateful for their generosity and openness.

After our long meeting, we visited several of their business partners around the city and received detailed explanations about market trends, the current situation, and the challenges they are facing.

The uncertainty and ups and downs of Japan’s tea industry can directly affect the livelihood of small tea farmers like us. We came to America to explore where new possibilities might lie, and Sugimoto Tea Company, which had the foresight to expand overseas at an early stage, truly showed us what a leading company in the industry looks like.

We would like to sincerely thank everyone at Sugimoto Tea Company for their time, kindness, and valuable insights.

Our trip to America, made possible through so many small connections coming together, is finally coming to an end.

Of course, I can’t stop thinking about all the farm work that has piled up while I’ve been away…

But I am determined to turn everything I have learned from this journey into real results, and I strongly hope to put these experiences to work for the future of Kaiseicha.