YAME : The Hidden Valley of Green Tea
YAME : The Hidden Valley of Green Tea
HISTORY AND LOCATION OF YAME
600 Years of History
In 1423, a Japanese Buddhist monk, Master Shuzui, came back from China with tea seeds and founded in Yame city a temple where he planted them.
With these first tea trees, tea production was introduced to Yame area. Today, 90% of Fukuoka tea production is grown in Yame area.
Located in Fukuoka prefecture, northern Kyushu, Yame is the sixth largest tea region of Japan and is home to 1,500 growers who have dedicated their lives to making some the best teas that Japan can offer.
While it produces only 3% of Japanese tea, Yame is renowned throughout Japan and overseas for its award-winning dento hon gyokuro, the King of green tea, the nec plus ultra of Japanese tea.
Thanks to the hard work of about two hundred specialized producers, Yame dento hon gyokuro has received the top national prizes for ten consecutive years, reflecting the skills and hard work of its producers.
Southern Japan, the perfect climate
Located in Fukuoka prefecture (4,987 km2, pop. 5 million), Kyushu Island in southern Japan,Yame City is in a vast expanse of plain in Chikushi Region (Chikushi Plain)..
Chikushi Plain is blessed with an ideally wonderful climate and fertile soil conditions for agricultural production.
In particular, the area ranging from Chikugo River basin to Yabe River basin (called as Yame Region) has produced green tea for centuries.
Thanks to the area's particular soil, most of the green tea produced in this region has a full-bodied taste and a remarkable sweetness.
Morning mists and river fogs are very frequent. Curtains of fog wrap green tea plantations, properly blocking sunlight.
This helps generating more amino acids (including theanine, glutamic acid, arginine, etc.) within the tea leaves.
In addition, Yame enjoys an inland climate－high temperature during daytime and very low temperatures at night.
Finally, the region receives an annual rainfall of 1,600 mm to 2,400 mm. These features are ideal for green tea production.
But Yame isn’t only about this precious « jade dew » delicacy. Thanks to a wonderful micro-climate, its pristine water from the mountains, a rich soil and skills honed by hundred of years of experience, Yame tea growers produce a large range of Japanese green teas, from sencha to shiraore, kabusecha to matcha, as well as flavor-packed koucha (‘red tea’), known overseas as Japanese black tea.
Since the beginning of our venture, IKKYU has had the honor to work with several Yame producers, many of them behind some of our bestselling teas. Today, we bring the spotlight on them, including to a brand new member of the IKKYU network, Harashima san, who makes of the finest koucha (black tea) that you can taste.
They were kind enough to answer our questions and share about their experience, goals and wonderful teas.
IRIE SHUNNOSUKE
" Weeding is the most challenging part of growing organic tea."
Irie Toshiro, (Shunnosuke's father) became convinced of the health benefits of green tea when, at 20, he suffered from gallstones and recovered quickly thanks to taking up to drinking green tea from his hometown, Yame. For 35 years now, Irie san has invested his time and energy to grow 100% chemical- and pesticide-free green tea.
As such, he was one of the first tea producers in Japan to embrace organic tea production. Along with his son, he shows the outmost care for his fields and the environment, and is a fervent defender of sustainable agriculture and tea production.
Watch Shunnosoke's interview & discover more about IRIE's family products and story.
HARASHIMA MASASHI
" We grow our organic kocha tea leaves at our tea fields located at a fairly high altitude of 500-650 meters."
For three generations now, Harashima san’s family has dedicated their lives on the farms to grow and produce tea leaves of the highest quality. Harashima san is a Master in Sencha Tea Ceremony of the Kofu Sencha Reifu school, as well as a Nihoncha Instructor.
He joined his family tea company in 1983. Founded in 1950 by his grandfather, Chiyokichi, his tea business switched to organic and EU-regulations farming in 2008 under his direction.
Today, in addition to growing and processing tea, he runs a beautiful tea shop overlooking the Yabe river with his wife Eri and their daughter who prepares delicious tea-based lunches and desserts for their customers.
Watch Harashima san's interview & discover more about CHIYONOEN family products and story.
TAKAKI AKIHITO
" The tea leaves of dento hon gyokuro are picked one by one. This tea is truly a piece of art."
Takaki san was born in 1973 in Hoshino Village, Yame (Fukuoka prefecture). He graduated from Yame High School and studied business and management for 7 years at Vancouver, Canada.
As the first son of Takaki Green Tea Farm he naturally took over his family business in 1999 from his father. His dynamism, the excellence of his products and love of his area have raised Takaki san to the position of leading voice among young tea producers in the Yame area.
His green tea has won some of the highest national awards during the recent years and many will follow in the coming years we are sure of that !
Watch Takaki san's interview & discover more about Takaki San's products and story.
KOGA KUMIKO
" Delicious tea starts with a healthy soil. Healthy soil nutrients make a uplifting and nourishing tea."
Koga Kumiko san represents the fourth generation at her family business KOGACHA GYO in Yame, Fukuoka. Working alongside her mother, president of the company, and her father, director of operations, she is a tea instructor.
Dedicated to lead her company through the challenges of the green tea industry in the 21st century, she is in charge of overseas sales.
She also travels around the world to give tea seminars to introduce Yame green tea to foreign tea lovers.
Watch Koga san detailed Sencha and Gyokuro preparation and discover more about Koga San's incredible products and story.
KIYA YASUHIKO
" Drinking green tea and wine is quite similar. Both require land, farmers, cultivars, producers and masters who evaluate taste and quality."
Kiya Yasuhiko the Third (heir and third owner of Kiya-horyouen) is a certified Japanese Tea Appraiser (out of a total of 39 in Japan). He works to spread new ideas and concepts about Japanese tea and promote Yame tea, gyokuro and tea culture in general.
We are honored to propose Kiya san’s incredible teas and be able to collaborate together on new ways to enjoy green tea by going beyond the traditional approach.Kiya san has developed exclusive teas for IKKYU.
His deep and unique knowledge of tea along with the quality of Kiya san’s products will lift you to the highest levels of Japanese green tea.
Watch Kiya san detailed Gyokuro preparation and discover more about Kiya San's incredible products and story.
CHISAKO MIZOTA
" We wish to bring delicious and high-quality tea to everyone"
Mizota Chisako san was born in Fukuoka prefecture in 1937. She got married at age of 19 and began to farm green tea. She worked hard every day, even when it was rainy or windy.
The couple decided to open a tiny tea shop.After her husband won the top prize of the All Japan Green Tea Competition, a government award, their green tea became a sensation throughout all Japan.
Watch the whole process of green tea production and discover more about Mizota san's products and story.
YAME'S JEWEL : DENTO HON GYOKUROA Luxurious And Exquisite Green Tea
Gyokuro is rare, incredibly difficult to make and requires years of skills to perfect. Its leaves are beautiful, some even say lustrous. For all of those reasons, it is an expensive tea and is considered a luxury even in Japan. Compared to Sencha, Gyokuro is usually smoother, more full-bodied, packed with umami and less astringent thanks to its high levels of L-theanine and the lower water temperature used to brew it. Its scent is very rich, its taste thick and mellow. When cultivated according to traditional methods, its fragrance can be up to five times more powerful than Sencha. Much like an expensive glass of red wine, we recommend letting a small mouthful swirl on your tongue to experience fully its flavors. A refreshing aftertaste will follow, but still, you will enjoy the first impression for a long time. This is especially true of Yame-grown gyokuro; green tea specialists praise its long-lasting taste compared to gyokuro grown in Uji area for example.
CHARACTERISTICS OF YAME TEA
A Unique Taste Profile
In Yame, the first tea of the year (shincha) is picked between mid-April and May, with its peak in early May. The second harvest is done from mid-June to early July, and the third one at the start of August, although most growers don’t pick it.
Tea lovers praise Yame tea for its strong umami, round and full taste, its sweetness and deep color, with only a little touch of bitterness and astringency. They enjoy its distinctive lingering taste, that lasts quite longer than green tea made in other regions. Each sip is a journey that will awaken your senses.
While Yabukita is the main tea cultivar used in Yame, others that are less known are also used by growers to bring more sweetness and flavor to your cup, such as Kanaya midori, Oku midori, Sae midori or Yamakai.
Dento hon gyokuro is shaded using rice straws covers, and not plastic sheets. With humidity, the flavor and aroma of the straw transfers to the tea leaves. Today, this process is only found in Yame.
Yame dento hon gyokuro benefits from the Japanese Geographical Indication protection system that testifies of its origins, high quality and traditional production process.
GREEN TEA IN A WINE GLASS
Another Tea Experience
We all love a delicious brew of green tea poured in a delicate cup. But did you know that you can get a whole different taste and aroma experience with a wine glass?
The shape of wine glasses is the result of long years of research. Of course, there are dozen of types out there, but all of them share a similar concept rooted in science - a bowl that release and collect all the precious wine aromas. And this works perfectly with green tea, too, as this is also a beverage that has complex and delicate tastes.
As Kiya san shows us in his interview, you can pour either hot-brewed or cold-brewed sencha or gyokuro in a wine glass (any kind of will do). We did the same with cold-brewed houjicha (Irie san’s), and we were amazed by the result. A must for all of you green tea lovers!
VISITING YAME
The Gallery
BEHIND THE SCENES
an Incredible Team at Work
To bring you this special Yame Tea promotion project, IKKYU collaborated with the talented DOKOCHA team. DOKOCHA is a young start-up also located in Fukuoka and dedicated to help Japanese tea lovers find the best addresses in Japan to enjoy a delicious cup of tea.
Along with the representative of Fukuoka prefecture, we spent exciting days traveling around Yame to interview tea farmers and masters. The weather was beautiful, and it was a perfect opportunity for us to meet our partners in person again after many months of pure online communication.
We share with you today a few shots taken behind the scenes.
A lot of hard work but also many smiles and laughs, around such unique people and exclusive cups of tea!