How Japanese Green Tea is Harvested Shizuoka Japan
How Japanese Green Tea is Harvested Shizuoka Japan
Overview
John Daub takes viewers to the hills of Shizuoka Prefecture, one of Japan's largest green tea producing regions, during the critical harvest season. Filming from approximately 200 meters up a mountain slope, John showcases the mechanical harvesting process used for modern tea production. He explains the significance of the "first flush" (ichibancha), harvested between late April and early May, which yields the best taste.
The video provides a close-up look at the harvesting machines that trim the tea bushes like hedges, collecting leaves into large bags. John describes the fresh scent of the fields and clarifies that raw tea leaves have little taste until processed through steaming and drying. He also outlines the journey from leaf to cup, noting that some of this sencha will eventually be ground into matcha powder for confections and lattes.
Viewers get a sense of the scale of production, with trucks waiting to transport fresh leaves to a processing plant just a kilometer away. John mentions plans to return to film the industrial matcha grinding process and factory operations. The episode captures the beauty of the agricultural landscape under blue skies and offers insights into accessing these areas for tourists in the future.
Highlights
- 00:04 John introduces the location from atop a Shizuoka tea mountain.
- 00:37 Explanation of the fresh harvest-to-drink timeline.
- 02:25 Discussion on the challenges of harvesting on slopes and machine design.
- 03:02 Details on the three annual flushes and why the first is best.
- 03:49 Description of the natural scent of the tea fields.
- 04:28 Connection between sencha leaves and matcha powder production.
- 05:00 Overview of the rail transport system used on the plantation.
- 07:47 Close-up of the machine blades and leaf collection bags.
- 08:35 Tasting raw tea leaves and explaining the processing necessity.
- 10:49 Notes on visitor permissions and future tea tourism.
Timeline / Chapters
- 00:00 Introduction at the tea plantation
- 00:37 Harvesting process overview
- 02:25 Machine harvesting on slopes
- 03:02 First flush vs. summer/fall flushes
- 03:49 Sencha and matcha production
- 05:00 Transport rails and trucks
- 07:02 Machine mechanics and leaf collection
- 08:35 Raw leaf taste test
- 09:36 Following the truck to the factory
- 10:49 Closing and tourism notes
Japan Travel Tips
- Best Time to Visit: Late April to the first week of May for the first flush (ichibancha), when the taste is best.
- Access: Take the Shinkansen to Shizuoka Station, then drive approximately 30 minutes into the hills.
- Permissions: Tea plantations are working farms; John called ahead for permission. Do not trespass without authorization.
- Future Tourism: John notes that green tea tourism may become more accessible when tourism fully opens.
- Transport: A car is recommended for reaching the hills from Shizuoka Station.
Japanese Language & Culture Notes
- Sencha (煎茶): The most common type of green tea in Japan, made from whole leaves.
- Matcha (抹茶): Powdered green tea used in confections and lattes; often made from sencha leaves processed specifically for grinding.
- Ichibancha (一番茶): The first flush of tea harvested in spring. Considered the highest quality.
- Shinkansen (新幹線): Japan's bullet train network, used by John to reach Shizuoka from Tokyo.
- Ekiben (駅弁): Station bento boxes, often purchased on trains for travel meals.
- Harvest Seasons: Tea is harvested three times annually (spring, summer, fall), with spring being the most prized.
Food & Drink Guide
- Sencha (Green Tea)
- Description: Standard Japanese green tea made from harvested leaves.
- Where: Produced at the Shizuoka plantation shown.
- Notes: Best taste during the first flush (late April/early May).
- Matcha (Powdered Green Tea)
- Description: Fine powder made from ground tea leaves.
- Where: Processed from sencha leaves at the factory.
- Uses: Confections, desserts, coffee, matcha latte.
- Raw Tea Leaves
- Taste: John notes they have almost no taste until processed (steamed and dried).
- Ekiben (Station Bento)
- Description: Meal box sold at train stations.
- Context: John mentions potentially getting one on the Shinkansen return to Tokyo.
People
- John Daub: Host and narrator. He guides viewers through the plantation, explains the process, and interacts with live stream viewers.
- Kanae Daub: John's wife. She is present on-site (John addresses her as "honey"), but does not speak in this segment.
- Live Stream Viewers: John acknowledges several viewers by name (Ronald, Daniel, TokyoPoLive, Calvin, Oliver) who comment on the signal and view.
Key Takeaways
- Shizuoka is one of the largest green tea producers in Japan.
- Mechanical harvesting is standard; machines trim bushes like hedges and collect leaves in bags.
- The first flush (spring) produces the best tasting tea.
- Raw tea leaves require processing (steaming, rolling, drying) to develop flavor.
- Some sencha is processed further into matcha powder for various food products.
Notable Quotes
- 00:37 "In fact, you can take the teas that they harvest right now and you can drink that today. The process is so fast."
- 03:02 "The taste is always the best with the first flush which is harvested between the end of April and the first week of May."
- 03:49 "It smells like fresh cut grass but like a green tea smell to it."
- 08:35 "It doesn't really have any taste. It turns into tea during the processing when it's actually steamed and then dried."
- 10:27 "It's a lot of work, but when you're up here at such a beautiful elevation, it's pretty much worth it, isn't it?"
Related Topics
- Japanese Agriculture
- Shizuoka Travel Guide
- Matcha Production
- Seasonal Food in Japan
- Rural Japan Livestreams
Search Tags
#only-in-japan-go #shizuoka #green-tea #tea-harvest #sencha #matcha #agriculture #japan-travel #first-flush #ichibancha #shinkansen #rural-japan
Full Transcript
00:04 John Daub: How you doing everybody? Welcome to the green tea plantation up here in the hills of Shizuoka Prefecture. I don't know how this signal looks, but I wanted to share with you a little bit from up here on the top of the mountain. Well, we're only about 200 meters up, but you can see the view is spectacular. Right now they are harvesting the green tea. This is the leaves, what's going to end up being the tea that we produce and drink. And I'm here to film for the green tea plantation.
00:37 John Daub: This afternoon, the process of the harvesting and you can almost see the processing plant just down here about a kilometer away. Everything is done so fresh. In fact, you can take the teas that they harvest right now and you can drink that today. The process is so fast. Here they come. This is how they harvest the tea. Almost everybody does it by like a lawnmower like machine. And then they'll take the bag after they've cut off the green tea, put a new bag on and do it again.
02:25 John Daub: This might be the best place to work too. The only thing that it might not be good are the fumes from the machine. Windy up here, but it's interesting though that they actually harvest the green tea, grow it on slopes, which makes it challenging to harvest. They make sure that they get a lot of sunlight too. So there's a reason behind the shape of the green tea bushes here. It makes it easy for the machines to harvest it. That's why the shape is the way it is, the hedges big this far apart.
03:02 John Daub: And this is the first harvest, the first flush for tea. Live stream guys so thanks for watching. Apologies, I don't know in the countryside with the signals. They can produce like so many tons of green tea like this. They do three flushes annually, the next one will be in the summer and then once again in the fall. The taste is always the best with the first flush which is harvested between the end of April and the first week of May.
03:49 John Daub: It does smell really good here except for the exhaust maybe from the machine, but it's a really natural smell up here, it's just wonderful. It smells like fresh cut grass but like a green tea smell to it. Shizuoka is one of the largest, if not the largest green tea producer in Japan and a lot of this that's produced here is sencha (green tea). And this sencha after it's processed they actually will make it into matcha powder too which we use in confections.
04:28 John Daub: So that's another reason why I'm here. I got to come back in a week or two to get the industrial matcha grinding which is going to be really fascinating, and then how do they take that powder and turn it into desserts and coffee and matcha latte. It all comes from this, the tree right in front of you. You see this, this is the uncut one and you can see over there these have been cut in the distance. The ones where the bags are, these will be cut and then every time they switch out the bags they just keep doing it.
05:00 John Daub: The rails here you can see this, it looks like a little train. This transports from one side to the other and it's a pretty unique process to see the train going because they have so many bags. They'll take the bags, put it into the truck and then the truck takes it to the processing plant. I hope this signal is nice. We're lucky we have a beautiful day with blue skies, we got a river down there and you have these slopes.
05:47 John Daub: Ronald, thanks for letting me know the signal is good, it's nice to be able to share this with you. The drone shots up here are pretty amazing too by the way. So this episode I'm really excited to edit this one. Now you can see the tea going into the machine, so awesome. Daniel, again the view up here is remarkable. I came here by Shinkansen and then drove about 30 minutes from Shizuoka Station.
07:02 John Daub: And I'm just really happy that I'm able to bring you a little bit of this process. Again, it'll be a main channel episode in a few weeks after I get back from Hokkaido. I think I'll be able to edit this up. Thank you, TokyoPoLive. That'll buy me a cup of tea here. Hey, honey, you can see there are blades on here. The bag, the blowers blow it in the back of the bag. And there's some holes in the bag to let the air go through, but the bag will catch the leaves.
07:47 John Daub: And then you can see right there, it's quite heavy, all of the leaves. You can see the blades at the end of the machine that they use to go over the shrubs here, the green tea shrubs. Again, you can see the hop-out or the leaves growing out of it that are standing up straight. You want them to come up straight like this because then it's easier to cut, and the cut is a lot cleaner. Normally though in the olden days of course they would hand-pick it, but there's no difference in the taste.
08:35 John Daub: These are hedges you can drink. They missed a bunch here, but I think they're going to come back and cut that later. But you can see what it looks like, it's freshly cut and has a really nice smell to it. How does the green tea leaf taste? It doesn't really have any taste. It turns into tea during the processing when it's actually steamed and then dried, steam rolled and dried. I'm going to learn about the process when I go down to the factory.
09:10 John Daub: But it's just fascinating, isn't it, to see how they make the green tea here. I guess they just discovered that I've gone live. Right, Calvin, exactly. The green tea raw doesn't taste like green tea. I'm going to pan over here, just get a quick look up here on the plateau. I'll put a link in the description, and then you can see exactly where I am from Google Maps. It's a really pretty spot.
09:36 John Daub: But after this, I'm going to be drinking green tea instead of coffee maybe for a little while. Of course we are live. Thank you. Thank you, Oliver. And now they're going to be putting the bags into the truck and we're going to follow them. I've got to get ready and follow these into the truck. They're going to be going into town, which is just a kilometer away, and then process it. And I'm going to film that in glorious 8K.
10:27 John Daub: It's a lot of work, but when you're up here at such a beautiful elevation, it's pretty much worth it, isn't it? There's the boss right there, he's going down the line I guess to maybe harvest the rest of it. But I'm going to go to the factory now. I hope you enjoyed it. That's right, I am going to stalk them and follow them to the factory. The view is absolutely stunning with the blue skies here.
10:49 John Daub: I wouldn't say they allow visitors. I called ahead and had to get permission. But I bet you when tourism opens, there's some places in Shizuoka where you can go for green tea tourism. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for hanging out for a little bit. I'll try to bring the Shinkansen back to Tokyo in a few hours and share that with you. You might get an ekiben. But yeah, bye from Shizuoka and see you again on the other side in Tokyo. It smells good. Hey, I'm done. Is it cool? Sorry.