After more than a year, on March 22, 2021, we finally could visit Tsuru san's family and their tea fields. While we met a couple of times recently at local farmer's markets in Fukuoka, and are constantly in touch online, since the start of the pandemic we hadn't been able to see them. As they are only 45 minutes away by train, this had been all the more frustrating.

Needless to say, we were looking forward to our trip to Kiyama (Saga prefecture) and on a cloudy Sunday morning, Joëlle, Jana and myself, along with our kids, boarded our train, hoping for the sun to pierce through the clouds to enjoy the view from Tsuru san's tea fields.

What a pleasure wandering again in the midst of these green tea fields, just a few weeks away from the first harvest. A wonderful day that went from cloudy to perfect blue.