On Thursday, August 1, 2024, we held a design workshop in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, for elementary school students, where they drew original designs on chittö's Kakegawa tea.
The lecturers will be chittö staff members who have many years of experience in the management and planning of after-school childcare and primary education.
This event not only involved designing tea-themed packaging, but also introduced the process from tea harvesting to delivery, making it a food education event.
■ Observing tea trees 
I prepared a miniature tea plant.
Tea trees are hard to find in Tokyo.
I was very curious about the tea tree I was seeing for the first time!
"There are hard and soft tea leaves! The higher you go, the softer they become!"
"New buds are coming out between the leaves! They're baby leaves!"
There were various discoveries.
■Virtual Tea Factory Tour
We took a virtual tea factory tour using videos taken at the tea fields and tea factories of chittö's contracted farmers.
"It looks like it's hot inside the factory, isn't it hard on the farmers?"
"The sight of the picked tea leaves being collected is similar to how fishermen catch fish and take them to market!"
"The tea leaves moving inside the machine look like they're being controlled by a ghost and dancing, which is a little scary."
There were many new discoveries to be made as we watched tea farmers picking tea in the tea fields and working in the tea factory . 
■Observing product designs We observed the designs of familiar products and what they are trying to communicate.
When I looked at various products with a renewed focus on design, I realized that the world is full of designs that are filled with a lot of thought. 
■Create an original design After looking at various designs, it's time to create your own original design!
At first, he seemed a bit unsure, worrying a lot about what kind of design would be good and how difficult it would be to draw, but once he started drawing, great ideas came to him one after another!
"I love kanji, so I'll try using them to describe tea!"
"Summer is the season for fireworks, so let's create a design that people will think is beautiful!"
Many ideas were expressed. 
The participants took the tea they designed home and gave it as a gift to their families.
After the program, a report summarizing the day's events was given to the parents so that they could reflect on it with their families at home to deepen their understanding, and so that they could use it for their summer vacation homework.
Chittö will continue to promote food education using Japanese tea as a theme.
