Going South to visit Morimotos

After a last wonderful Japanese breakfast in Kyoto we go by bus to Osaka Itami Airport. Everything is going smoothly and we arrive very relaxed at the airport. But very soon the relaxation is gone… as we come closer to the Check In I realize that I forgot my backpack in the overhead compartment in the bus. Running back I just see the bus fading in the distance. After a glimpse of a shock, when I realize that not just my computer but also my passport is in the backpack, I remember that I am in Japan. So I stay calm and somehow manage to tell the people from the bus company what happened, even they don’t speak a word English. They start passing the information and send me to the Japanese Airline Desk, where they tell me to go to bus stop number 5, where in 10 minutes a bus will stop and bring my backpack. And so it is! I really start loving Japan for it’s organization and friendly helpfulness.

After an hour flight we land in Miyazaki Airport and take a rental car to Morimotos. When we turn around the corner and I see the tea fields I really got happy and than even happier seeing Haruyo san and Shigeru san, their daughters and our colleagues Tobias and Dietmar from Germany. It is a really busy day, as just three days ago the tea picking has started. The first teas are the often shaded, highly priced teas and therefore the Morimotos have to take a lot of attention. They have to hurry even more, as the weather forecast for next week shows some rain again, which means that they have to stop the picking again. Finally we have our first cup of the brand new tea, which has a wonderful green colour and very fresh nose. All over a sudden the nice memories of the tea picking two years ago come back and it seems that it was yesterday.