Tea Regions of Japan – Kyoto (Part 2) | Uji Featuring Yamamoto Jinjirou

Tea is grown in several areas of Kyoto prefecture. Uji city is undeniably the most well-known among them. The local tea brand Ujicha is probably the most famous Japanese tea brand, domestically and internationally. And Uji city is especially recognized for high-grade teas like matcha and gyokuro. Tea in Uji has a really long history. Uji is even believed to be the birthplace of Japanese tea. You may be wondering why Uji area was selected for tea cultivation. Mists rising from the large Uji river flowing through the city helped against frost. And it was convenient that Uji was close to Kyoto, the capital of Japan at that time. However, over time, tea cultivation in Uji has decreased. And now it is one of the smallest in Kyoto prefecture. As Uji was modernizing and growing into a larger city, many tea fields were given up for infrastructure projects like highways and dams. So Uji was a good place to grow tea and improve people's lives. However, when the dam was built, tea fields were cut down. And when the highways were built, tea fields were cut down as well. So Uji's tea fields were cut down due to infrastructure projects. I don't mean to say that Uji's tea fields are all cut down. Nonetheless, Uji has preserved many tea traditions. One of them is shading tea bushes with dry reeds and straws. This method started about 400 years ago, and it is still being used by a number of tea farms in Uji city. In the end, Uji's tea fields are 98% shaded with dry reeds and straws. This method of shading tea bushes with dry reeds and straws is said to have been invented by Uji's people 400 years ago. However, I think the scent is different. I think the color of the tea bush is a little darker. However, compared to shading with black synthetic covers, traditional shading with dry reeds takes much more effort. It is said that there is a difference of about eight times the capacity when it comes to growing tea bushes with dry reeds and straws. 400 years ago, there was a tea garden with dry reeds in Uji. It is said that the Uji people were also doing this 400 years ago. They were looking at this scenery. It makes me very happy that we are doing the same work and looking at the same scenery. I am very proud that it continues to this day. Additionally, tea is still picked by hand in many Uji tea farms. I think it is very important to keep the tradition. I personally think that there is a taste and scent that can only be produced by hand, so I would like to continue as far as possible. I feel that the way it was made in the old days is amazing. I think it's very important to keep the tradition. It is difficult to collect materials in this day and age, but it is also difficult to collect people. I am doing my best to support it. Yamamoto Jinjiro is a small tea farm with a long history. I am the 6th generation tea farmer. I have been working in the tea farm since the end of the Edo period. Their tea farm area is really small, but they are producing tea the traditional way, shading with dry reeds and picking by hand. There are 35 tea farms, so there are only a few tea farms. But if it's not that big, you can't make Honzu tea. I think 35 tea farms is the limit as a balance to make good tea as much as I can. And they are still using the oldest tea furnace in Japan. The Morishiki tea farm was developed in 1924. It was completed in 1925. It is the oldest tea farm in Japan. Of course, we are replacing the net, but I don't think much has changed. So I think it's a very retro style tea farm. In this factory, they are making Tencha for ceremonial grade matcha. The production may seem simple, but it requires attention. We pick the leaves first. I steam the leaves and let them dry. Meanwhile, I use a wind power to blow away the steam from the leaves. And I blow away the temperature of the leaves. And I also blow away the water. The drying process is also the same way as the drying process for tea ceremony. I use a dryer to dry the grafted leaves. There are a lot of processes, but the simplest one is to simply steam it and let it dry. Matcha produced by using reed shading and the old furnace is very rare and special. It's very Asahi-like. It has a nice umami, and it has the aroma of our fire, the aroma of the fire in our While Yamamoto-san was born in a tea family, he didn't always think he was going to make tea. Yamamoto-san changed his mind during his trip to the USA. I went to New York when I was 21 years old. I went there by myself, so I learned a lot. There were a lot of people who helped me. I was talking about the tea farming that would continue for the next six generations, but I didn't know why I didn't do it. I didn't know that such a good life was prepared for me. I was lucky. They told me that there were no companies in the U.S. that had such a long history. So when I came back to Japan, I thought I would review the tea that I had to study. So I came back and studied a lot. Kyoto Uji is a brand that is recognized by everyone. I realized that there is no such thing as happiness or luck. Now Yamamoto-san hopes that by preserving the traditions, he can attract more people to tea. I wonder what I can do. I want to grow Honzu tea and make the best Tencha Kansouro in Japan. I want to make it as delicious as possible, and I want people to know about it as much as possible. I hope that it will lead to the enjoyment of Japanese tea.