Words from Prince Hirohito

 I am very grateful that O-CHA Festival will be held for four days in Shizuoka prefecture , home of green tea, with a theme of "Tea, challenge towards new potentials" for our life and health in the 21st century.
Although I have not been so much close to tea, I learned tea ceremony for a year before leaving for England to study at Oxford University, when my mother told me I should know it because it is our own culture. I remember holding mini-tea parties on occasions to popularize Japanese culture while studying at Oxford University, home of black tea, and drinking very strong green tea to keep me awake before submitting thesis every week. Also, after returning back to Japan, I made it a custom to give tea parties whenever Mr. and Mrs. Ambassador of England leave Japan. When they are invited, they are the guests and I am the host to serve tea. The thirty minutes to prepare tea for two people is the maximum time for me to keep sitting on heels, and I had to ask my master to take over.
When I visited Turkey for the first time to attend the centennial anniversary of friendship treaty between Japan and Turkey on behalf of my father, I was very impressed with Chai, Turkish black tea, served at Ankara airport, after which I enjoyed Chai for 10 days everywhere I traveled. While tea and refreshment are served to the guest throughout in Japan, Chai in Turkey served in different areas has its own flavor to show different cultures and customs in each area.
Besides Japan, England and Turkey, many more countries have a custom of drinking tea regularly everywhere in the world. I am grateful that people in each country enjoy its own tea with its own style.
It is well timed that Shizuoka prefecture planned to establish World Green Tea Association, mainly to do scientific researches, information collection and industry cultivation in time that is said to be local-oriented.
It will be a new page in the history of our international contribution if Shizuoka prefecture establishes amity with all the tea related people through World O-CHA Festival and World Green Tea Association.
I will close my speech by hoping the success of the Festival and the World Green Tea Association.
 

THE EXECUTEIVE COMMITTEE OF WORLD O-CHA(TEA) FESTIVAL (O-CHA(tea) promotion Office, Shizuoka Prefectural Govermment) Shizuoka O-CHA Plaza, 14-1 Minamicho, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture, 422-8067 Japan Tel:+81-54-221-3335 Fax:+81-54-221-1480 E-mail:wof@pref.shizuoka.lg.jp