About

Charaku Fine Japanese Tea is owned and operated by Tatsuo Tomeoka, who has been working and specializing in the fields of Japanese tea since 2006, and in Japanese arts and crafts since 1997. Working with multi-generational tea merchants, artisan tea farmers, and crafts producers throughout Japan and the U.S., Tatsuo shares fine Japanese tea and tea wares throughout North America, and beyond from his home base in the beautiful Skagit Valley of Northwest Washington State.

He is passionate about spreading Japanese tea culture and health by making high quality fresh tea available outside of Japan. We offer select leaf teas sourced from around the country, searching for the best of the unique qualities that each appellation has to offer. Along with a wide variety of organically and conventionally grown Japanese leaf teas, we also offer JAS Certified Organic Matcha, hand-picked and granite stone-milled in the traditional method.

Our teas are available for both retail and wholesale purchase. We package in small, nitrogen-flushed batches shortly after harvest. This packaging style remains in place from the tea producers in Japan all the way to customers' tea pots. We do not re-pack of buy in bulk in order to bring you the freshest (and therefore healthiest) Japanese tea experience.

In addition to tea, we are also passionate about folk crafts and contemporary functional crafts that reflect the aesthetics of Mingei (Folk Crafts, based on the theories of Yanagi Soetsu [1889-1961] and the Folk Crafts Movement of the early-mid 1900's) and Tea, such as Wabi and Sabi, as espoused by followers of Chado (The Way of Tea) and the philosophies of early Tea masters like Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591).

All tea and craft inquiries; retail, wholesale, and educational, are welcome by e-mail at info@charaku-tea.com, or by telephone (voice mail) at 206-660-4189.
We look forward to hearing from you soon!