A view from the tea garden. Photo by Greg Goodmacher.
Yamazoe Village, Japan
My guide drove up impossibly narrow, curving roads toward the highlands of Yamazoe Village, Nara, Japan, where wispy mist slipped through the tips of lush green forested mountains. The Nabari River glistened below us. When we parked in a grass field on the shoulder of one verdant plateau, we heard a male pheasant squawking somewhere behind weather-stained wooden farmhouses. So began my introduction to a hands-on tea w
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What a nice story,
I could almost smell the scent of the cloth-crushed leaves, first time I read about such a tea making process, with the leaf becoming infusable in so little time, but how come the leaves were on the stem?? I guess the picking was carried out by a ride on harvester?
thank you for sharing!!
Hello Barbara,
Thank you for your comment and question. The picking was done by hand by locals who brought the stems to the classroom for attendees to choose the best leaves. The original plan was for attendees to pluck the leaves off the bushes, but the plants are on a steep slope, and that morning heavy rain fell on the field. The locals worried about attendees slipping, so they picked the stems and brought them into the classroom for us.
I’m a little late to the party but I loved reading this. Wish I had seen this before going to Japan. But I will keep it on my list of things to do when I go back. The aroma of processing tea leaves is stunning.
Hello Tiffany, I agree that the aroma of processed tea leaves is stunning. Let me know when you return to Japan. I might be able to help you find a place where you can join the process. Thanks for writing such a positive comment.