Postcard from Japan
Shincha, or first flush green tea, from Japan is highly anticipated and a visit in May just after harvest will always be a treat. Adeline Teoh returns with swag from Shizuoka, home of Mount Fuji and tea in Japan.
On a hill overlooking the Sarantea plantation on Honyama, our tea tour guide Akito shares with us a haiku written by master poet Matsuo Basho on his visit to Shizuoka.
Suruga road—
orange blossoms too
have the scent of tea
It’s late morning and the temperature has reached the mid-20s, which has caused the heady scent of tea to waft up to the little shelter where we’re tasting a few different versions of that Shizuoka specialty – sencha – and it’s hard not to take Basho’s words as a theme.
About 40% of Japan’s tea is grown and processed in this prefecture but, due to its proximity to Tokyo and its ports, it sees about 55% of tea distributed through its Chamachi, or ‘tea town’, district. Honyama itself holds a special place at the heart of Japanese tea. It’s said that Eisai, the monk who brought tea from China, planted those seeds on Honyama, making Shizuoka the origin for tea plantations throughout Japan.
The family-managed plantations, however, are in danger of dying out once the farmers – at an average age of 70 years old – pass on. Their children have chosen other occupations, many moving to the cities, and tea prices have remained stagnant for years. Akito’s project, The Tea Bridge, aims to bring tea lovers to Shizuoka and show them the beauty of the region and shine a spotlight on what may be its last days.
There is hope, however. Japan’s love of all things green tea – in ice cream, biscuits, cosmetics and more – has meant that the farmers are less reliant on shincha prices as demand for later harvests rises. And suddenly, just like that, I feel a lot less guilty about consuming that double scoop of matcha ice cream in the hot afternoon.
Want to learn more about Japanese tea? The 2019 Australian Tea Cultural Seminar international guest speaker is Japanese tea expert Mari Shimizu who will be talking about cultural connections between China and Japan through tea. Buy your tickets today.
(Below: Sarantea co-op plantations; photo credit: Adeline Teoh)
