I'm GMing SoG and I'm nearly done with book 1.
I've noticed - rather, my players noticed and expressed some concern - that there is little loot to be found. The party is poor, they're lvl3 and barely got enough money for a +1 rune transfer and a full plate for the fighter and a scroll for the witch.
I'm refreshing on book 2 now, and I see the party is going to have to spend 10gp on each tea ceremony, money which they only get back on a critical success. I'm worried they're not going to have the money to do tea ceremonies, which is a real shame.
Does loot continue to be sparse? Is that intentional? What should I do to ensure my party is properly equipped and wouldn't mind doing tea ceremonies in autumn?
From what I've heard, SoG does tend to be a little loot-shy, so it's not just you. That said, the numbers you're suggesting are even beyond what I'd expect for 'a little shy' so I wonder if something may have been overlooked or left behind.
Off the top of my head, one thing you might do is offer the PCs functional rewards from the townsfolk as rewards. It might stretch the imagination to have anyone in town drop enough coin to pay for a magic sword, but on the other hand a grateful blacksmith might happily put their skills and materials to use forging the same. Or offer discounts of essential items that eventually add up to a portion of the missing loot.
And of course, for things happening outside of town, you can always fatten up some of the treasure piles, perhaps with some hand-chosen loot that the party will want. If it comes to it, you might even let them learn of a cache of hidden treasure that they can hunt for. Perhaps someone wealthy buried a chest of gold somewhere in the hinterlands before starting their pilgrimage and never returned for it?
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I highly recommend Automatic Bonus Progression (or, what I've done while GMing this AP, Automatic Rune Progression) to address a great deal of the low loot issue. I also made it so that Shinzo gives a 10% discount on anything that he brings into town to sell, with the exception of things special-ordered by the PCs... it helped give an incentive to the PCs to consider what items he has in stock, which I've usually tailored to be appropriate for the upcoming challenges.
If your players are earning income *every week*, then they should have much more than they need (and they'll usually be working on tasks 2 levels higher with bonuses).
Mine have had more loot than they know what to do with since book 1 (and still do at the end of the AP).