A volcano in the landscape
On the island of Kyushu in Japan, it isn’t unusual to find a volcano in your field of vision. As someone who enjoys photography, this makes me very happy. The outline of these lava giants emphasises the controlled horizontality of the tea plants. They disrupt a rather too orderly landscape. They also remind us that the duration of harvests, the duration of seasons, the duration of human life, quite simply, is infinitesimal. Here is Mount Kaimon, which has a silhouette similar to that of Mont Fuji.
Posted in Country : Japan by François-Xavier Delmas | Tags : landscape, tea harvest, volcano
Tea fields spiked with fans
Right down to the extreme south of Japan you can find these tea fields. They are recognisable for being spiked with fans, which are installed to prevent cold air from lingering around the tea plants. Here, I’m close to Kagoshima Bay, visible in the background, an important tea-producing region in the archipelago.
Posted in Country : Japan by François-Xavier Delmas | Tags : Japanese teas, tea fields, travel
Yorozu in Fukuoka, a unique experience
The Japanese city of Fukuoka may not get many Western tourists, but if you go there and you like new gastronomical experiences, you should go to Yorozu. You need to book in advance, you need to speak Japanese, or go with someone who speaks the language, it’s essential, and you need a couple of hours free. Then, let yourself be guided, and Suguru Tokubuchi will introduce you to pairings of food with tea and various alcohols, dishes prepared in front of you in an intimate setting, which makes every sip even more precious, every mouthful chosen to accompany one of the cocktails. It’s a unique experience.
Posted in Country : Japan by François-Xavier Delmas | Tags : Experience, gastronomy, Yorozu
In Japan, organic farmers, father and son
I’d like to introduce you to Kitano Shuichi. Of all the farmers I’ve met in Japan, he’s the most passionate and inspiring about organic practices. He’s been using these methods for 30 years, introduced by his father. The latter, convinced of the health benefits of organic tea, suffered financially for ten years, due to very low yields, but he pulled through. Today, he sells his tea for a good price because demand for organic tea is higher. Kitano Shuichi and his father make their own compost, while others buy it in from outside. But most significantly, they never use anything to do with animals in their compost. So that means no cow manure, for example. They believe in biodynamic methods and use them successfully. They’re so proud of their compost they insist you taste it. But if you want to know their exact recipe, you can ask all you like but they’ll reveal nothing save their good humour, with a smile.
Posted in Country : Japan by François-Xavier Delmas | Tags : Country : Japan, Kitano Shuichi, organic farmers
Japan, the end of the single variety
Last week I talked about how the mixing of tea leaves by Japanese co-operatives can limit the range of flavours in the country’s teas, but there are also some very positive developments coming from Japan. For example, a few decades ago, the country could be described as mono-cultivar: the vast majority of growers used the Yabukita variety. Happily, today, there are an increasing number of cultivars used in Japan, such as sae-midori, oku-hikari and asatsuyu. A greater range of cultivars means that once the tea is infused, it produces a wider palette of aromas and flavours. And that is good news for tea lovers.
Posted in Country : Japan by François-Xavier Delmas | Tags : Country : Japan, fields of tea, variety
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