Shizuoka Prefecture

Oct 14th: I had the great pleasure of attending a Members Only Preview of the Shizuoka Tea Regions of Japan event hosted by The Global Japanese Tea Association. During this time I met with several farmers from Shizuoka. I gained so much listening to individual stories, learning about the history of their respective farms and the collective passion everyone shares for tea farming. The farmers also shared the current challenges of tea farming in Japan - Growing acreage and farming labor is slowly declining year after year.

Shizuoka is the largest tea producing region in Japan. It is believed tea cultivation first began in 1244 when a Buddhist monk first planted tea here.

Of Shizuoka's many tea-growing regions, tea from Honyama is praised for its transparent and elegant taste, deriving from the mineral rich soil and the subtle, natural shade of fog and mountains. Honyama tea is often grown at a higher elevation than most other Japanese teas. Tea from this region has been grown and revered for centuries, and has even been presented as tribute to the Emperor by order of Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Edo period. Typically unshaded and lightly-steamed, honyamacha is known for its clear, crisp taste, and distinctive aroma, known as yama no kaori (山の香) or mountain aroma (cr. Tezumi)

This week’s tea: Honyama Koushun Kamairicha

Tasting notes: Bright, nutty, aromatic - Definitely Japanese however, more of a Chinese style

Opinion: Delicious - Highly Recommend