Shizuoka ryokucha with yuzu in the right teacup

Even better than drinking a quality tea is sipping it from a teacup that enhances the sensory experience. My family has always taken tea drinking seriously. Meals were served on everyday tableware, but tea - African, Japanese, or Chinese tea - was presented in a bone china teapot, cups, and saucers brought back from trips to Britain. For us, tea was time to talk and appreciate both the tea and china in which it was served. Japanese homestay students who lodged with my family and my sojourns in Japan turned us onto green tea and introduced us to elegant teapots and bowls in which to serve them.

I’m always on the lookout for varieties of green tea, and on this week’s shopping trip, I found yuzu iri ryokucha, Shizuoka-grown green tea with yuzu citrus. Usually, I take the slow approach to Shizuoka tea, brewing it from tea leaves. But I couldn’t resist this bag tea.

Color enhances the scent of Shizuoka ryokucha with yuzu

The astringent green tea is enhanced by the yuzu. The tea has notes of fresh grass, tartness, and fragrance similar to grapefruit, and a pleasant finish.

Appealing to the eye and the palate

This tea looks appealing in the ochre teacups I found at a recycle shop. The cups and saucers fit well in the hand and the color lends to the autumnal atmosphere. 

Yuzu iri Ryokucha addition to my growing tea collection

My tea collection and tea things have proliferated since I started writing about tea. Trips to antiques and recycle shops turn up gorgeous items in which to serve tea. This got me thinking about serving tea in ceramics from Shizuoka. The prefecture has a few noted potteries.

Shizuoka Ceramics

Moriyama-yaki is a 20th-century invention from Shizuoka. In the 1920s, a local potter presented a vase to the emperor on his accession to the throne, which gained the form recognition. Today, Moriyama-yaki potters produce tea ceremony objects noted for their bright red glaze. A representative workshop is Season Toubou.

Moriyama-yaki, photo Yaizunosakanayaiwasei

Shitoro-yaki in the Kanaya area of Shimada City claims a history stretching back to the Muromachi Period. Potters migrated from other pottery centers, bringing their styles. The ceramics got the endorsement of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. It's noted for its red, yellow, and black glazes, robustness, and resistance to humidity.

Shizuhata-yaki originated in the Edo Period in Shizuoka City. In the Edo Period, the kilns were lost in floods, but in the Meiji Era, the prefecture revived the tradition. The pottery gets its vivid colors from red clay, and some varieties are rough and unglazed.

Shizuoka's Local Craft Promotion Association presents these three pottery traditions among many other gorgeous arts.

If you can’t make a trip to Shizuoka to buy tea-things from these potteries, you may find some examples in antiques and recycle shops.

This post is supported by Shizuoka Green Tea Guide, one of City-Cost's Supporters helping City-Cost bloggers to enjoy life in Japan and engage in new experiences.