We are truly grateful to have our tea community featured in the local media. Thank you for helping us share the story of Sonogi tea with more people.
Featured in Tsutaeru-ken Nagasaki (Nagasaki Prefectural Newsletter), September 2026
The Nagasaki Prefecture public-relations magazine Tsutaeru-ken Nagasaki (No. 125, September 2026 / Reiwa 8) featured the Higashisonogi tea community in its regional “kon-ne” section. The article introduces our Leaf Manager, Marjolein Raijmakers, and how the Nagasaki Ikedoki Tea Project shares the charm of Sonogi tea — and the passion of its farmers — with the world.
Sharing the Charm of Sonogi Tea with the World
Marjolein Raijmakers — Leaf Manager, Nagasaki Ikedoki Tea Project
The Nagasaki Ikedoki Tea Project has a simple mission: “to share a peaceful world through tea.” As part of it, Marjolein Raijmakers works to bring the deliciousness of Sonogi tea, and the passion of its farmers, to audiences both in Japan and abroad.
Conveying the tea farmers’ passion
Higashisonogi is the largest tea-producing area in Nagasaki Prefecture, and its teas have repeatedly been judged the finest in the country at national competitions — yet the town accounts for just 1% of Japan’s total tea-field area, a small production region. As a member of the project, Marjolein guides hands-on tea tours for international visitors. At a thatched-roof traditional Japanese house she invites guests to taste and compare Sonogi teas made by different methods, and takes them out to the tea fields and processing factory. She also takes part in tea festivals overseas and works to open up new sales channels. “The flavour deepens once you know the land and the people who nurture the tea. I want to be a bridge and raise the profile of Sonogi tea,” she says.
Travelling the world, and discovering Higashisonogi
Marjolein is from the Netherlands. Because of her father’s work, she lived in many countries from a young age, including Bangladesh and India. In each of them, tea was one of the ways people welcomed their guests, and she came to feel that time spent over tea was a peaceful moment that brought hearts closer together. She first visited Japan in 2011; travelling the country and experiencing its culture, she encountered the way of tea. The Japanese custom of preparing tea carefully, one cup at a time, left a deep impression on her and drew her further in.
In 2016 she began studying at a tea specialty school in the Netherlands, and in 2018 she interned at a tea garden in Kyoto, later deepening her knowledge across the tea regions of Korea and Japan. Her wish to “work with tea” grew stronger, and during her first homestay in Higashisonogi she was invited to join the Nagasaki Ikedoki Tea Project. She resolved to take part, moved to the town in May 2023, and began her work there.
Building connections with tea regions overseas
The word “ikedoki” in the project’s name means “a rest” or “a pause” in the Higashisonogi dialect — the local equivalent of the English “tea break.” What Marjolein aims for is a network in which tea-producing regions in Japan and abroad share their knowledge and grow together. “Connecting with the world makes tea farming more appealing, and I believe it will help pass the craft on to the next generation and revitalise the town,” she says, looking to the future.
Source: Tsutaeru-ken Nagasaki No. 125 (September 2026 / Reiwa 8), regional feature “kon-ne” (pp. 2–3), published by Nagasaki Prefecture. English text translated and summarised by Nagasaki Ikedoki Tea. View the original issue on the Nagasaki Prefecture website »