Tea-walking in Shizuoka, Japan
When we think of Japan, we often think of green tea, and Japan’s rich tea culture, with its tea ceremony. And when it comes to tea, the Shizuoka area, about 180 km south-west of Tokyo, has always been a leader.
Tea has a long history in Japan. It was first brought back to Japan by monks visiting China in the 8th century, and was used for mostly religious reasons for many years. The monks soon began growing tea themselves.
In Japan, tea is more than just a hot drink. It is a very important ritual that has a lot of meaning within the culture. The tea ceremony represents purity, tranquility, respect and harmony and a lot of preparation goes into this important event.
Uji city in Kyoto is home to some of the oldest tea gardens in the world, with the first being established around 1200 AD.
But Shizuoka is perhaps most famous around the world as a leader in the production of Japanese green tea. Shizuoka Prefecture contains some 40% of the total area of tea plantations in Japan.
So being interested in all beautiful “sculpted landscapes”, not just vineyards, I organised a visit to Maruhichi Moriuchi Tea Plantation in Shizuoka, with Kazue Suzuki of Soft Labo Corporation.
As you can see from the photos, it is stunningly beautiful, with tea plants climbing up the beautiful hills.
Fortunately, the tea plantation owner, Yoshio Moriuchi, was working in the plantation at the time of my visit. He was undertaking pruning, as the first harvest occurred a couple of weeks ago.
Yoshio represents the 9th generation of his family to be running the Maruhichi Moriuchi Tea Plantation. At 68 years old, a teenager by Japanese standards, Yoshio is still fully employed in the tea plantation.
But he will likely be the last generation of his family to do so, as his son has moved to Tokyo, like most young Japanese do. Yoshio is currently talking with, and mentoring, a group of young Japanese who are interested in taking over the plantation.
This is just another case of the challenge of business succession in a Japan which is slowly losing its traditions and being hit by a rapidly ageing population. Yoshio believes that Japan must open up to greater immigration to solve these challenges.
Immigration will also have to play a role for tea pickers. Today, the tea picking workforce is made up of Japanese women, but many of them are now in their 80s. Sri Lanka would be a good source of new tea pickers.
In a separate discussion, I was told that some Japanese tea plantations are being retired, because ageing owners cannot find someone to take over. In this context, it was noted that Shizuoka may no longer be the leading producer of Japanese tea, that crown having passed to Kagoshima on the island of Kyushu.
Indeed, it was said that declining tea production means that Japan is now importing tea from China. Another challenge is that Westernised “coffee culture” is now taking over in Japan, with an adverse knock on effect on demand for tea – notwithstanding the popularity of “matcha green tea latte” at Starbucks.
Climate change was also mentioned as a relatively new factor hitting tea production. Thus, a number of local governments are promoting research to develop new hybrid tea plants that can cope with global warming.
In sum, these are challenging times for Japan’s wonderful and traditional tea culture.