Le Rouge et le Noir

Le Rouge et le Noir ca. 1830 (The Red and the Black) is a novel by Stendhal recording a man's attempt to rise beyond his common background with a combination of talent and hard work, deception and hypocrisy.

Red Tea in East Asia is commonly called Black Tea in South Asia and Europe. This image is a metaphor for our attempt to create teas that rises beyond the common by a combination of talent, hard work and imbibing the deep knowledge of teas in Japan and Taiwan and discarding the "Not Invented Here" attitude.

Unlike Stendhal's novel there is no deception or hypocrisy in this Le Rouge et le Noir! Only lots of gratitude towards our 先生 (teachers) and this post is dedicated to them.

August Autumn

Alaska's August autumn. As the landscape in Denali, Alaska turns russet in late August a lonely deer makes the most of the few precious weeks before the snows.

Ueda

Ueda Castle (上田城) in a glorious pale yellow autumn colour of an Iccho (Gingko) tree. This castle has an oblique but interesting connection to the Battle of Sekigahara ( 関ヶ原の戦 ) in 1600 that paved the way for Tokugawa Bakufu / Tokugawa Shogunate that continued until Meji Restoration in 1868.