🌱 Sorate Storytelling Series Vol.1

Stories that Connect Tea and People — Sorate Storytelling Series
Narration: Keiko Kitazawa (Sorate Advisor / Omotesenke Style Professor)

About Keiko Kitazawa:

She has over 25 years of experience in Chanoyu and has been teaching as a certified Omotesenke-style tea ceremony instructor in New York and New Jersey for more than 15 years, guiding over 100 students, including school programs. She conducts weekly lessons at the private salon, 229 East 49^th Street in NYC and at her private tea room in Closter, NJ, and regularly hosts tea gatherings both in the U.S. and Japan. A founding member of the Omotesenke Domonkai Eastern Region (2008) and its Secretary General since 2019, she graduated from Osaka University of Arts (Design) and the Fashion Institute of Technology (Fine Arts). Keiko views Chanoyu not only as a practice of procedures and customs but as a way of living an aesthetically and spiritually rich life. 

Meeting Founder Silvia Mella:

Looking back, that meeting was the beginning of everything.
An Italian woman came to try a lesson at my tea class space, Globus Washitsu (Owned by Globus Family), in New York in February 2020.
She was none other than Silvia Mella, the founder of Sorate.

She spoke not only of spreading matcha as a business, but of a steadfast passion:
to share Japanese tea culture with the world.
Her words were no mere dream; they carried the power to set real steps in motion.

Italian artistic sensitivity and the spirit of the Japanese tea ceremony—
two worlds that seemed far apart resonated mysteriously through Silvia.
I, too, have walked the tea path for many years; that encounter opened a new door and lit a road toward the future. 

She made a video- Sorate's story

She wanted to introduce genuine matcha to New Yorkers not just as a drink,
but as a culture that connects hearts, an expression of Japan’s beauty.
Her wish echoed within me as well.

What earned my deep trust was Silvia’s conviction to use only authentic matcha in a New York scene where the genuine and the fake are mixed.
Matcha is now as common as coffee in NYC, yet sadly, there are countless “fake matchas” beyond imagination.
Tea practitioners who cherish true materials can instantly tell the difference.

At SORATE, we use matcha of the very highest quality—worthy of tea masters—and truly well-made tools.
This commitment even extends to “consumables” like paper cups and straws.
Silvia chooses only materials that are beautiful, functional, and of fine quality, attending to every detail.
That ethos, I feel, resonates with the very heart of tea.

Another of her wonderful qualities is sincerity—
she respects me and strives to understand Japanese culture properly.
That attitude convinced me she would be an excellent partner.

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