ito-en

Started in 1964 by Masanori Honjō - the innovation that Ito-En provided was that tea was previously sold in specialty tea stores in bulk. Ito-en sold these “tea packs” so it could be purchased by anyone

Honjō was a car salesman at Nissan until 1960s, then left to start Itoen with his brother, Hachiro

creating and destroying; built flying cars & autonomous vehicles, now building roc.camera, writings: july.rocks

A few years ago I was way out in the countryside, super stoked to get tea from a tea shop. To my horror they opened up a bunch of wooden bins with stale looking tea inside. Now I just order a year’s supply of vacuum sealed shincha online when it comes in stock in the spring.