Green Tea Prevents Flu / Ryoku Cha / Japanese Tea

Hi, this is Yuyujin.

Recently there are a lot of flu going around in Japan.
How about your country?
It is an entrance examination season from January to February in Japan.
So preventing flu is a big topic.

A TV program reported why physicians did not suffer from flu.
A physician said he wore a flu mask and drank green tea.
He drank a mouth of green tea each 5-10 minutes.
Green tea has catechin that protects from flu.
An American Journal reports crisis rate is 38% decreased by drinking 2 cups of green tea a day and it is 46% decreased by drinking 3-5 cups a day.

OK, today’s topics is Japanese tea.

Let’s get started.

There are a lot of kinds of Japanese tea.
You can find the variety of Japanese tea in convenience stores.
A generic name of Japanese tea is “Ocha (おちゃ)”.
Green tea is called “Ryokucha (りょくちゃ)”.
“Ryoku (りょく)” means green.
“Houjicha (ほうじちゃ)” is one of popular tea that is a roasted green tea.
“Matsucha(まっちゃ)” is a powdered tea.
When we drink “Matsucha” , we put 1-2 spoons of the “Matsucha” powder in a cup and add hot water.

Let’s make some sentences by using these words.

Conversation 1

Ocha Irimasu Ka
(おちゃいりますか。)
Do you want a cup of Japanese tea?

Hai Kudasai
(はい。ください。)
Yes. I will have one.

Ryokucha De Yoi Desu Ka
(りょくちゃでよいですか。)
Is Japanese green tea good for you?

Iie Houjicha Wo Kudasai
(いいえ。ほうじちゃをください。 )
No. I want Japanese roasted green tea.

Here “Kudasai (ください)” means “give me”.

Conversation 2 ( At tea store)

Ocha Wo Kudasai
(おちゃをください。)
I will have Japanese tea.

Kore Wa Nani Desu Ka
(これはなにですか。)
What is this?

Kore Wa Kyoto No Ocha Desu
(これはきょうとのおちゃです。)
This is Kyoto’s tea.

Are Wa Nani Desu Ka
(あれはなにですか。)
What is that?